KEY POINTS:
Write something joyful for Christmas, they said.
So here goes.
At the risk of putting the kiss of death on our soccer, basketball and league franchises, there is a teeny-weeny possibility that New Zealand could snare all three of these major Australian titles next year.
I can hear
the laughing from here, but steady on because even the Phoenix - the team most likely to turn this suggestion into ashes - are in the hunt for the A-league title.
Of course, they won't win... except you can't actually say that just yet.
Who knows? Just about every team is always in the hunt for the A-league title which uses a top-four finals system in an eight-league competition.
The Phoenix have confounded the critics with a strong mid-season run.
Fired by Shane Smeltz goals, they are handily placed in fifth as the season turns into the New Year. Soccer realists expect them to fade in the home straight, not least because of an over-reliance on Smeltz for goals. Having surprised many of us by doing so well however, why not dream a little and envisage Ricki Herbert's side making a genuine bid for the title.
There's no need to dream such thoughts for the Breakers, who are roaring towards a date with destiny and received good news this week over the fitness of classy point guard CJ Bruton.
The Breakers are being helped significantly because their opponents are struggling to break even. Financial pressure is destabilising other clubs.
The Breakers are running neck and neck with the Melbourne Dragons at the top of the ANBL, having lost just four times this year. They also have a superb away record.
Which brings us to the most high profile of the three teams, the Warriors. The Warriors just have to find a way of winning a few more games across the Ditch, and maybe the sensational finals victory over Melbourne this year will give them confidence on that score.
They have never won the title, and don't often get close. They have made no major signings, apart from Stacey Jones making his umpteenth return from retirement. Yet I'll go out on an early limb and say that 2009 is going to be their year.
Ivan Cleary's squad has a good nucleus of hardened players with the likes of Manu Vatuvei, Jerome Ropati, Sam Rapira and Evarn Tuimavave notching decent miles on the clock.
The Kiwis' triumph in the World Cup doesn't have a direct correlation, but there is a growing stability and confidence at the top of league in New Zealand even if the game struggles down below.
It has to be hoped that Jones' return doesn't become a distraction. In the past couple of years, you could claim that some players have been slow to step up to the mark and have almost been over-awed by the presence of Steve Price and Ruben Wiki.
Rapira, Tuimavave and co. need to become the leaders, rather than letting Price and Jones dominate the show.
For inspiration, they need look no further than Lance Hohaia. The little utility had a patchy past but enjoyed a wonderful 2008 club and test year in the absence of Wade McKinnon and Brent Webb.
Hohaia is no Wade McKinnon, but he does an excellent Lance Hohaia.
Why be confident about the Warriors prospects? Just a hunch more than anything, a feeling in the bones.
