Another year has passed, with plenty happening across all our favourite Australian sporting codes. We've asked our ESPN experts to look back through the year and list their five biggest Australian headlines for each code, while explaining their choice for the biggest headline of the year.
Aussie Rules
Damien Hardwick inks six-year deal to coach Suns
Andrew Dillon to replace Gill McLachlan as AFL CEO
Controversial Crows loss stands as AFL concedes error
Nick Daicos sidelined for six weeks with knee fracture
And the biggest AFL headline of 2023:
Sydney star Lance Franklin retires from AFL
It probably wasn't the most unexpected news surfacing in the AFL world this year, but it certainly felt like the most talked about. Future legend of the game Lance Franklin pulled the curtain down on his stellar football career after suffering a calf injury against the Bombers in Round 20. Franklin finished up with 354 games, 1,066 goals and what felt like millions of highlight reel worthy plays.
Rugby League
Payne Haas to stay with Broncos until end of 2026
NRL confirms teams for 2024 Las Vegas games
Newcastle beat Titans for back-to-back NRLW titles
Kiwis flog Australia in record Pacific Cup final win
And the biggest Rugby League headline of 2023:
Panthers complete three-peat with incredible fightback
It will go down in the history books as one of the greatest NRL grand finals ever played, with the Brisbane Broncos racing out to a 24-8 lead with three quick tries early in the second half, before the Panthers charged home to victory. Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary took control of the game and steered the Panthers to their third straight title, the first time the feat had been achieved since the Parramatta Eels in the 1980s. The Broncos were left broken-hearted, having given their all to end the Panther juggernaut.
Rugby
Rennie dumped, Jones returns for Wallabies second coming
Joseph Suaali'i switches codes to Wallabies, Waratahs
Hooper, Cooper omitted from World Cup squad
McLennan dumped as RA chairman after board coup
And the biggest Rugby headline of 2023:
Eddie Jones plotted Wallabies exit on eve of Rugby World Cup
What a crazy old year for Australian rugby, huh? First Eddie Jones is brought back on a five-year deal, before, only nine-and-a-half months later, he agrees to part ways with Rugby Australia - his copybook likely stamped "never to be involved again". But it was the allegation that Jones interviewed with Japan, just a few days out from World Cup kick-off, that really stung Australian rugby, despite Rugby Australia administrators' reticence to ask him straight up if he did in fact discuss the soon-to-be-vacant Brave Blossoms role. Jones himself did his best to duck questions during the global showpiece, offering only that he was "committed to Australian rugby", albeit without an exact timeframe on that same commitment. Jones has since accepted the Japanese job, but he continues to deny that he met with JRFU officials over Zoom. The original story broke on the morning of the Wallabies' crunch clash with Wales - some 12 hours later they had been embarrassed 40-6 by Warren Gatland's team, which meant their World Cup campaign was all but over.
Football
Australia exit World Cup, but Sam Kerr's goal lives forever
Football Australia confirms 8 clubs for second division
Irankunda to follow the footsteps of Bayern prodigies Davies, Tel
With the Scottish treble secured, what's next for Tottenham target Ange Postecoglou?
And the biggest Football headline of 2023:
Sam Kerr to miss Australia's first two WWC games with injury
It was the calf that stopped the nation. While the World Cup was expected to dominate headlines and TV spots, no one expected (or wanted, for that matter) Sam Kerr's calf injury to be the topic du jour for the first half of the Matildas' tournament. Announced mere hours before the opening game, the injury ruled her out of the entire group stage, ensuring that every press conference and media opportunity included at least some questions about the skipper's leg. Her first minutes of the tournament -- against Denmark in the round of 16 -- brought relief in two ways: her return to the pitch and the end of questions about the most notorious muscle in Australia.
Cricket
Maxwell 201* brings home the Australian miracle and a place in the World Cup semi-final
Meg Lanning retires from international cricket
Pat Cummins rises to the occasion to seal two-wicket Edgbaston epic
Ashes finds its flashpoint as Bairstow stumping ignites England
And the biggest Cricket headline of 2023:
Head's magnificent 137 leads Australia to sixth World Cup title
A defining moment for the Australia men's team as they defeated India on home soil in front of a sea of more than 90,000 blue shirts in Ahmedabad. When Pat Cummins found the inside edge of Virat Kohli, the ball bouncing back into the stumps, there was deafening silence around the ground. They found their voice again as Australia's top order wobbled, but Travis Head, whose entry to the World Cup had been delayed by a broken hand, played one of the great innings alongside the calmness of Marnus Labuschagne - a player who a just a few weeks earlier wasn't even going to be at the tournament.