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Yes Roarers, it’s that time of year again. Where all teams are equal and all possibilities are still possible.
It’s the time of year when the naughty and nice put their wish lists forward in optimistic hope that a fat bloke with a beard will deliver on their hopes and dreams.
Imagine the shock, then, when a certain Wellingtonian knocks on the door. “Hi, I’m Digger – I’m here about your list…”
But no, not that bloke with a beard, the other, fatter, redder bloke from up north.
Keen eyes of this now-annual tradition on The Roar might have noticed that this year’s edition has a narrowed, single-sport focus.
“Maybe this year just keep it to rugby,” the fair Editor said, barely keeping his desire for a Queensland Reds’ revival to be at the top of the list hidden. He’ll say he said nothing of the sort, but we all know he was thinking it. And so, Super Rugby seems like as good place to start as any.
Firstly, I hope the Brisbane Tens in February is huge. Like, way bigger and better than expected. Start the year with the bangiest bang that ever banged.
As is my standard line at this time of year, I’d like to see three of the five Australian sides in the playoffs in 2017, and I don’t care which three. And that remains true again this year, but there’s a ‘greater good’ element to this item.
In the best interests of Australian rugby, the three sides that need a playoffs appearance the most are, in no particular order, the Western Force, Melbourne Rebels, and ACT Brumbies.
I do want the Reds’ revival to go well. But if the Reds show huge improvements on 2016 but miss the playoffs, it won’t be the end of the world.
If the Force, Rebels, and Brumbies finished in the top eight, it would huge of all three. It’d be great for business and sponsorship, great for crowds and membership, and more importantly great for the game in their respective patches.
I want the Reds and NSW Waratahs to have strong seasons too. If by mid-June we’re having debates about the unfairness of the Super Rugby finals format because of the strength of the Australian conference in 2017, that’d be bloody tops.
On that topic, I hope SANZAAR can just, well… sort their shit out. Talk of cutting franchises dominated the backend of 2016, yet it was just one of the three options explored – and another one was more expansion teams!
But where was the media campaign trying to quell the concerns, and to try and assure fans that their team isn’t under the pump? Come on, people, this is media management 101, and you stayed silent!
And another thing, sort this conference mess out, please!
There’s a very simple three-conference format with six fairly obvious and logistically logical teams in each conference sitting right under our noses, if we’ll just take four-and-a-half seconds to have a look at it.
Keep. It. Simple. SANZAAR.
I hope the New Zealand sides have strong seasons, too, because fairness debates aside, setting the benchmark higher each year isn’t a bad thing.
I’d love to see the Blues go deep in 2017. Not just to keep a few current and former Aucklander Roarers happy, but just because a strong Blues side is good for New Zealand – just like a strong Lions is good for South Africa, and a strong Waratahs is good for Australia.
And I’d love the Lions to go all the way in 2017. I hope they’ve been able to keep most of their squad together, and that they will genuinely better for their 2016 run.
I hope the SARU can sort out its various messes, and hope that Springbok coach and the Eastern Province/Southern Kings is somewhere near the top of the list of priorities. There’s a lot I don’t understand and just don’t get about South Africa politics in sport, but I know what needs urgent attention.
You Kiwis better sit down for this next one, because I’d really love for the British and Irish Lions to beat the All Blacks in the First Test. The series is already highly anticipated, but just think what a Lions win first up would do.
And while all that’s happening, I do hope the Wallabies’ June fixtures – as underwhelming as they might look on paper – can really deliver some fantastic rugby on the field.
I hope the Sydney clubs and the ARU can sort themselves out too. I’ll be honest, I hope the Sydney clubs finally work out their place in the pecking order and accept it’s not where it used to be, because the NRC doesn’t deserve a fourth season of sniping from the sidelines.
I hope the NRC’s fourth season gets the coverage it deserves, and really starts to build its following. The rugby is great, as a TV product it’s excellent, and the players and coaches deserve more attention than their getting.
I’d like The Rugby Championship to be competitive 2017, and not just a race for second. And I’d like that to be because Australia, Argentina, and South Africa have taken big steps, rather than the All Blacks coming back to the pack.
I hope Argentina – both the Pumas and Jaguares – can start delivering on their enormous potential.
And I hope – almost above all other hopes – that the Wallabies give me more reason to rejoice than to smash angry words through my keyboard in 2017. Show me a style, show me a dynamic game plan, and show me an ability to adapt. And Cheik, show me that mischievous smile.
Most of all, Roarers, I just want rugby to reward me in 2017. I don’t want to have to think so deeply about a single weekend that grabbed me, I want to be completely engrossed by the game. And then I’ll take great pleasure in writing why our great game is great again.
Rugby, help me help you.
To finish, I need to head off on one non-rugby tangent, and it’s one that I’m sure Paddy will allow: I still, really, really need those nagging five-foot putts to drop. Please Santa, I’ve been good.
All the best for Christmas and the New Year, Roarers. It’s been a blast in 2016, just as it has been every year before this, and I absolutely look forward to doing it all again next year.
Thanks for all the comments, banter, debate, and all the logic and nonsense in between…