KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks
It has been a nightmare year for superstitious sorts who see the cruel crushing of battered foes between World Cup years as a sign that the rugby gods will once again consign our All Blacks-obsessed land to a purgatorial hell come cup time. For more reasoned beings, though, 2006 was a glorious triumph for Graham Henry's men. They won 12 of 13 tests and rose through the season to smash one and all on the European tour.
The Richie McCaw/Dan Carter double act
We are witnessing the careers of two rugby legends. All Black captaincy spurred McCaw to even greater heights, never more so than in the victory over Australia at Brisbane. Carter is a minimalist who continues to have a maximum effect on almost every match he plays. Most significantly, he lands important goals the way Tiger Woods nails vital putts. Exhibit A - the 55m penalty at Twickenham which helped to knock the stuffing out of England. Carter is yip-free come goalkicking time, which elicits yippees from Canterbury and All Black fans.
Keith Robinson
A heartwarming test rugby comeback after a dodgy back threatened his career. Robinson may look like a forward from the past, but he leads the way in modern-day workrate and efficiency.
The All Black front-rowers
The men who march right over everyone they meet in rugby's dark alley.
That's enough about rugby (as if we can ever get enough of the stuff)
Mike Sanderson
Around-the-world winner and international yachtie of the year. The popular Sanderson sails in giant shadows past and present in this country, but he may be the greatest offshore racer in the world right now. A winner off and on the water, a Joe Ordinary who achieves the extraordinary, and, perhaps, a future America's Cup leader.
Valerie Vili
The young New Zealand shot put star won Commonwealth Games gold in Melbourne with a record mark, triumphed in the World Cup at the Olympic Stadium in Greece, and finished the year ranked No 2 in the world. Vili helped partially save a New Zealand Commonwealth Games effort that was only adequate, and is a rare Kiwi Olympic gold medal prospect in athletics.
The America's Cup team
Those with the stamina needed to follow the programme of pre-cup regattas (there have been a dozen) will have noticed that Team New Zealand won the last match-racing event in Valencia, beating holders Alinghi at the 2007 cup venue. This was a lovely warm breeze over what have been rough Team NZ waters, and suggests that Grant Dalton may have whipped the team into shape for next year's America's Cup assault. Could it be that Dalton's team has a handle on the situation and we won't have to rely on a bucket this time?
A few more kiwis with the feel-good factor ...
World rowing champ Mahe Drysdale; the Commonwealth Games netballers; rookie star-class stars Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams; super-veteran Anna Richards and the champion Black Ferns; motor racer Jonny Reid; multi-talented cyclist/duathlete Rebecca Spence.
And a couple of international stars with the goods (the usual suspects)
Tiger Woods
Woods overcame the death of his revered and influential father, Earl, to finish the year with two more major titles on his relentless march towards Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. After his father's death, Woods missed the cut at a major - the US Open - for the first time in his professional career.
But he roared back with an emotion-filled victory in the British Open, kept his bank account ticking over nicely with a string of other victories and was nigh-on unbeatable come the year's end.
The world's best appear to fall apart once Woods mounts his charges.
He isn't the most charismatic of champions, but we may be witnessing the career of the greatest sportsman in history.
Woods is not only a golf genius, but remarkably clinical in analysing and "fixing" a game that never looks broken to the rest of us.
Roger Federer
Stylish tennis ace in every respect. The Swiss master clocked up three more major titles, and made the final of the French Open. You could watch this elegant tennis assassin for hours, although he dismantles opponents in minutes.
