Cups and downs: The good, the bad and the ugly side of sport in 2022

The news was massive on several fronts, with two World Cups sure to act as a platform for rugby to wrestle back lost ground in terms of national profile and relevance. The Women’s World Cup was huge in New Zealand this year and hosting duties will force Rugby Australia to fast-track full professionalism for the Wallaroos. The huge financial windfall of the World Cup and the 2025 Lions Tour will be a major boost for rugby, with RA announcing plans to lock away an anticipated $100 million in profits.

Darren Coleman. Coleman worked wonders in his first season as Waratahs coach, reviving a team that had gone winless in 2021. The Tahs won six games – including upset wins over the Crusaders and the Highlanders in Dunedin – and made the quarter-finals by finishing sixth. The on-field revival sparked an off-field one, too, and their temporary home ground at Leichhardt Oval was filled with fans again. Have set a top-four goal in 2023.

Bienne Tarita. A sevens specialist, Bienne Terita had barely played 15s when she was called into the Wallaroos side in their run towards the World Cup. The 19-year-old scored twice on debut against New Zealand, and then grabbed another two against the Kiwis in the opening game of the World Cup.

Terita typified the undaunted spirit shown by the Wallaroos in the World Cup. They beat Scotland and Wales before going down to England in the quarters, and showed how more investment in women’s rugby could see Australia swiftly become a contender. Terita’s switch encouraged other sevens stars to look at giving 15s a crack, too.

The losers

Dave Rennie. Another year of more losses than victories left Rennie’s win rate at a paltry 38 per cent, and under pressure. An independent review of the Wallabies season is being undertaken and while it appears Rennie will see out his contract and coach at the World Cup, the chances of him staying on after that are slim. Rennie is keen to stay but he also wants to sort his future before the tournament, and RA powerbrokers aren’t prepared to extend his contract based on 38 per cent.

Taniela Tupou. Started the year amid headlines of RA preparing to offer a $1 million a year contract extension to fend off overseas raiders. But calf injuries saw the marquee prop miss a big chunk of the Super Rugby season, and multiple Test matches as well. Coming off the bench, Tupou ruptured his Achilles tendon playing against Ireland, meaning he’ll be battling to play at the World Cup.

Eddie Jones. After almost getting in a fight at the SCG in July, the polarising Australian coach was sacked by England after a season of poor returns. Jones is a master at preparing teams for World Cup campaigns, but an underwhelming November Test window saw the natives get restless and the RFU acted swiftly to replace him with Steve Borthwick. Jones has no shortage of future options, including Australian rugby and NRL.

Controversy cornered

French farce. C’est encore incroyable. Australia appeared to have staged a miracle comeback to beat the All Blacks on a Thursday night Bledisloe Cup clash in Melbourne, until French referee Mathieu Raynal penalised Wallabies No.10 Bernard Foley for time-wasting in the 79th minute.

It gave New Zealand a last shot and they scored to win the game. Raynal’s extraordinary decision was widely slammed, and so too were the Frenchman’s attempts to explain the call. With only two Bledisloe Cup games in 2022, the heartbreaking defeat ensured the Wallabies lost the trophy for another year.

Man of the year

Rob Valetini. The mark of a true superstar is if their team is half as good when the player is missing, and so it proved with Wallabies and Brumbies No.8 Valetini in 2022.

The hard-running back-rower was immense in both Super Rugby and Test footy, carrying with line-breaking power and defending stoutly. Will be hard to beat for the John Eales Medal.

Woman of the year

It would be unfair to single out one from the all-conquering Australian sevens team, so the joint women of the year are: Charlotte Caslick, Demi Haynes, Sharni Williams, Dom Du Toit, Faith Nathan, Madi Levi, Teagan Levi, Sariah Paki, Madi Ashby, Lily Dick, Jesse Southwell, Tia Hinds and Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea.

The Tim Walsh-team won the 2021-22 World Sevens Series, Commonwealth Games gold and the Sevens World Cup. “Dominant” doesn’t capture it.

Viral moments of the year

Aussie men’s sevens. The Nick Malouf-led men’s team also recorded, arguably, its best year, winning the 2021-22 World Sevens Series for the first time and then shocking the world to win the Hong Kong sevens in November. Up against sevens kings Fiji in the final (who hadn’t been beaten in Hong Kong since 2014), the “misfit” Aussie team stunned everyone by scoring from a turnover in the final moments to win the first Hong Kong tile for Australia since 1988.

The efforts of John Manenti’s program were all the more commendable given the men’s program had been cut in half after the Tokyo Olympics, and many of the uncontracted players were called up after impressing in club rugby.

Elsewhere, Marika Koroibete’s try-saving tackle on Makazole Mapimpi in Adelaide still defies belief, but Wallaroos fullback Lori Cramer gave a good effort at trying to match it at the World Cup.

Tane Edmed copped grief from his teammates for having a blub after beating the Crusaders but it showed the spirit of the Waratahs.

Quotes of the year

“We came into this the underdogs and we’re still underdogs within rugby. Let’s hope we can find some sponsors out there, find a bit of money and reward these girls for what they’re doing.”
Sharni Williams calls for the Wallaroos to be better funded.

“At different times it was unhelpful but it was probably a question for Hamish about what he was wanting to achieve there.”
NZR boss Mark Robinson on provocative barbs and threats by RA chair Hamish McLennan to walk away from Super Rugby. The goal was a better slice of the pie, and RA walked away with almost $9m a year more.

“He’s shown true courage by acknowledging where he is at and acting on it.”
Dave Rennie on Michael Hooper’s decision to step away to focus on his mental health.

Crystal ball

After an encouraging Super Rugby season in 2023, where NSW and the Brumbies both make the top four, the Wallabies get Quade Cooper and Samu Kerevi back from injury for the World Cup and win all their pool games, including a revenge victory over Wales. Discipline problems remain, however, and after scraping past Argentina in the quarter-finals, France down a 14-man Wallabies in the semi-finals.

Three letters that sparked a golf civil war and Smith’s incredible year

Golf: Greg Norman turned world golf upside down with a Saudi Arabia-funded start-up tour, Cameron Smith won his first major, Minjee Lee claimed her second and a monster cheque to go with it, and men and women played alongside each other in a national championship for the first time. Here are the highlights, and lowlights, of a golfing year like no other.

Word of the year

LIV. Three letters, and golf’s version of World War III. In the same year in review for 2021, we touched on Greg Norman’s plans for a Saudi-backed rebel circuit and said it might work, it probably won’t. The protests over the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund using LIV as a venture in “sportswashing” to improve its image in the face of its human rights record won’t go away. It has included lawsuits, counter claims, friendships lost and lots of money gained by those who don’t really need it. But even Greg Norman couldn’t have predicted it would be as successful as it has been in its first year. He prised top 100 players, top 50 players, top 20 players – and then the reigning British Open champion and world No.2 Cameron Smith. Most of the star power still resides with the PGA Tour, but Norman has made inroads.

The winners

Cameron Smith. Where did that year come from? A win in Hawaii. A win in the Players Championship (golf’s unofficial fifth major). The Open at St Andrews. Truckloads of cash to defect to LIV. A maiden LIV win in Chicago. Then the Australian PGA on his Claret Jug homecoming (celebrated with beers at the Breakfast Creek Hotel). Greg Norman Medal winner. A normal person with an extraordinary golfing game.

Minjee Lee. How good was that US Open win? Already a major winner, it took a Monday morning in June, where she streeted the field to win the largest pay cheque in women’s golf history (at the time), for Australia to perhaps wake up to how good she is. Oh, and finished the year with a $1.5 million bonus for a risk and reward challenge on the LPGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy. Golf’s version of Luke Skywalker. The Northern Irishman finished the year winning both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour titles. But his on-course success was overshadowed by him assuming the role of golf’s global ambassador and taking up the fight for the traditional tours against LIV. Hasn’t won a major for eight years, but finishes the year as world No.1 and has never been more popular.

Australian golf fans. Some decent tournaments back on these shores – finally. The Australian PGA and Australian Open had a buzz about them like rarely before, at least in modern times. And whether you agree with it or not, LIV Golf in Adelaide will be huge next April.

The losers

The Presidents Cup. Yes, the International team were decimated by a spate of LIV defections weeks out from the event, including Cameron Smith. Yes, they fought hard on the weekend after giving up a big early lead. But the biennial event doesn’t need courageous losses from the International side any more. It needs the United States to actually lose. On its last legs.

Jay Monahan. The PGA Tour commissioner has fought to preserve golf’s traditional tours, and won’t be seen in a room with Greg Norman anytime soon. Lost more players than he thought he would and accused of ceding power to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in the fight against LIV. How long will he last?

Tiger Woods fans. This year, above all others, showed the days of Tiger being competitive, or even playing at all, are pretty much done. Limped around Augusta for 72 holes in perhaps his greatest achievement at The Masters as he still remains largely bothered by his car accident, and then withdrew from the PGA Championship and missed the cut at The Open.

It’s a young man’s game more than ever, highlighted by all four majors going to players under the age of 30 for the first time in history. Treasure every Tiger appearance because there might not be many left.

Controversy corner

LIV. The obvious. Once “dead in the water”, now the biggest storyline in golf since Tiger Woods’ sex scandal. Agree with it or not, it’s turned world golf on its head.

On a local front, the 18th green argument between Marina Alex and Julienne Soo during the Australian Open is highly commended. Bizarro.

Man of the year

Cameron Smith. Could it be anyone else? The mullet pieced together a year for the ages and won a legion of fans for his off-course attitude, as much as his wizardry on it. Honourable mention for walking headline Greg Norman.

Woman of the year

Minjee Lee. See above. Could end up as our second best ever female golfer behind Karrie Webb. Might become our best if she really wants it.

Quote of the year

“They’re scary motherf—–s to get involved with.” Whether it was on the record or off the record, the quote attributed to Phil Mickelson in Alan Shipnuck’s biography of the star almost torpedoed LIV Golf before it started. He didn’t play competitive golf for five months and then returned in LIV’s first event in London. Go figure.

Crystal ball

Cameron Smith wins The Masters at Augusta National, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour are no closer to a truce and the rebel players still don’t have rankings points despite Greg Norman taking on a reduced role, the PGA Championship is the only major to ban LIV players, Tiger Woods announces his retirement from competitive golf, the United States dominates Europe in the Ryder Cup and Golf Australia doubles down on its controversial dual-gender national championship.

Diamonds shone through the darkness in tumultuous year for netball

Netball: It was the year the dress became a dirty word and a Diamonds rookie became a lightning rod for sport’s culture wars.

Word of the Year

Tumult. Netball put itself through the wringer in 2022, as first-year chief executive Kelly Ryan put her overhaul agenda into overdrive. From the highs of Commonwealth Games gold to the lows of the Hancock Prospecting saga and Super Netball grand final sell-off, Australia’s most popular sport for girls endured some epic ups and downs. The game finished in a strong position but with its internal politics exposed for all to see. The Victorian government’s game-saving sponsorship papered over divisions between the professional players’ association and head office but it remains to be seen whether they will resurface.

The Winners

The Diamonds. Australia’s national side won everything on offer in a golden year. They prevailed in a physical battle with Jamaica to claim the country’s 1000th gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August, beat New Zealand in the Constellation Cup then England in a three-game series to round out the year. Gold in Birmingham was the high point, the Diamonds vanquishing the ghosts of 2018, when England toppled the home-town favourites in heartbreaking fashion. But the Constellation Cup brought the best out of the team, playing out as the players came under heavy fire for their stance on Netball Australia’s $15 million partnership with Hancock Prospecting.

Stacey Marinkovich. Marinkovich didn’t put a foot wrong this year as Diamonds coach, well and truly silencing any lingering questions about her credentials. The former West Coast Fever coach helped her players bring home Commonwealth Games gold, the Constellation Cup, Quad Series honours and a clean sweep against England. Most impressive was her handling of the Hancock Prospecting saga, which kicked off at the start of the Constellation Cup. Another team would have crumbled under the pressure of that scrutiny, but the Diamonds came out stronger. Marinkovich shielded her players from the storm, protected Donnell Wallam and gave Liz Watson the space to grow as captain.

Gretel Bueta. Bueta returned from maternity leave and showed everyone she meant business, scoring 317 goals at 90 per cent accuracy for the Queensland Firebirds, playing her 100th elite domestic game and striking up an exciting combination with a rising star of the game, Donnell Wallam. She parlayed that form into the Test arena, dominating in the quad series and starring for the Diamonds in their gold medal-winning campaign in Birmingham.

The Losers

Kelly Ryan. History may well look favourably on Ryan for her bold actions to protect netball’s financial viability this year but without the perspective time affords, it is hard to let the Netball Australia boss’ unilateral methods go by without question. At least twice they brought a fight to her door. First, when she brokered a last-minute deal to sell the Super Netball grand final to the highest-paying government, drawing the ire of fans and players alike. Second, when she signed the Hancock Prospecting deal. Both were decisions made with the game’s future in mind. Specifically, debts worth $4 million and a going concern notice issued by creditors to kick off the year. But the former AFLW administrator failed to bring her most important stakeholder – the players – along with her.

Gina Rinehart. They issued three separate media releases to prove otherwise, but Hancock Prospecting and the company’s executive chairman Rinehart were the losers in their showdown with the Diamonds. Netball Australia trumpeted a replacement deal with the Victorian government within days of Rinehart’s petulant announcement and the Diamonds players proved through their actions they intended to make good on the team’s “sisters in arms” motto. Rinehart held on to her $15 million – a drop in the ocean of the magnate’s many billions – but the episode underlined her unwillingness to address the racist remarks of her late father, Laing Hancock.

The Dress. The old netty dress had quite the year, first as the object of ire in the Hancock Prospecting controversy and then as the focus of the game’s efforts to modernise and expand its player base. At the year’s close, Netball Australia had updated its uniform guidelines – once wedded to the fit-and-flare dress – to allow players to wear a uniform of their choice, from leggings and shorts to bike pants and bodysuits, with head coverings allowed and a variety of shirt and top options.

Controversy cornered, and Woman of the year

Donnell Wallam. The personification of dignity under pressure, Wallam had not even played for Australia when she found herself at the centre of a storm over Netball Australia’s new sponsor, Hancock Prospecting. She endured a torrent of online abuse when it emerged she did not want to wear the company’s logo on her dress and that her Diamonds teammates wanted to stand with her on the issue. Wallam has not gone into detail about the toll that period took on her but her understated, emotional interview was telling. On the court she was unruffled, scoring the winning goal on debut against England and earning the Australian Institute of Sport Emerging Athlete of the Year award to add to her Super Netball Rookie of the Year award.

Man of the Year

Brodie Roberts. The Australian goal attack was imperious this year, in which the men’s game ramped up to new levels. Geelong-raised Roberts played with the side in the first televised men’s Tests between Australia, New Zealand and England, and stamped his authority over the series.

Quote of the Year

“I was relieved to finally get my chance on court – it’s been some of the toughest few weeks of my life. To finally get out there and just play in this dress was really special.”
Donnell Wallam let her netball do the talking after spending two weeks as a lightning rod for sport’s culture wars. She scored with her first touch of the ball in her Diamonds debut against England, then shot the winning goal to seal a 55-54 thriller.

Crystal Ball

Australia pivot their commanding 2022 form into the new year and win the Netball World Cup at Cape Town in August next year.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.