There was the arrival of Shaun Johnson, who excelled in both wins over the Kangaroos and his performance in the final will be talked about for years.
There was the redemption of coach Stephen Kearney, who was fortunate to retain his job after the World Cup but completed an impressive rebuilding job.
Perhaps the most compelling storyline was Manu Vatuvei's return to prominence. His international career looked over when he was left out of the Anzac test, then missed the cut for the first Four Nations game.
But Vatuvei, the only survivor from the 2005 Tri Nations triumph, had a game for the ages in the Wellington final. He scored two special tries, with an incredible fingertip catch that almost defied physics - and Vatuvei's history - for the first.
2) Dutch treat for Thomas
This was Boys' Own stuff, or right out of Roy of the Rovers - a 19-year-old Te Puke teenager scores two goals to help engineer one of the biggest upsets in Dutch football history, as PEC Zwolle beat perennial giants Ajax 5-1 in the Dutch Cup final.
Champagne flowed in the dressing room and the team eventually arrived back in Zwolle at 3am to be greeted by delirious fans at their home stadium.
"It was the middle of the night and there were thousands of people waiting for us," recalled Thomas. "It was incredible. They were singing songs, chanting, crying. That is when you realised how much it meant."
Thomas was signed by the modest Eredivisie team before the 2013-14 season, after paying his own way to Europe for trials. He was expected to gradually find his feet in the youth side, but the former Waikato FC player quickly established himself in the first team.
The Cup final triumph - the most significant European trophy won by a Kiwi footballer since the days of Wynton Rufer in the 1980s and 1990s - was also the first for Zwolle, and 35,000 people lined the city's canals for a civic reception.
Ryan Thomas helped his Dutch club win a first trophy.
3) Steven Adams
For a few weeks in May, it seemed like NBA basketball became the water-cooler topic de jour. We had a Kiwi in the NBA playoffs - not the first, sure - but the first to be getting regular game time. And this in his rookie season.
Most New Zealanders adopted the Oklahoma City Thunder for a few weeks and 20-year-old Steven Funaki Adams became the centre of attention. His team were knocked out one stage before the finals by the San Antonio Spurs but that didn't seem to matter.
4) Jack Bauer
Cries of "C'mon Jack" haven't meant this much since BBC commentator Harold Abrahams urged Jack Lovelock around the Berlin Olympic track in 1936. Riding for Garmin Sharp in the Tour de France, New Zealand cyclist Jack Bauer had been part of a two-man breakaway for almost the entire 222km of the 15th stage, the third-longest of the race, battling wind, rain, climbs and all the mental demons you would expect. Bauer hit the front a few hundred metres from the finish but the peloton were gaining and the Kiwi domestique was overtaken just 10m from the line.
"I thought I had it but then I realised in the last 50m that I had nothing," Bauer reflected.
Jack Bauer just missed a famous win.
5) Surf lifesaving glory
How did this happen? And happen again? Anyone who has spent time in the sunburnt country across the Tasman knows surf lifesaving is a national obsession, like cricket, barbecues and zinc. In New Zealand, it's more of a niche sport but somehow, for the second time in a row, New Zealand became world champions, beating Australia (and everyone else) in France in September. The team, captained by Andy McMillan, won a truckload of medals and set three world records as they competed in 41 disciplines across four days.
6) Mountainbiking medals
Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze rekindled visions of Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty in Athens as they duelled from the first lap of the Commonwealth Games race. The two teenagers bested the pre-event favourites, world No 3 Daniel McConnell of Australia and highly-rated Canadian Max Plaxon in the best memory of the 2014 Games. Cooper produced a late burst to win gold but Gaze was gracious in defeat.
"I really wanted to win but you can't always win them," Gaze said. "The next best thing was my countryman winning. We were together from the start but, coming into that last lap, we were going to do our own thing. I'm so happy for him."
Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze were first and second at Glasgow. Photo / Greg Bowker
7) Auckland City FC
Words like 'fairytale' and 'miracle' can be overused in sport but Auckland City's campaign at the Club World Cup had it all. They were meant to be going home after the first game but just kept going. The Moroccan champions were seen off, the African champions were taken care of and the South American champions were taken to the wire. And then for good measure, they beat North America's top club, via another thrilling penalty shootout. They were the ASB Premiership battlers who captured the imagination of a surprised New Zealand public as a group of players looking to start or rebuild careers performed incredibly on the world stage.
Auckland City repeatedly defied expectations at the Club World Cup. Photo / AP
8) Fitzgerald finds some Magic
The Magic were meant to be also-rans last season. They had lost Laura Langman and Irene van Dyk, and inspirational coach Noeline Taurua. With a potpourri of new players, incoming coach Julie Fitzgerald brought them together with stunning results. The Magic were top of the table during the first half of the season and came within one match of another grand final, finishing as the best New Zealand franchise by a considerable margin.
9) Taranaki becomes 'top town'
It's been a long time since New Plymouth was the centre of New Zealand rugby but it felt like that in late October. Taranaki hosted Tasman in the ITM Cup final, the first time either finalist was from a non-Super Rugby base. The unlikely match-up was a huge boost for the competition, with Taranaki beating Auckland in an epic semifinal and Tasman stopping Canterbury's push for a seventh consecutive title. The yellow-and-blacks prevailed, becoming the first NPC champions from outside a major metropolitan centre since Manawatu in 1980.
Berny Hall and Taranaki celebrated a first national provincial rugby title. Photo / Photosport
10) Liverpool win the English Premier League*
For some, this was going to be the feel-good story of the year, perhaps decade - the Anfield club breaking a 24-year title drought, playing some scintillating, attacking football inspired by local boy Steven Gerrard nearing the end of his career. The Reds were huge outsiders but just kept winning to the point they were almost unbackable favourites with three games to play. They'd won 11 successive matches and led Chelsea by five points and Manchester City by six. Liverpool were hosting Chelsea, with the London club said to be distracted by Champions League commitments. And it's best we leave the story there ...
Steven Gerrard came close to a first Premier League title. Photo / AP
* Not quite
