The crystal ball: The athletes and events to watch as Raiders, Brumbies, Nick Kyrgios enter 2023

How about the players with a point to prove, the stars carrying the weight of a nation on their shoulders and the world championships stolen from the jaws of defeat?

A tennis star who refuses to conform? By the way, no prizes for guessing who. The chance to bring down Goliath? Ashes being reignited? Civil wars redefining the future of a sport?

Yeah, we've got plenty of that in store this year. Join The Canberra Times as we gaze into sport's crystal ball and pick out some of the biggest names and events to watch in our own backyard and across the world in 2023.

Jarrod Croker's future in the NRL is balanced on a knife's edge. The luckless Canberra Raiders centre managed just one first grade game in 2022 before he wrote another chapter in his horrendous injury tale. Coach Ricky Stuart is adamant the Raiders will not force the 292-game veteran into making a call on his future after Croker's latest setback - which came after he fended off medical retirement with stem cell surgery on his knee during the last off-season, and a shoulder reconstruction in 2020. Matt Timoko and Sebastian Kris have become Test-capped players with New Zealand while Croker - who has an option in his favour for 2024 - has been working overtime to rebuild his body. It would be heartbreaking to see a player who has given the Raiders so much fall agonisingly short of 300 games, so Croker's hopes of an NRL recall are a source of intrigue heading into the new year.

They say the ACT Brumbies flyhalf is a flight risk. Another year of uncertainty has compounded fears Noah Lolesio could turn his back on Australian rugby for rich offers overseas. The 23-year-old has fallen out of Dave Rennie's Wallabies side more times than punters in Mooseheads have asked for The Horses. You've got to wonder where his head is after slipping behind Cooper and Bernard Foley in the race for the Wallabies' No.10 jersey heading into a World Cup year, despite being anointed the heir apparent more than two years ago. Lolesio will be desperate to make an impact at Super Rugby Pacific level for the Brumbies, and if that's not enough for Rennie to back him, Stephen Larkham's hunt for a new flyhalf in 2024 will go into overdrive.

She is the most recognisable name in the Matildas squad but you'd be right for thinking Sam Kerr still doesn't get the credit she deserves on home soil. That all changes this year when Australia and New Zealand host the FIFA World Cup, and one of the biggest stars in the game takes centre stage with the weight of a nation behind her. There is unlikely to be another player with such pressure on her shoulders leading into the World Cup, but you get the sense Kerr will relish the chance to write a fairytale down under. If you're still not quite grasping Kerr's standing in soccer, the Matildas captain is the first female footballer to have graced the international cover of FIFA 23 - the latest instalment in one of the planet's most popular video game series - alongside French superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Australia's greatest clutch performer wants to defend her world title, and no matter how far her rivals throw a javelin during the Budapest world championships, they won't be able to rest until Kelsey-Lee Barber is done. The reigning world titleholder has twice won major gold medals with her final throw, making her one of athletics' most captivating competitors. She's just about lost count of how many times people have asked her to relive the throw that won Commonwealth Games gold. "That one has popped up a few times actually, but even more so I really enjoy watching the world championships throw. That one is special," Barber said. "It was the throw itself. I haven't felt a throw like that since 2019 in regards to the way the throw came together, how it flew, the distance and all of it. To feel that again was really special, and watching it, you feel the sensations, so it's always nice to step back into that moment."

It's only natural to measure Tim Tszyu against the legacy of his legendary father Kostya. Tszyu 2.0 tells you this has never been about the son versus the father - but there is little doubt the chance to follow in his old man's footsteps is a driving force. Now Tszyu has a chance to do something few have done before, by becoming the ninth man to become an undisputed champion in boxing's four-belt era. Kostya fought in the three-belt era, and he will be watching with anticipation as Tszyu chases American Jermell Charlo's WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC super welterweight titles. A bout in January has been scuppered by an injury to Charlo, which could complicate the title picture. But when the Sydneysider finally gets his chance, a win would mean the new Tszyu is not just a household name in Australia - he is a global superstar.

Let's kick off in our own backyard. As if the Canberra Raiders' budding rivalry with the NRL's reigning premiers needed any more heat, Ricky Stuart unscrewed the jerry can and poured the fuel on an open flame. The Raiders host the Penrith Panthers at Canberra Stadium on March 31, with the Friday night clash to mark their first meeting since three words - "weak-gutted dog" - sent the rugby league world into meltdown. Jaeman Salmon would do well to get a start in that game for Penrith, but take him out of the equation and there is still plenty to look forward to. The Panthers are loaded with some of the game's best talents, but they've long been considered arrogant by green-eyed Raiders fans. And the battle between Joe Tapine, Josh Papalii, James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota? That's worth the price of admission alone.

Must-watch television for any tennis fan, sure, but this is here for another reason - the guy who defies Wimbledon's traditional all-white dress code and pulls on a red hat. Nick Kyrgios might be the most divisive Australian athlete but the reality is people want to read about him, and they want to know how he is performing. If he's blowing up and bowing out, they'll tell you he should give it away, that he doesn't care. If he's winning, he's a reformed darling of Australian sport. That's why people will be so intrigued to see how the Canberran performs when he returns to Wimbledon after Kyrgios reached the final of the 2022 tournament, which he dropped to Novak Djokovic. Kyrgios has always told us he prefers other things over tennis, that his phenomenal talent can be a burden. But that combination of a short fuse and superb skill - the sublime serve and the soft hands - makes him the ultimate entertainer, even if he refuses to conform to the norm.

Remember that piece of paper spotted in the Australian cricket team's viewing area during the Adelaide Test? "Ronball" was the word of the day, a nod to coach Andrew McDonald and a cheeky jab at "Bazball", the revolutionary approach to Test cricket fashioned by England and their coach Brendon McCullum. David Warner wonders how sustainable the approach is on a seaming wicket - and come June's Ashes, we'll all find out. This time last year, England were reeling. They'd lost the Ashes, embarrassed during Scott Boland's finest hour. Come March, they'd won one of 17 Tests. Now, they've won nine of their past 10 and have scored runs at a record pace of 4.77 runs per over since McCullum took over. Will Bazball work against an Australian attack spearheaded by Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc? Will curators prepare flat pitches and back their countrymen to cash in on a newfound approach to the five-day game? After they were embarrassed by Australia last summer, England have found a way to reignite the Ashes.

The Wallabies went from a team in crisis to a side giving fans just enough reason to believe in one fell swoop. They narrowly avoided their worst year on record after a great escape on a spring tour which was always a play away from leaving the Wallabies with five wins or no wins. So what to make of Australia's chances of lifting the World Cup in France? The knives will be sharpened for Dave Rennie if the Wallabies struggle to fire early, but fans are desperate for a reason to believe in their national team again. A remarkable injury toll in 2022 - which saw Rennie call upon 50 players to wear Wallabies jerseys - has inadvertently built depth within the national program, but how Australia's best XV looks when they open their campaign against Georgia in September is anyone's guess.

The inception of LIV Golf has sparked a bitter civil war on the golf course, pitting Australian legend Greg Norman and his allies against Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and the PGA Tour. In April, Australia will find itself at the centre of the fight for golf's future with The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide included on an expanded schedule of 14 LIV events. The field of 48 golfers will include Australia's top-ranked player in Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, as well as six-time major winner and Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepka. Some of the sport's biggest names will compete on the course while its biggest voices wage a battle off it. McIlroy and Woods have called for Norman to stand down, saying reconciliation between LIV Golf and the PGA could be on the table if he does - but the driving force behind the breakaway Saudi-backed tournament has vowed to stand firm.

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