Year in review - Sport

The year is winding down so its time for a few reflections in the year, beginning with Sport.

Without a doubt the highlights of the year were the BlackFerns winning the Rugby World Cup, seeing the All Blacks play the Lions in Wellington, NZ winning the America's Cup and the men's and women's final of the Australian Open.

The Women's Final was won by Serena Williams against her sister Venus Williams (it was Serena's 22nd Grand Slam title, making her one of the greatest tennis players in history).

The Men's Final was between the 17th and 9th Seeds - Federer and Nadal - it was memorable because I doubted we'd see the two play in a Grand Slam final again. The final was also a really great match with an exceptional standard of tennis.

Other memorable moments:

Cricket: David Warner's 100 in the first session of the Sydney test against Pakistan; Bangladesh winning their first ever test against Australia. Steve O'Keefe's 12/70 in the first test  against India)

The Men of the Series in the Ashes this year has to be the Selectors - who picked Shaun Marsh (who scored a century in the Adelaide test) and Mitchell Marsh (who's century in the Perth test was a vital cog in winning that test).

Though perhaps a little more seriously, its hard not to be blown away by Steve Smith's figures - during 2017 he has scored 1127 test runs at 70.43; currently the second highest number of runs and the second best average (with a qualification of more than 500 runs).

Rugby League: Fiji and Tonga winning Rugby League games against New Zealand. Cameron Smith proved he is one of the greats of the game, leading Melbourne to the Premiership; Queensland to the State of Origin Series win and Australia the World Cup. During the season he broke records that possibly won't be matched.

Rugby Union:  One of my highlights of the year was seeing the Lions play the All Blacks in Wellington.  Sure the All Blacks lost, but it was just amazing being part of it. The atmosphere in the stadium and city was unforgettable. On the whole the All Blacks had  a pretty rusty year, but hopefully its just part of the plan to peak in a World Cup year (2019).

AFL: The Swans making the finals after a 0-6 start. (though their performance against Geelong was disappointing). The inaugural Women's Competition (won by Adelaide).

Football: Sam Kerr and the Matildas were a breath of fresh air.  The Matildas won their first tournament (and beat the US for the first time).  On the back of this (and wins against China and Brazil the Matlidas are now ranked fourth in the World).

I shouldn't forget the New England Patriots winning the SuperBowl after trailing 3-28.