What does 2021 hold in store for the Canberra Raiders, ACT Brumbies and Olympic hopefuls?

Few could have imagined what 2020 had in store after the coronavirus pandemic derailed sporting competitions around the globe, but things are slowly creeping back towards normality.

The ACT Brumbies enter a new era for trans-Tasman rugby hoping it can be the dawn of another golden age for Australia's most successful Super Rugby club.

The Canberra Raiders will look to put injury demons and off-field woes behind them in a bid to break a premiership drought, and recent history tells us they are genuine NRL title contenders.

Let's gaze into Canberra sport's crystal ball and see what we've got in store for 2021.

Curtis Scott was well below his best in 2020 for the Raiders, after switching from the Melbourne Storm on a four-year deal.

In 13 matches for his new club, he managed just two tries and struggled to win over his new fans. He had been arrested back in January on several counts of assaulting police, and it emerged in September just why his form had been so below-par.

Footage emerged showing that police had in fact assaulted Scott to the point of unleashing a blast of pepper spray and a zap with a taser. The former Storm star had been forced to sit on his version of events until he had his day in court.

Unfortunately he re-broke his leg late in the season and was unable to take the field with a cleared her.

We're expecting Scott to rediscover his brilliant best in 2021 and bolster Canberra's attacking weapons out wide as the club looks to return to the NRL grand final for a second time in three seasons. - James Buckley

He rose from relative obscurity to get a taste of life as a Wallaby and now Len Ikitau is poised to become an ACT Brumbies star.

The exit of Tevita Kuridrani opens the door for Ikitau to stake his claim on the club's No. 13 jersey in their Super Rugby AU opener against the Western Force, lining up against the man who left that jumper vacant.

Ikitau adds strike power to one of the most exciting backlines in Super Rugby, combining with a host of capped Wallabies - think Nic White, Noah Lolesio, Tom Banks, Irae Simone and Tom Wright - to propel the Brumbies to the domestic title.

The Australian champions advance to the Trans-Tasman decider to set up a long awaited Super Bowl-style showdown with the Canterbury Crusaders. - Caden Helmers

Veteran Canberra trainer Keith Dryden and star jockey Blaike McDougall both won their respective premierships last season by a country mile and the pair are on track to do it again in 2020-21.

We're tipping both will not only easily defend their titles, but that they will best their impressive tallies from last year. Dryden has already notched 12 winners and only needs to double that to go past last season's mark of 21 wins.

With the likes of Express Courier, Dip Me Lid, Balonne, Shores Of Avalon, Scarleo, Wandonna and stable star Handle The Truth all having brilliant years, Dryden looks set for plenty more success in the first half of 2021.

As for McDougall, the classy hoop is seemingly riding as well as ever and rarely leaves Thoroughbred Park without at least one winner to his name. - James Buckley

We could just about rewind to last year's prediction for this one after the Olympic Games were postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Rugby sevens star Sharni Williams's Olympic ambition took a drastic turn with the world series brought to a halt.

The addition of another year to the Olympic cycle takes a gruelling schedule to another level for so many - yet for Williams it may serve as a blessing in disguise as she refreshes and adds a year to her career.

Now she is poised to claim another gold medal as part of Australia's sevens team.

Kelsey-Lee Barber said life became a bit of a blur when she was crowned Australia's ninth athletics world champion in 2019. Now javelin's golden girl is poised to bounce back from a year like no other and add more gold to her name.

Barber looms as one of Australia's biggest gold medal hopes following a meteoric rise over the past two years, with the 29-year-old already throwing her Olympic qualifying distance.

Basketball trio Patty Mills, Marianna Tolo and Kelsey Griffin will claim medals. - Caden Helmers

The Canberra Raiders already had one of the best forward packs in the NRL, but the arrival of Ryan James is set to take it to the next level.

So much so, the Green Machine will find themselves rolling all the way to another NRL grand final - their second in three seasons.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart had absolutely zero luck with injuries this season, especially in the forwards.

He'll be getting Josh Hodgson, Corey Horsburgh, Emre Guler and Ryan Sutton back into his pack, plus Bailey Simonsson and Curtis Scott into the outside backs.

Those absences have helped Stuart create tremendous depth across his whole squad - depth that's crucial in any premiership charge.

With a bit of luck - aka not too many injuries - Stuart will be leaving quality players on the sidelines every week - through choice rather than because they're not fit enough to play.

Any pack containing Josh Papalii's already a formidable one. But with James joining the group of young bucks - and seasoned campaigners like Elliott Whitehead, Sia Soliola and Dunamis Lui - they'll be rolling down the middle all season long.

Throw in Jack Wighton and George Williams having another pre-season under the belt together and you'll have a far more dangerous backline than it already was.

And they'll find themselves in the 2021 NRL decider. - David Polkinghorne

Canberra cycling star Michael Matthews will return to the Tour de France winners' list, franking his decision to come "home" to Greenedge Cycling from Team Sunweb.

The 30-year-old will also finally conquer the Amstel Gold Race - a race he holds close to his heart having met his wife Katarina there.

It will also spell the end of Matthews' run of outs, that's included not only crashing out of the Tour in the past, but also being forced out of last year's Giro d'Italia after testing positive to the coronavirus.

Only for it to turn out to be a false positive. Unfortunately after he'd already withdrawn from the race. At least he didn't have the COVID-19 virus though.

Matthews was originally contracted for Sunweb for the 2021 season, but sought a release after he was left out of their Tour de France squad.

Instead, Sunweb opted to use him at the Giro.

It led to a shift back to Greenedge, where he spent four years riding before making the move to Sunweb. - David Polkinghorne

He won over the respect of the Australian public in 2020 and now Nick Kyrgios will turn the dial on his return to the ATP tour.

Kyrgios will be back in action at the delayed Australian Open in February, for what will be his first grand slam since the global outbreak of COVID-19.

We saw hints of a vintage Kyrgios at Melbourne Park last summer, but the Canberran won't reach the finals for the sixth straight year after a lack of tour matches in 2020.

The world No.45 will steadily climb the ATP rankings and hold his qualifying spot for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games. He'll be the last standing Australian in the men's singles and have a deep finals run on his debut. - Lucie Bertoldo

The Canberra Capitals bounce back from finals heartbreak to force their way into a WNBL decider which could lay the platform for Kelsey Griffin's fairytale farewell.

Boxing promoter Dean Lonergan delivers a world title fight in Canberra as a window opens up for unbeaten cruiserweight Jai Opetaia to chase the IBF championship.

The Canberra Brave will get to play this year! Plus, they'll add another AIHL title to their mantle piece.