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This was published 7 years ago
We need the sporting fairytales to continue in 2017
By Peter FitzSimons
The year that was in sport?
I know it, you know it.
It was the year of thunder and wonder, the year of the fairytale for all those teams more associated with chunder and blunder.
Around the world, the outsiders got up, against all odds.
Turning the corner? Nick Kyrgios.Credit: Lintao Zhang
Cronulla came good for the first time since forever.
The Western Bulldogs won for the first time since about half that long.
Italy beat the Springboks for the first time.
Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time, after trying 29 times since 1905. (Cue the meme: NO ONE beats Ireland 29 times in a row!)
Leicester City won the English Premier League as 5000-1 outsiders.
The Chicago Cubs came back from 3-1 down to win the World Series for the first time since 1908.
Which leaves us hoping for what in 2017?
I want it to be the year of the good guys, the year we see all those teams and individuals that have done the work, that have got their act together, that bloody well deserve an even break, come good for big wins.
Let's start with the Wallabies. We're pushing towards two decades now since they've beaten the All Blacks in the Bledisloe, and for some strange reason it feels nearly that long since they've beaten England. Wouldn't it be fabulous to see them come good next year, to beat both? I don't say it will happen, but I reckon they deserve it. They have been thumped from pillar to post this year, but never stopped trying, never dropped their bundle, never disgraced themselves, they just seem to have worked harder. Let 2017 be their year. Let them beat the All Blacks!
And the same goes for the Wests Tigers. It has been a good decade since they won the premiership, they have been in the wars, and at war since, but they are a good club, with good people and great and long-suffering fans. Plus, that bloke who plays at fullback, James Tedesco, is the real deal. They could build a premiership around him, and it would be fabulous to watch. Jason Taylor would be vindicated, as would the chair, Marina Go. A great story of redemption!
In the AFL, the best story would be the Greater Western Sydney Giants to triumph. Again, they're a hard-working mob who've come from nowhere in just a few short years to go agonisingly close this year, only to fall at the second-last hurdle. That experience will have galvanised them, made them hungrier, and given the younger ones a better clue as to just what it takes to win a premiership.
In the tennis, Nick Kyrgios doesn't fit into any of the categories above, and neither does Bernard Tomic. Neither are likeable, and Kyrgios, at least, is notorious for not working hard at all. But Andre Agassi used to be exactly like that until maturity kicked in and he not only became a great bloke who earned the love of Steffi Graf, but he turned into one of the hardest-working blokes on the tennis tour. Is it too much to hope that both Kyrgios and Tomic might start on a path towards the same? I mentioned having been confronted by Tomic in a Gold Coast restaurant earlier this year, and coming away with the impression that he has a lot more gumption than I, for one, had ever given him credit for.
There are no major athletics meets in 2017 along the lines of an Olympics or a Commonwealth Games, but whatever Chloe Esposito competes in next year, it would be wonderful to see her triumph. She was the Australian sports star of 2016 for my money – fresh and fabulous – embodying our sporting values at our very best, and we need to see more of her.
Ditto Daniel Ricciardo. Motor sport bores me rigid, but I am reliably informed he is a great bloke, a credit to Australia, and a fabulous driver who, with the right Formula One car beneath and around him, could and should triumph.
Double-ditto Michelle Payne. If they were holding a group 1 race around my house, I would pull the curtains shut on principle, but we didn't see enough of her in 2016, and it would be great to see her come back and win another Melbourne Cup, for starters.
Go, you good things!
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz