Sunday Sesh Awards: The moments that defined sport in 2023
From dream come true moments and shattered records to pranks gone wrong, horrible comebacks and one disastrous backflip. We hand out awards for all the moments that defined sport in 2023.
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After a long sporting year, the Sunday Sesh hands out its annual awards for 2023. From the highs and dream come true moments, to the lows of pranks gone wrong and the fallen heroes.
These are the moments that defined sport in 2023.
OUR TEAM OF THE YEAR
The Matildas captivated the country with their performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, held in our own backyard, setting TV viewing and crowd records.
The highlight, on their way to a best-ever fourth-place finish, is the pulsating 7-6 penalty shootout victory over France in the quarter-final at Suncorp Stadium.
FAN ENGAGEMENT AWARD
Video surfaces of Brisbane Broncos superstar Reece Walsh in an ugly exchange with a young fan just three days out from the NRL grand final. As the Broncos fullback is heading away from the NRL Fan Fest at Circular Quay, a witness claims a fan told him that “Moses Leota will take your head off this weekend”.
Walsh is heard on the video responding, “I’ll take your mum’s”, as he is led away.
PRANK OF THE YEAR
Valentine Holmes posts – and quickly deletes – a photo of himself to his own Instagram account with what appeared to be a bag of white powder in his mouth during post-season celebrations.
The Cowboys and the NRL don’t see the funny side, however, collectively hitting Holmes with a one-game suspension and fines totalling $100,000, half of which was suspended, for the “prank gone wrong”.
UNLUCKIEST OF BREAKS
Just weeks after making a successful recovery from a devastating knee injury that sidelined him for 384 days, Melbourne Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen suffers a heartbreaking setback. In what Fox Sports commentator Greg Alexander calls it a “horrible moment for the game.”
It’s later revealed the fullback has broken his right ankle in his side’s 26-0 loss to Brisbane.
VALE KYLE TURNER, JOHN SATTLER
The rugby league community mourns the passing of former South Sydney premiership-winner Kyle Turner, who was just 31. It comes a few months after the game lost the legendary John Sattler, who died aged 80, after a long battle with dementia. And then came the loss of popular Maroons firebrand Carl Webb in December following his fight against motor neurone disease.
SHARES IN TAPE
There was pre-season boycotts, media bans, logo cover-ups and potential player strikes. The bitter pay war between the NRL and the RLPA dragged on and on before peace was funny achieved in August. It happened just before players took to the field for the warm-up between Manly and Penrith with players having to peel off the tape from their covered jersey. They also shelved plans to delay kick-off.
WASH, RINSE & THREE-PEAT
Too good. Historic and no end point. Penrith did what most thought was unachievable in the modern game, win three straight premierships to cement themselves as one of the best teams of all time. Their 26-24 win against Brisbane was one of the best grand finals.
STEP INTO THE RING
Royce Hunt labelled Corey Horsburgh a ‘weak-gutted’ dog and threatened to bash him next time the pair met on the field. That is yet to happen. But we can’t wait.
ALL SMOKE, NO FIRE AWARD
If only the Dragons showed as much fight on the field. Mikaele Ravalawa and Zane Musgrove were involved in a pre-season dust up just hours after being flogged in the Charity Shield. It set the tempo for another disappointing season for the Dragons.
BUNGLE OF THE YEAR
ACT police are rightly in the firing line for the way they handled Latrell Mitchell and Jack Wighton’s arrest. The pair were embarrassed and a court case cast a shadow on their 2023.
SOCIAL MEDIA AWARD
Jarome Luai has trigger fingers. If it’s not fans in the firing line then the Penrith superstar took aim at a couple of journalists, including one of your correspondents. He also had a sly dig at coach Ivan Cleary late in the year. Luai is nothing but entertaining.
BACKFLIP OF THE YEAR
Victorian premier Dan Andrews’ shambolic withdrawal from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, leaving officials scrambling to find an alternative, runs the risk that the event, which started back in 1930 as the British Empire Games, has run its final race.
TEENAGE DREAM
Aussie swimming sensation Mollie O’Callaghan, 19, upstages superstar teammate Ariarne Titmus and Canadian star Summer McIntosh at the World Championships in Japan, unleashing a blistering last lap to win the 200m freestyle gold medal and break the world record.
Her time of 1:52.85 eclipses the mark set by Italy’s Federica Pelligrini’s at the 2009 world championships in Rome when the sport’s officials let competitors wear rubbery suits that aided buoyancy.
THREAT FEARS
Cate Campbell reveals a frightening late night phone call threatening her with rape after she posted an article on her social media account that she wrote for News Corp, detailing athletes’ battle with online trolling.
DON’T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB AWARD
It used to be that footy players spent the summer months causing carnage. Not any more. If you want evidence of the changing face of the NRL, look no further than South Sydney stars Damien Cook, Alex Johnston and Tom Burgess. The trio exorcised their inner entertainers over the off-season when they starred in a Wiggles video to celebrate Christmas. Cook and Johnston then stepped it up a notch, taking to the stage at a concert with the Wiggles this week. It was good fun but as singers, let’s just say they make great footy players. Meanwhile, George Burgess hung up the boots and promptly starred in a movie, a blackcomedy called ‘Christmess’. Apparently Burgess steals the show. Next stop - Hollywood baby.
UGLY BASKETBRAWL
Australian basketballer Dante Exum avoids serious injury after being body slammed onto the court during a wild brawl between his team, Real Madrid, and Partizan Belgrade in a Euroleague playoff clash. His attacker, former NBA forward Guerschon Yabusele, receives just a five-game suspension.
MOTHER OF ALL RETURNS
The reason behind Naomi Osaka’s mysterious withdrawal from the Australian Open is revealed when the tennis star announces she’s expecting a baby. She gives birth to daughter, Shae, in July and returns to the court two months later.
BEST COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
Adam O’Brien was 80 minutes away from being sacked. Instead he somehow turned around Newcastle’s fortunes and developed them into one of the best side’s late in the season. He did this all while dealing with the tragic loss of his mother.
WORST COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
Eddie Jones’ disastrous Wallabies return. Not only embarrassed a code which had lost all relevancy in the Australian market but has severely damaged his own legacy after denying an interview with Japan and then taking a job with Cherry Blossoms.
THE MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AWARD
Everyone was thinking it and Storm skipper Christian Welch said it, he just didn’t realise the microphones were on in the post-match press conference.
After discovering a severely understrength Penrith side beat Newcastle, Welch couldn’t believe it, asking coach Craig Bellamy “How did the Knights lose? The Panthers didn‘t have anyone”
The hilarious moment went viral and obviously caught the attention of Knights players, who subsequently went on a 10-game winning streak to storm into the NRL finals.
THE CLEAN SWEEP AWARD
So the Wests Tigers gave Lee Hagipantelis three more years as chair and then backtracked? Sounds familiar in Tiger Town, where Tim Sheens’ coaching return lasted just one year, which kickstarted what has been a massive clean-out.
THE IT’S JUST NOT AUSTRALIAN AWARD
Channelling their best efforts in replicating Manly’s pride jersey blunder with their own jersey stuff-up. The Tigers were forced to scrap their original Anzac Day jersey after it depicted soldiers who were not Australian.
WEDDING OF THE YEAR
There were plenty of wedding bells in the off-season. Some of the game’s players including Wade Graham, Max King, Reuben Cotter, Luke Brooks, Jacob Liddle, Nathan Brown, Jack Wighton and Scott Sorenson all walked down the aisle. NRL power couple Adam Elliott and Millie Boyle also tied the knot, while Cameron Munster is set to wed his long-time partner on New Year’s Eve.
COMMITMENT TO THE CAUSE
Jess Sergis promising to cut off part of her toe should surgery fail to repair an ongoing issue. Sergis declared her “toes are ugly anyway” as she contemplated the move.
BAZ-BAWL SPIRIT OF THE GAME AWARD
England’s carry on over the “spirit of the game” debate following Alex Carey’s dismissal of Jonny Bairstow. The Poms have gone on and on and on about it. Unlucky.
ANGE-BALL AWARD
Ange Postecoglou wasn’t the first choice for Tottenham but he quickly emerged as the best choice as he took the Premier League by storm. After success in Scotland with Celtic, Postecoglou made a flying start with long-suffering Spurs, prompting Robbie Williams to pen a song in his honour to the tune of his hit ‘Angels’.
FAIR PLAY AWARD
Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon went hammer-and-tong in the pole vault final at the world track and field championships in Budapest. Kennedy set a new national record to heap pressure on Moon. Moon, the Olympic and world champion, responded with a clearance of their own. They talked about a jump off but eventually settled on sharing the gold. Kennedy broke down in tears. There was barely a dry eye in the house.
TURNCOAT TIM AWARD
Tim Tszyu is a hell of a fighter. He cut a swath through the super welterweight division this year and if he has his way next year, he will unify the titles. He also has developed a curious habit of being photographed in assorted NRL jerseys. For those of you confused by where Tim’s allegiances lie, we’re assured he is a South Sydney fan.
KO OF THE YEAR AWARD
Hard to go past Tim Tszyu’s devastating destruction of Carlos Ocampo. Tszyu set the Mexican up with a pair of right hands but then ended the fight with a picture-perfect left hook that sent Ocampo into Disneyland. A special shoutout to his brother Nikita for his KO of Dylan Biggs and Jai Opetaia for his sensational thrashing for England’s Jordan Thompson.
Opetaia finished the year relinquishing his IBF cruiserweight world title, but he went down swinging — slamming the sanctioning body, boxing matches featuring YouTubers and more.
Cast your vote here.
THE ONE NO ONE SAW COMING AWARD
The PGA Tour and LIV golf have spent most of the past two years at war only for peace to remarkable break out in June when it emerged that the parties had been talking about a merger behind closed doors. The sporting world was stunned. The details are still being nutted out.
NARROW MISS AWARD
Australian golfer Harrison Crowe was standing on the 16th green at Augusta when inclement weather caused three gigantic pine trees to come crashing to the turf only 50 metres away. Spectators were sent scurrying while Crowe’s concern was with his family. Fortunately, they were watching from the other side of the green.
RAHM RAIDER AWARD
Jon Rahm started the year by claiming his first green jacket at the Masters and finished it with a cheque for $400 million in his back pocket after switching to LIV Golf. Not a bad year’s work.
HISTORY MAN
Novak Djokovic matched our very own Margaret Court by winning his 24th major title at the US Open, when he manhandled Danil Medvedev over three sets.
STAR IS BORN AWARD
How good can Nestor Irankunda be? The Adelaide teen sensation stepped up and scored an incredible curling free kick against Melbourne City, his first goal as a starter. He’s now on his way to Bayern Munich after the German club beat off interest from across the globe. He’s only going to get better, too.
ROBBIE KEARNS HORSE RIDING AWARD
Last year Glenn Maxwell broke his leg at a party. This time around it was a concussion after falling off the back of a golf cart. He may need to become a bubble boy.
PLEASE MAKE IT STOP AWARD
To all the fans asking the players for their jersey, socks, shorts, mouthguards etc and some not even saying please! It’s becoming a bit too much. If the players choose to gift you an item at least say thank you.
ROOSTER TO FEATHER DUSTER AWARD
This time last year the Kangaroos were celebrating a magnificent win at the rugby league World Cup. Fast forward 12 months and their year ended with a beat down at the hands of New Zealand.
THE SWIPE LEFT AWARD
Poor old St George Illawarra. They were interested in Addin Fonua-Blake, Tom Dearden, Connor Tracey and Englishman Jack Welsby, who all chose different partners.
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