51 Thoughts 2015 Sporting Year in Review
As 2015 draws to a close we thought that it would be a good opportunity to briefly go through some of the key events and sports in the 2015 sporting calendar.
Rugby League
Best moment of 2015 – Cowboys winning the competition.
The Cowboys entered the competition at the same time as the Warriors and they face the same difficulties that the Warriors do, they aren’t a NSW side and they have received referee’s calls that have gone against them in key games. But the Cowboys showed the Warriors one key thing, when the going got tough, the tough got going and they didn’t give up. The Cowboys may have made a slow start in the first half of the season but the experienced Johnathon Thurston, Matt Scott and the skills of Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo were key factors in getting them through to their first grand final premiership.
Biggest disappoint of 2015 – Warriors not making the finals again.
What another let down, every year we hear the media and the club giving fans hope saying that this is our year. Sure the Warriors lost key players like Shaun Johnson this year, but the facts are simple, they can’t cope with pressure and when the going gets tough, they crack and in recent years that also means they sack the coach. It’s like a revolving door at that club for both coaches and players. The culture at the club is ridiculous, when they lose by 20 points they make too many excuses to cover it up. You would hope that next year they can at least improve and make the eight.
Rugby
Best moment of 2015 – Al Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup 2015 final.
The All Blacks did go into the World Cup as favourites however their form was mixed. They had a shaky win against Samoa, they lost to Australia in Sydney but also put two good victories against Australia and South Africa. Even their pool games at the World Cup were very average with some questioning whether they could win. Like a champion side they did come back and did so by smashing France 62-13 in the quarter final, and going on to eventually beating South Africa 20-18 in a tough torrid encounter. The All Blacks are now the first team to win the William Webb Ellis trophy back to back after smashing Australia 34-17 in the final despite being reduced to 14 men during the final.
Biggest Let down of 2015 – Auckland Blues.
They were the biggest joke of the Super 15, Auckland Rugby history and New Zealand Rugby. John Kirwan was a good player, but he was a shocking coach with Italy and Japan and lead them to worse performances compared to when he took them over. This year, the Blues weren’t expected to be contenders but they were thought of as a surprise package and a possibility to make the top six. But Kirwan did something amazing he got them losing games, in doing so setting records that no previous Blues team had achieved before, it was truly a bad year for the Blues and their coach. Still after all that he held media conferences where he said he thought that he should remain as coach of the side, so in his tenure as coach of the Blues he moved from saviour of the struggling franchise to merely a delusional coach who had clearly lost his way. It is to be hoped that Tana Umaga can change the culture in the club as he brought in some of the players he has worked with at the Chiefs and at Counties.
Motorsport
Best moment of 2015 – Mark Winterbottom winning his first series title.
The key to Mark Winterbottom’s success this year wasn’t just having the fastest car, it was being consistent. He generally had the car qualified inside the top ten and he was able to convert that by either wining, finishing on the podium or in the top five. The key race that helped Mark wrap up his first championship was finishing second at Bathurst. He was at the back of the field early in the race after a stop go penalty. But a smart team strategy, a very fast car and good control of the car brought him back up through the field to a placing which provided him with the points lead he needed to finish the season and win his first title. He is truly a very approachable, sincere and worthy champion.
Biggest let down of 2015 – Formula One
The Formula One vacuum cleaners have proven one thing in 2015, it’s a joke. Ask yourself one question, who won the 2015 championship? Answer who cares.
Other Stories and points of note:
- Black Caps 2015 cricketing year
The Black Caps were the over achievers of 2015 and they look to be improving game by game. They got into the World Cup final after amazing individual performances by every player including:
- Brendon McCullums 50’s against Australia (pool play) and England
- Martin Guptills 200 (although it was against the West Indies and they should have caught him in the third ball of the match)
- Trent Boult getting 5/28 against Australia and Tim Southee7/33 against England)
They have improved through 2015 (although they did struggle in Australia) and the good news for NZ fans is they are a competitive side that is now very difficult to beat in One Day and 20/20’s.
- Gold Coast Titans bad year
The Titans this year were in the news for all the wrong reasons throughout the year, whether it was with the cocaine allegations at the start of the year which affected some of their key players including Greg Bird and Dave Taylor. Then they had the back flip from Daly-Cherry Evans, who signed with them in January and reneged on his deal in June.
- Chaz Mosterts crash at Bathurst
2014 Bathurst champ Chaz Mostert had a major crash at mountain this year which put him out of racing for the rest of the year. The Prodrive Racing Australia driver crashed his car at well over 200 km/h coming out of the dipper and destroyed the car, but fortunately for him the role-cage was still in one piece and the he only suffered a broken leg from the crash. That crash, although sad proved that the new car of the future has been well designed and protects the drivers.
- Jerry Collins, Norm Berryman, Jonah Lomu, sad passing
The New Zealand sporting public was rocked by the shock death of Jerry Collins and his wife in a car crash in France, which left their daughter fighting for her life. Fortunately she is now improving according to the last report but she will never get to know her parent which is a tragedy for her and them.
Also likeable Northlander turned Cantabrian Norm Berryman died from a heart attack in Perth unexpectedly.
And finally and equally tragically, Rugby icon Jonah Lomu also passed away unexpectedly this year after flying back in from Dubai after doing sponsorship work at the Rugby World Cup this year. He was without doubt the biggest star in Rugby and this softly spoken humble man will be sadly missed not only by his 2 sons and wife but the world of Rugby as its doubtful there will ever be a man who changes the face of world rugby like Jonah did.
