OPINION: What was the moment that captured your sporting attention in 2019? Newshub's panel of experts weigh in...
ISRAEL ADESANYA WINS UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE IN MELBOURNE
Phenomenal athlete, phenomenal character... phenomenal champion.
NZ Athlete of the Year and has to win the Halberg Supreme Award.
Bring me an argument for anyone else and I'll laugh in your face.
Ross Karl, Newshub rugby editor
SILVER FERNS WIN NETBALL WORLD CUP
They were never in the conversation to become world champions earlier in the year, after a 2018 to forget, but the Silver Ferns shocked the world, when they beat Australia 52-51 in the final.
The comeback was complete, the Ferns firmly back to where they belong.
Ollie Ritchie, Newshub sports reporter & The Cup 19 podcast host
BLACKCAPS LOSE CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL ON COUNTBACK
Fifteen centimetres… six inches.
As Al Pacino once said, the inches we need are all around us.
In terms of sporting drama, you simply couldn't have asked for any more than the world one-day final at Lord's.
New Zealand had somehow landed in the decider, after a rollercoaster tournament that saw them open with five straight wins - and a rained-out draw against India - then three straight losses to Pakistan, Australia and hosts England.
They were dead lucky to make the semi-finals, with only the fortuitous rain-out point and a run-rate countback edging them ahead of the Pakistanis.
Once there, the weather again played a part against the world No.1 Indians, with the Blackcaps grinding out an unlikely victory in a match stretched over two days.
One quality epitomised the NZ campaign - their refusal to roll over and die when the odds were stacked against them.
So to the final, where - as it had four years earlier - their luck ran out.
After 50 overs each, the scores were tied, largely due to six overthrows awarded when the ball hit NZ-born England all-rounder Ben Stokes' bat and rolled to the boundary.
After a designated 'super over', the scores were still tied, with out-of-form Blackcaps opener Martin Guptill run out by those 15cm, attempting the winning run.
Of course, the final result came down to a countback of boundaries, which the English infamously won, leaving Kiwis sports fans 'gutted' for at least another four years.Game of inches, people… game of inches.
Grant Chapman, Newshub digital sports editor
ISRAEL ADESANYA WINS UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE IN MELBOURNE
The jewel in the crown of New Zealand's latest sporting superstar.
Unfazed by a history-making crowd of over 57,000 inside Melbourne's Marvel Stadium, Adesanya set the tone with the kind of choreographed entrance only he could muster the confidence to pull off.
After patiently assessing the highly favoured Whittaker, Adesanya crumpled him to the canvas in the waning seconds of the first round.
That was a harbinger of what was to come in the second, when the Kiwi-Nigerian switched the Aussie's lights out to become New Zealand's first-ever UFC champion.
Magical.
Stephen Foote, Newshub online sports producer
SILVER FERNS WIN NETBALL WORLD CUP
The Silver Ferns are on top of the world, after beating Australia in the Netball World Cup final by one goal.
A monumental effort for a team that finished only fourth at the Commonwealth Games a year earlier.
Luke Robinson, Newshub online sports producer
