Bendigo Advertiser sports journalist Kieran Iles lists his five favourite stories from the year.

This sporting year will long be remembered as the year of the drought breaker.

The Western Bulldogs scored their first AFL/VFL premiership since 1954 and Cronulla Sharks posted their first grand final in 49 years. Overseas, Leicester City won their first English Premier League title in the club's 132-year history, Matthew Dellavedova and the Cavaliers ended 52-years of sports agony for the city of Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs ended a 108-year Major League Baseball drought.

Back home, grassroots sports in central Victoria was not immune to the trend, with Newbridge racing to their first Loddon Valley league A-grade title in 48 years. The Maroons did it in style with a 39-33 triumph over a slick Mitiamo. It was a dream come true for coach Carmen Shevlin who had spent more than a decade at Newbridge attempting to secure a flag.

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IT'S difficult to imagine the Bendigo Braves taking to the court without Chris Hogan. The last time it happened was in the 2006 when he spent his sole season away from Bendigo Stadium at the Melbourne Tigers.

Fortunately that's something Braves fans won't have to contemplate right, with the the co-captain of the 2016 SEABL national champions re-signing for another season.

But in a year that tossed up plenty of feel-good stories for the Braves, including star import Jeremy Kendle's league MVP win and long-time coach Ben Harvey's first national championship coach, it was the performance of Hogan that stood out most.

At 33, the popular Brave turned back the clock to produce one of his best seasons of his SEABL career to be part of a second national championship.

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It was a year to savour for young Kangaroo Flat netball gun Ruby Barkmeyer. So much so, that it's hard to limit it to just one story.

In June, Ruby was selected to represent Victoria at the School Sports Australia national championships in Adelaide (read story here). Her efforts in South Australia earned her selection in an Australian team to play in Fiji in May 2017.

The youngster was far from done, winning selection in Bendigo's association championships before helping Kangaroo Flat to its second BFNL A-grade premiership in three years against Golden Square.

To cap it off, Ruby was named best-on-court in the premiership decider, just reward for s near flawless game in scoring 49 of the Roos' 56 goals.

All this at age 15.

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It was a big year for women's football and 2017 shapes as even bigger with the elite women's competition getting underway.

Fortunately it will feature some familiar faces after three Bendigo Thunder players - captain Emma Grant, Bella Ayre and Sarah Last - found their way onto an AFL list courtesy of October's inaugural AFL Women's Draft.

Rising star Ayre was the first Thunder player drafted at pick 51 by Carlton. She would later be joined at the Blues by Last (pick 94), with Grant joining Collingwood three picks earlier.

The signing of Hayley Trevean and Jess Kennedy by Carlton as free agents was the icing on the cake in a big year for the Thunder organisation.

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It's not everyone's cup of tea - and some would argue it's not a sport at all (for the record I'm sure it is). Either way, it was hard not to get caught up in the story that was Justin Thompson.

Making a return to competitive darts after a 12-year break, Thompson surprised plenty by qualifying for the Victorian team at the Australian Darts Championships in Bendigo in August as the state's top ranked player.

What followed next was amazing. A series of impressive championships performances, including a third placing in the Pacific Masters singles and a mixed doubles crown, earned him a spot in the Australian team to tour Japan in October.

Playing in the Asia-Pacific Cup against players from seven other countries, Thompson won gold in the singles, doubles and team events, and a fourth as part of an overall win for Australia.

Now that's a comeback.

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