By Barney Burnham
May 17 2006

The London Hilton, in Park Lane, was the venue for last night's Wasps awards dinner, attended by several hundred supporters and sponsors, as well as most of the management and playing staff.

Former players in attendance included Quins captain elect Paul Volley (now known as The Judas Joker), Kenny Logan and Peter Scrivener.

The evening was hosted by one-time rugby player, now media tart, Martin Bayfield - still larger than life, and much funnier than he ever was on the rugby field. Scrivs - take note of how he did it, and you could yet go far.

The evening began with a few words from chairman Chris Wright, who was in decidedly upbeat mood, claiming that we'd targeted the Powergen Cup all along, so it had been a case of mission accomplished. Mmmm, maybe! Or maybe not. However, the whole evening was anything but the wake that we might have expected, after Sunday's disappointment Oop North. He ended on a serious note, reminding us that club director Charles Levison was about a mile away, in a hospital bed, unlikely to recover from a heart attack. He then said grace, which was around twenty minutes shorter than one which wasn't delivered by a Mr. R. Curtis, at Alex King's Curry night earlier this year.

The Review of the Season was shorter than in recent years, but still gave us something to cheer, ahead of dinner.

Once the trough had been emptied, Director of Rugby Ian McGeechan stepped up to deliver the Loyal Toast, preceded by a few words of reflection on his first season with Wasps, and his delight at finally winning a trophy at club level.

And so to the awards, which began with Try of the Season. Tom Voyce's spectacular solo effort against Bristol, at the Causeway Stadium beat off strong competition from Paul Sackey, Josh Lewsey and Eoin Reddan.

Next came Community Player of the Year. This was shared by John Hart and Martin Purdy, so the message for anyone wanting to win next year's award is - get injured!

Young Player of the Season was Matt Corker, whose performances for the A team have attracted glowing praise from Shaun Edwards, amongst others.

Club Person of the Year was an unsung heroine - Doreen, who works in the kitchen at Twyford Avenue. She may be unknown to many, but the generous ovation which greeted the announcement indicated that it was a richly deserved honour. She was not in attendance, so a certain Lawrence Dallaglio accepted the award on her behalf and promised to deliver it to her. Can we trust him?

Academy Player of the Year was Rob Webber, who had put in some stirring performances for the A team. An indication of the quality of young talent coming through the ranks was the fact that the other nominees were Danny Cipriani and James Honeyben. James, by the way, was at Welford Road, playing for England Under-21s in the Matt Hampson match.

Supporters Player of the Season went to Tom Voyce, with the announcement made, through clenched teeth, by Richard Birkett.

The emotional high point of the evening came in the next two awards - Outstanding Services to London Wasps, and Outstanding Services to Rugby. This brought Alex King and Lawrence Dallaglio back to the platform, to deliver eulogies to four departing players.

Alex began with tributes to Ben Gotting and Stuart Abbott. He came up with the shock revelation that, unbeknown to any of us, Ben's middle names were Stephen Alwyn. A clearly emotional Ben appeared to deliver some heartfelt words, as best he could. Then came Stuart, also clearly emotional, but he managed to keep it in check.

Lawrence then stepped up, to speak about Mark Lock, who is heading to pastures new in Leeds, with the best wishes of everybody at Wasps. All three leavers were presented with framed Wasps shirts, with their names and numbers on the back. Good luck to all of them, who have been loyal servants of the club.

Matt Dawson was honoured for Outstanding Services to Rugby, following a humorous and generous speech by Lawrence and a montage of action footage from this great career. Matt then spoke at length about how much the last two seasons had meant to him. His words touched the hearts of many, and showed that there is far more to Matt Dawson than the arm-waving ref advisor we know and love/loathe. He will be greatly missed, and deserves to be remembered as one of England's greatest ever players.

Nominees for Players' Player of the Season were Tim Payne, Eoin Reddan, Tom Voyce and Joe Worsley. To great acclaim, it went to Eoin Reddan - worthy recognition of an outstanding debut season, which has seen him earn his first international cap, surely the first of many. Like many other players, Eoin will have the summer off, as he is to undergo surgery for the groin problem which has dogged him for the last two months of the season. It's a testament to his courage that he has played on, through considerable pain. Another to go under the knife, possibly as early as this week, is Lawrence himself, who is to have what he calls a 'rusting piece of New Zealand metal' removed from his ankle.

The final award of the night was the Cater Ring. This is the successor to the Bobby Cup and was decided by our American fitness coach Paul Cater. It involved a surreal film sequence, which included a naked Bobby crawling through undergrowth and former boy band star Thom Evans giving it some in the gym. The magnificent ring was brought on to the stage, on a velvet cushion, by Shaun Edwards, looking like a cross between a prizefighter, a priest, a gangland heavy and an extra on Crimewatch.

To wild applause, the award went to the enormously popular Raph Ibanez, another who's had a memorable debut season.

Along the way, we were also treated to the sight of Ali McKenzie, sporting a Mr. T hairdo which left Martin Bayfield spluttering in amused disbelief. Serious money was raised in the auction, which included 12 people bidding for personalised Wasps shirts. The final price was £1,200 per shirt, and the 12 winners then drew tickets, to see who got which shirt. Amongst them, none other than Millwall Wasp, who drew Paul Sackey. Normally, he can get shirts off Sacks for nothing!

There was also a moment for the romantics, when the five soon-to-be married players - Alex, Lawrence, Fraser, Mark Van Gisbergen and Joe Worsley were called on to the stage, to receive bouquets for their other halves. Possibly the low point of the evening for a few infatuated female admirers!

All in all, an excellent evening, with tears and laughter along the way. An appropriate way to bring down the curtain on what has been an eventful season - one which ended in disappointment, but still saw us add to our collection of silverware. The clear message that emerged was that missing out on a fourth Premiership title has made everybody more determined to get back to the top next season. There was also word that we have completed two more signings, including a rising star who's already made a name for himself. Details to be announced in due course.

See you next season!