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What To Watch In Sport In 2025
From whether Liam Lawson will handle the brutal world of Formula one to how the Black Ferns might repeat their heroics of 2022 - RNZ Sport looks at 2025's most intriguing storylines.
Can Liam Lawson survive brutal world of F1?
There are plenty of juicy storylines for the 2025 Formula One season, but the big one for New Zealand fans is how will Liam Lawson perform in the top Red Bull team as four times World Champion Max Verstappen's team-mate? Will he handle the pressure? Will he finish on the podium or win a race? Will he still be the Red Bull driver at the end of the season? Whatever happens, it's exciting to have a Kiwi back in F1.
Seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari. Will the former champ, who finished seventh overall in 2024 - his lowest in 18 years, be a title contender with his new team? Will he get along with new team-mate Charles Leclerc? Will there be a No.1 driver? Does Hamilton, who is just about to turn 40, still have it in him? Will now former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz succeed at Williams, or be consigned to making up the grid?
Can Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and a resurgent McLaren win a drivers' title? Can George Russell kick on with Mercedes and land more podiums? Will Verstappen be able to win a fifth straight drivers championship with Red Bull and become just the second driver after Michael Schumacher to win five successive crowns? With his first baby on the way, could 2025 be Verstappen's last in Formula One? Rumours have been swirling about what fatherhood could mean for his racing future.
Can Black Ferns repeat World Cup heroics?
Can the Black Ferns defend their title? The story arc is a little similar to the last World Cup, though that was at home, with the 2025 edition in England. The Black Ferns had experienced a horror end of year tour in 2020, less than 12 months out from the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand, beaten by both England and France.
Enter Sir Wayne Smith and what followed was nothing short of remarkable, with the Black Ferns going from also-rans to World Cup winners in a short space of time under the new head coach. The World Champions proved a lot of doubters wrong that tournament and they'll have to pull off a similar feat if they're to be successful later this year. They suffered losses to Canada, Ireland and England in 2024 and have slipped to third in the world rankings. So can the Black Ferns repeat their heroics of the last World Cup and close that gap on the top teams before the start of August? It looks like a big challenge, but they've done it before.
What's in store for the Crusaders?
Will the Crusaders consign last year to history and re-emerge as a force in Super Rugby Pacific? They've turned to former Wallabies star James O'Connor at first-five, which could be a genius move. Will coach Rob Penney be able to restore some pride after the side that had won seven titles in seven years under former coach Scott Robertson failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015? Penney survived the end of season review but there is still plenty of pressure on his shoulders. Can the Blues create a new dynasty and defend their crown? Last year's Super Rugby title was their first since 2003 and they will want to prove they're consistent championship contenders.
What of the Hurricanes? A team who qualified first ahead of the playoffs but tripped up in the semi-finals. Can they go one better? Will Moana Pasifika, who have signed All Blacks star Ardie Savea from the Hurricanes, pull themselves up the standings and reach the playoffs for the first time? And what of the new playoff system?
With the Melbourne Rebels scratched, the tournament has just 11 teams and the finals format has been changed with just the top six sides (it was the top eight) reaching the playoffs in 2025. Does that hurt the chances of the likes of the Highlanders and Fijian Drua?
Will Israel Adesanya bounce back?
There are many potential storylines in UFC for 2025, one of which is the continuing will he or won't he with former champion Connor McGregor. Will he return to the octagon or is he done? If he does come back, will it be against New Zealand lightweight Dan Hooker? Will American heavyweight champion John Jones fight Britain's Tom Aspinall and settle the GOAT debate? Is Jones the pound for pound champion if he doesn't fight Aspinall? Will New Zealand's former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya bounce back from a pair of defeats? He next fights Frenchman Nassourdine Imavov in Saudi Arabia in February.
There's a title fight between two men he's lost to in Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis in 2025 - will he get a shot at the winner? Or will he look for good money fights? Will lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who many pundits believe is the real pound for pound champ, book a superfight with featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who recently handed Max Holloway his first KO loss and knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in February to become the champ. Can Volkanovski come back to reclaim his throne after back to back KO defeats?
And what of Brazil's Alex "Poatan" Pereira - the UFC boogeyman? Will the light heavyweight champion be involved in a potential superfight with heavyweight John Jones? Will Pereira, who famously fought Adesanya, take on another kiwi in rising light heavyweight Carlos Ulberg? The 'Black Jag' is riding a wave of momentum and is keen to carry it all the way to a title shot. He told RNZ, "He's the boogeyman for everyone else, but not me. I'm the boogeyman for him." Ulberg will first fight Polish star Jan Blachowicz in London in March.
Will Netball NZ do a u-turn on eligibility rule?
In August last year the Netball New Zealand board backed its eligibility policy, which ruled Silver Ferns star shooter Grace Nweke out of the black dress in 2025. The board stood firm after the 22-year-old decided to sign with the New South Wales Swifts, in the Australian domestic competition.
Netball New Zealand (NNZ) rules state for a player to be eligible for the Silver Ferns they must play in the domestic competition. The Silver Ferns can live without Nweke for a year but the heat will come on NNZ if she wants to stay with the Swifts beyond 2025. Could the board really turn down the services of the side's most influential player in a Commonwealth Games year?
The board gave rare exemptions to Maria Folau and Laura Langman to play in Australia in 2019, off the back of a horror 2018 for the Silver Ferns. There haven't been any exemptions since then but Nweke has the stature of those legends of the game and may force their hand.
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