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Ethan Blackadder named Crusaders player of the year

By Kim Ekin

23 May 2022

Ethan Blackadder. (Photo by Andrew Cornaga/Photosport)

Crusaders backrower Ethan Blackadder has been named 2022 Player of the Year at the NZ club’s annual awards function.

Crusaders players and their partners, as well as team personnel, management, and commercial partners, attended the awards ceremony today at the Christchurch Town Hall.

The Crusaders Rookie of the Year, Forward of the Year, Back of the Year, and Player of the Year were all chosen by the Crusaders coaching staff and presented during the evening.

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After an outstanding rookie season in the second row, Zach Gallagher, 20, was voted Rookie of the Year. Cullen Grace, a hardworking and versatile loose forward, was named Forward of the Year, while Will Jordan, the competition’s leading carrier with eight tries, was named Back of the Year.

In addition to being awarded Player of the Year, Blackadder, 27, earned the Champion Crusader Award for the second year in a row, which is the only peer-voted award that recognizes a player’s unselfish commitment to the team atmosphere, both on and off the field.

Te Marohirohi, a new award this year, is named after someone in our team who has demonstrated dedication, perseverance, strength, and bravery. Assistant Coach Tamati Ellison presented Pablo Matera with the prize, praising the Argentinian international for “being resolute in his commitment to bring his skill and experience into our environment, and to leave his mark on the club.”

Crusaders 2022 award winners:

Rookie of the Year: Zach Gallagher
Presented by Crusaders lock, Sam Whitelock

Forward of the Year: Cullen Grace
Presented by Crusaders Forwards Coach, Jason Ryan

Back of the Year: Will Jordan
Presented by Crusaders Backs Coach, Andrew Goodman

Player of the Year: Ethan Blackadder
Presented by Crusaders Head Coach Scott Robertson

Te Marohirohi: Pablo Matera
Presented by Crusaders Assistant Coach, Tamati Ellison

Champion Crusader of the Year: Ethan Blackadder
Presented by Crusaders Captain, Scott Barrett

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Comments on RugbyPass

Frans 10 minutes ago

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i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.

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Bull Shark 19 minutes ago

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Australia definitely the game of the weekend. Wallabies by 3.

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tt 30 minutes ago

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Smith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.

Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?

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OJohn 56 minutes ago

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Which Australian coaches would be acceptable to coach the All Blacks ?

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SF 1 hour ago

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I'm a SA'can and like Ben I hate the springboks.

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CC 1 hour ago

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I reckoned the springbok coach, has now started to underestimate Wales, sending 8players home? Really? It’s not yet over until it’s over Coach

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Utiku Old Boy 1 hour ago

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I am waiting for your list of candidates. We had several from which to choose so give me some choice (your list) in Aussie candidates for the ABs. You imply that any Australian would be preferrable to Schmidt, yet E Jones and Cheika obviously didn't meet your standards either. Are you angry that Schmidt is far exceeding Jones? All Oz coaches you have quoted are from way back in time. When you had some choice. What you won't admit, is you got nobody better than a kiwi currently. Otherwise you would be putting them up. The fact you don't shows you are a blowhard because you want to groan about Schmidt purely on the basis he is kiwi - not his impressive results.

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LV 1 hour ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

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CC 1 hour ago

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OJohn 1 hour ago

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Schmidt is a competent coach and after Jones destroying the Wallabies moral with picking useless Tah players (Bell is very good) any coach could have improved the Wallabies. We have achieved nothing so far really.

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SteveD 1 hour ago

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SteveD 1 hour ago

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Ardy 1 hour ago

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