Here were a few of myfavourite things
With 2017 done and dusted, it’s time to look back on the year that was. From the start of January to the end of December, there was plenty for sports fans to enjoy. Here are some of the Stuff team’s favourite things.
SPORTSMAN OR MALE SPORTS PERFORMANCE
Tom Walsh’s world championships shot put gold medal. From Timaru to the top of the world. Tony Smith
Lockie Ferguson bowling to me in the nets. He was fast and I still have a bruise. Ben Strang
Cristiano Ronaldo. He could get this most years. But he is Fifa’s world player of the year, the peoples’ player of the year and Olivia’s player of the year. If I had to pick a Kiwi I amgoing to go with SBWfor drawing attention with a bit of strapping tape. Olivia Caldwell
Tom Walsh winning world champs gold. An affable, heavy object-hiffing everyman who seems to love his sport, is friends with his biggest rivals and stills builds houses in his spare time. Ian Anderson
Asafo Aumua. Like a young Jonah Lomu or Michael Jones, every time he got near the rugby ball something remarkable beckoned. His in-and-away on Canterbury fullback George Bridge was one of the jawdropping feats of the year. An All Blacks superstar in waiting. Mark Geenty
Winston Reid was an absolute colossus for New Zealand during the first leg of their intercontinental World Cup playoff against a talented Peru side in Wellington. A 0-0 scoreline gave the All Whites some hope of reaching Russia and Reid’s performance at centre back was immense. Joseph Pearson
Kane Williamson’s majestic 176 in the Black Caps’ third test v South Africa in Hamilton in March, which put him equal on 17 test centuries with the late Martin Crowe. It also put New Zealand in good position to push for a serieslevelling victory, before rain thwarted that cause. Aaron Goile
Peter Burling. Team New Zealand may be reluctant to single him out, but I will. Made Jimmy Spithill look more puppy than ‘Pitbull’ as he displayed nerves of steel at the helm in his first America’s Cup. Marvin France
Martin Guptill’s 180 to win the fourth one-day international against South Africa at the end of February. Some of the cleanest hitting you’ll ever see, against a bowling attack that were hardly mugs. Andrew Voerman
SPORTSWOMAN OR FEMALE SPORTS PERFORMANCE
Lisa Carrington’s two golds and a silver at the kayaking world championships in the Czech Republic. TS
Portia Woodman. She lit up the World Cup in Ireland in the same way she’s been lighting up sevens for the past few years. A delight on and off the pitch. BS
Kiwi Fern Honey Hireme kicking butt at the Rugby League World Cup after missing out on the Black Ferns Rugby World Cup campaign because of injury. Also the way she handles success, very modest. OC
Lisa Carrington took on an exhausting task at the canoe sprint world champs, competing in three different boats in four events, yet was more than capable of carrying the load. IA
Portia Woodman. The star of a rising Black Ferns team who were compulsive viewing in their World Cup final win over England. Her try in that game was hard to top in a list of 2017’s best (perhaps apart from some Aumua efforts). Deserves plenty of NZ Rugby money for what she can do for the women’s game. MG
Toka Natua scored a hat-trick for New Zealand in their Rugby World Cup final triumph over England and was then representing the Cook Islands in the Rugby League World Cup just three months later. The Cook Islands scored an upset win over England and Natua, playing in the tournament just a week after saying she felt lost since becoming a world champion with the Black Ferns, was inspirational in that victory. JP
Toka Natua’s hat-trick of tries for the Black Ferns in their World Cup final win over England. Stunning display from the powerful prop in a heart-warming performance that returned New Zealand to world champion-status against the defending champs, who had dominated them in their last meeting just a couple of months prior. AG
Portia Woodman was a standout for the Black Ferns as they won the World Cup. AV
TEAM
The Black Sox’s victory at the world softball championships in Canada. Their seventh world title since 1976. TS
The Black Ferns. A semiprofessional group playing great rugby and generally with a smile on their faces. Now let’s get them paid. BS
The Black Ferns. Should Peter Jackson make a movie? OC
Melville United. Let me explain, given they missed promotion from the Northern League Division One football comp. They were co-coached by Sam Wilkinson, who I knew as a one-year-old when his dad coached me as a teen at Napier City Rovers. Roger Wilkinson helped transform the club, with an attractive playing style to boot, and Sam and cocoach Michael Mayne are now looking to do the same in the place I live. IA
Wellington Firebirds. Transformed from cranky underachievers of domestic cricket into the side to beat, with smiles on their faces. With key signings Hamish Bennett and Hamish Marshall added, ‘Dad’s Army’ gelled under Bruce Edgar’s coaching with local product Luke Woodcock providing the heartbeat. Twenty20 champions, beaten one-day finalists and Plunket Shield leaders at halfway in a remarkable year. MG
Imagine how dull the Rugby League World Cup would have been without Tonga? From the moment Jason Taumalolo ditched New Zealand, Tonga turned what could have been a stale tournament into something pretty special with their enthralling run to the semi-finals. Their every match, including that stunning win over the Kiwis, was exciting and their crazily passionate fans brought colour and noise that shook every stadium to its foundations. It was fun. JP
Team New Zealand. Captivating performance led by the cool-as-you-like Peter Burling as the America’s Cup was won back in style, with a shut-him-up outclassing of Jimmy Spithill and Oracle. AG
Tonga, if only for their amazing supporters. Not a fan of the way Jason Taumalolo handled his change of allegiance, but the atmosphere at the World Cup semifinal against England was my sporting highlight of 2017. MF
Tonga, for putting the world in Rugby League World Cup. AV
MATCH, EVENT, GAME, OR TOURNAMENT
America’s Cup campaign. NZ sport at its most imperious. Honourable mention to the atmosphere generated by Tonga’s supporters at the Rugby League World Cup. Has there ever been more sonorous signing at a sports event in NZ? TS
Beach Soccer World Cup. Watching Tahiti progress to the final, only to lose to an impressive, fully professional Brazilian team. Very niche, but a cracking sport which would be perfect for the Olympic Games. BS
The Lions tour, and especially the second test upset as it wasn’t at all expected. And can we have a worst result? Because the draw in the third test was insane. OC
Any Tongan game at the rugby league World Cup. Forget the eligibility arguments, the team transformed an always dull tournament pre-final into an event with intrigue and excitement. Their fans made their matches the most colourful, loud and memorable seen at NZ stadiums. IA
Tom Walsh’s gold at the world athletics championships. With a sporting nation willing on the Timaru builder he calmly heaved his way to a world shot put title under protest from his two American rivals. It’s awfully tough to win, a world champs or Olympic track and field gold medal, and Walsh joined a select group of black singleted champions. MG
The Lions touring New Zealand this year was everything rugby hoped for and some. The subplot of Kiwi coach Warren Gatland leading the Lions was one thing, but there was plenty of drama, controversy and great contests to keep us entertained during a manic six weeks. And who could have imagined a drawn series? What an anti-climax after three quite brilliant tests. JP
All Blacks v British and Irish Lions. A highly-charged series which lived up to its billing. It had everything, and could not have climaxed in any more dramatic way. AG
UFC Fight Night: Lewis v Hunt. Kiwi combat sports fans had waited a long time to see Mark Hunt back on home soil and he didn’t disappoint. Neither did Dan Hooker or Luke Jumeau. Made for an electric afternoon at Spark Arena. MF
The home leg of the All Whites’ World Cup playoff against Peru. A full Westpac Stadium on a sunny day is special, and the 0-0 draw exceeded expectations.
MOMENT
Black Sox slugger Joel Evans’ grand slam (bases loaded) home run to win the world softball final. TS
Peruvian football fans welcoming their team at Wellington Airport for the Fifa World Cup intercontinental playoff. About 300 of them, chanting, singing songs, bringing the whole airport to a stand still. It was incredible. BS
Roger Federer winning Wimbledon in three straight sets. He is my all time favourite sporting figure and I don’t see anyone taking his place. Special player, special character. OC
Sonny Bill’s red card in the second test against the Lions. Website gold, and it set up the series contest we secretly hoped for. IA
Scott McLaughlin’s slip-up. More an agonising moment but gripping television, as the Kiwi Supercars ace had the 2017 title in his grasp in Newcastle before swerving and tangling with Craig Lowndes in the closing stages.
That time penalty cost him the title which went to Jamie Whincup. McLaughlin’s pained post-race interview with Greg Murphy summed up the drama of top level sport where success can be decided by centimetres and a momentary lapse. MG
The All Blacks looked in ominous form during the first test at Eden Park against the Lions when leading 13-3 towards the end of the first half, but the Lions then went coast to coast with one of test rugby’s most memorable tries in recent memory. Liam Williams sliced through and ran 50 metres, offloaded to Jonathan Davies who set Elliot Daly free down the wing, and Daly passed back inside to Davies who popped a pass up for Sean O’Brien to score and the Lions were alive in the series. What a try. JP
Roger Federer’s raising of arms in triumph after winning the Australian Open. Emotional stuff, as the greatest player ever claims his first grand slam title in almost five years, beating arch rival Rafael Nadal in a five-setter. AG
State of Origin II. With his shoulder - and Queensland’s State of Origin dynasty - hanging by a thread, Johnathan Thurston shrugged off the pain to square the series with a crunch sideline conversion. Pretty good way to go out in what was probably his final act in a Maroons jersey. MF
Chris Wood scoring a hattrick against the Solomon Islands with the final kick of the game, at the end of a week where he’d also scored his first English Premier League goal for Burnley. AV