Another year over, and a new one just begun. What better time to make some rash and risky predictions? Hayden Meikle gazes into his crystal ball and sees 25 things that might happen in 2015 - but probably won't.
1: The All Blacks will NOT win the Rugby World Cup. Sorry, should have left this bad news for last. Granted, I have rather pessimistically predicted their demise in each of the last two tournaments (got one right). But this one does seem like a bridge too far. England will win, at home.
2: The Black Caps will NOT win the Cricket World Cup. Garrrhh. They will win every game right up to the final. Brendon McCullum will score three centuries and be named player of the tournament. But South Africa will win.
3: The Silver Ferns will NOT win the Netball World Cup. Sadly, you are all predicting this. They will scrape into the final, where they will sustain a record 54-goal loss to Australia.
4: Brendon McCullum will win the Halberg Award.
5: But the guest of honour at a revived This Is Your Life programme will be Irene van Dyk, who will also be made a Dame, and will also be appointed Silver Ferns coach, and will also say ''awesome'' lots.
6: A second This Is Your Life will be held, and the subject will be former New Zealand cricketer John Parker. First question: ''Hey, John, what do you think of Mike Hesson and Brendon McCullum now?''
7: Danny MORRISON. Will come HOME. And join the Sky RUGBY. Commentary teeeeam. Just to REALLY. Annoy EVERYONE. To the MAXimum. Year round.
8: Lydia Ko will win all four women's golf majors.
9: The men's majors will be shared among Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Martin Kaymer and Lydia Ko, who will be allowed to compete in one of them.
10: Ivan Vicelich will get a late call from Ernie Merrick and guide the Wellington Phoenix into the A-League final, where they will be beaten by the Melbourne Victory.
11: Manchester City will win the English Premier League, and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will blame the referees.
12: Bayern Munich will win the Champions League, and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will blame the referees.
13: Sonny Bill Williams will help the Chiefs return to the Super rugby final. Where they will be beaten by the Hurricanes.
14: No, seriously. The Hurricanes. I have it on good authority.
15: The Highlanders will miss out on the playoffs by a point, by the way.
16: A New Zealand golfer will finally win the New Zealand Open again at The Hills. (It won't be Lydia Ko. She will, however, win the New Zealand Women's Open at Clearwater.)
17: Three more Ashes series will be crammed into the year. Incredibly, Ian Healy and company will get even more nauseatingly biased.
18: I am not going to predict the winners of the 18 different twenty20 premier leagues around the world.
19: Formula 1 will unveil 87 new tweaks to the rulebook. They will have something to do with the engine and the wheels.
20: Roger Federer will win one more grand slam tennis title. Novak Djokovic will win the other three men's titles. Serena Williams will win two of the women's titles, and the other two will be claimed by women whose names end in -ova.
21: Queensland will regain the State of Origin title with a 3-0 sweep in THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL. The Rabbitohs will claim back-to-back NRL titles in THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL. The Warriors will make the top four in THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL. And the Dally M will be won by Sam Burgess, who will be released from his rugby contract so he can return to THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL.
22: An Australian team will win the ANZ Championship. Too easy.
23: The winners of the major American sports will be the Seattle Seahawks (NFL), the San Antonio Spurs (NBA), the Boston Red Sox (Major League Baseball) and the New York Islanders (NHL).
24: The Breakers will win the Australian league. And the Tall Blacks will win every single game next year. But basketball will still get less funding than triathlon, lawn bowls and Greco-Roman wrestling.
25: Pacquiao v Mayweather. Finally. And Floyd wins.
