• Year of the Kiwis in 2017 in Various Sports Endeavours

    It could be an interesting year for the Kiwis in the world of sports in 2017, and making predictions in January that cannot be truly examined until December is one of the safest forms of forecasting, since by the time 12 months has gone by, no one will remember or care what was said.

    The America’s Cup, aka. the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup playoffs, or the Louis Vuitton challenger finals, looks to be a showdown betwixt Team New Zealand and Team Japan, but it is necessary to mention that the Japanese boat will be driven by Kiwi sailors from 2013.

    If the boat from England wins, or the U.S. defenders of Team Oracle, for that matter, forget that we said anything.

    The NZ Warriors could sneak into the NRL finals, abandoning the inconsistency that dogged them for the previous five seasons, momentarily at least, to make the top eight, barely. The Warriors’ senior will have to fire like never before, with job security on the line and the presence or absence of Kieran Foran to be a key point.

    Lydia Ko will have a banner year in women’s golf, now that she has given the pink slip to David Leadbetter and is now free to return to the swing that served her so well prior to Leadbetter’s influence.