2016 in Sport

That theme of 2016 in sport, would be unexpected. Looking across different competitions last year was certainly the year of the underdog.  Leciester City winning the Premier League, Cleveland the NBA, the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, and in Australia, both the Sharks and Bulldogs broke long droughts to win Premierships (and the Sharks won their first). Not to forget Ireland's win over the All Blacks in Chicago. 

Those stories are great for sport, a reminder that on any given day, anyone can win. They usually don't, but they can. 

The Rio Olympics were also held during 2016. I've written about my highlights here.

Who knows what 2017 will hold. In terms of my expectations - I'm hoping to see Australia and New Zealand both qualify for the World Cup in 2018. Interesting to see they are expanding the cup to have 48 teams in 2026 (Read more). Meaning, theoretically at least, qualification for the next World Cup will be easier. 

As always, I am hoping to see the Swans make the top four. I suspect the Giants will begin the season as favourites, and it will be interesting to see how they handle that. 

I am anticipating a the Warriors to start slowly, show promise, then crash and burn, but who knows :) The Rugby League World Cup is held later this year, suspect Australia will win that. 

January also brings the Australian Open, which seems more open than in previous years. Still hoping Federer has another Australian Open in him... 

Rugby - excited for the Lions tour of NZ in June-July.  Will be quite an interesting series. The Women's World Cup is held this year too in Ireland.

I'm excited for the launch of the Women's AFL competition next month, and the relaunch of the Netball competition. It is an exciting time for Women's sport.