Best moments in Australian sport in 2023 ranked, highlights, Glenn Maxwell double century, Nathan Cleary grand final

From Mackenzie Arnold’s heroics for the Matildas at the Women’s World Cup final to Nathan Cleary’s 20-minute masterclass that inspired Penrith to NRL history — there have been lots of incredible individual moments in Australian sport this year.

Here, foxsports.com.au picks out 10 of the best — both on the international and domestic stage — that prove just how many reasons Australians had to cheer in 2023.

Nathan Cleary turns NRL GF

When Reece Walsh skipped past Nathan Cleary, leaving the Panthers halfback on the ground and later finding five-eighth Ezra Mam for his third try of the NRL grand final, it looked like the premiership was heading up north.

Brisbane led 24-8 at that point and with both Jarome Luai and Izack Tago succumbing to injuries, even this looked to be a step too far for the back-to-back defending premiers.

But after being stepped by Walsh in the lead-up to Brisbane’s fourth try of the night, Cleary got back up.

And when the Panthers needed him most, their star halfback delivered in the crowning moment of what was an already accomplished career, kicking a 40-20 that flipped the momentum of the decider.

Before then, Cleary faked a short ball to Liam Martin before breaking through the line to set up Moses Leota for Penrith’s second try of the night.

Cleary then quickly shifted the ball to Stephen Crichton as the Panthers drew within one score of Brisbane — and we all know what happened next.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment as Cleary, with the entire team on his back, stepped back on the inside and beat Walsh, Adam Reynolds and Billy Walters.

Comeback complete. History made. Legacy left.

“I don’t like rapping him when he’s sitting here,” Isaah Yeo told reporters after the game.

“I just feel like what he’s done in this space of time, no halfback has ever done it… that 20-minute period he put the team on his back and he won us his third grand final in a row.”

Glenn Maxwell’s CWC 200

Like Penrith, Australia looked to be in dire straits against Afghanistan, down 7-91 and chasing a 292-run target with a Cricket World Cup semi-final spot on the line.

It was an impressive feat for Australia to get that far given the way they opened the tournament, losing two-straight games that had Pat Cummins’ captaincy called into question.

But Australia fought back, although at Wankhede Stadium it was a stunning individual knock from Glenn Maxwell that saved the day to help pull off Australia’s highest successful run chase in World Cup history.

Maxwell hit 21 boundaries and ten sixes on his way to an unbeaten 201. The next highest score by an Australian on the day was 24.

The heroic Maxwell admitted post-game to feeling “shocking”, having suffered cramps throughout the game. But it seemed like nothing could have stopped him from writing his name into the record books.

“That’s just ridiculous,” Cummins said in the post-match presentation.

“Maxy was out of this world.

“It’s got to be the greatest ODI innings that’s ever happened.”

Australia, of course, went on to win the World Cup with Maxwell only required to put up two runs but they wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it wasn’t for his double century.

Titmus 400m world record

Just four months prior 16-year-old Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh had broken the 400-metre freestyle record in Toronto, clocking a time of 3.56.08 — 0.32 seconds faster than Ariarne Titmus.

But Australia’s reigning Olympic champion was quick to regain her throne, shattering the world record on the opening night of the world swimming championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Titmus breezed past McIntosh and Katie Ledecky to record a time of 3.55.38, capping off a golden night in the pool as Sam Short took home first place in the men’s 400m freestyle final while Australia also came out on top in the women’s and men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.

Titmus stole the show though, with two-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe declaring on Channel Nine’s coverage of the event that it was the “best I’ve ever seen her swim”.

Piastri winning Qatar sprint

After an unfortunate Safety Car robbed him of a maiden podium at Silverstone, Piastri had some well-deserved luck on his side at Qatar as the Australian secured his first-ever Formula 1 victory.

Piastri, who went on to finish second at the Qatar Grand Prix, handed Red Bull just its second defeat in the season at that point while it was also McLaren’s first win since Daniel Ricciardo’s triumph at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

There were three Safety Cars in what was an eventful sprint race, although this time around Piastri later admitted they were his “friend” in helping him fend off Max Verstappen.

“I’m very happy. It was a very stressful race,” Piastri said after the sprint.

“When I saw all the soft [tyre] guys come through at the start, I thought we were in a bit of trouble, but then their tyres fell off pretty quickly – that was good.

“Safety Cars were my friend today, definitely once Max got behind me, but the pace was reasonable… I think in a race where you had to manage a lot, the tyres, cars on other compounds, I think we did a really good job.”

It was just one shining moment in an impressive rookie season for Piastri, who ended the Formula 1 season in ninth on the driver standings.

Tim Tszyu winning three big fights

Tszyu opened the year with a stiff challenge, facing the only man to have beaten then super welterweight division champion Jermell Charlo.

Tszyu was supposed to fight Charlo before that bout fell through, with Tony Harrison stepping forward to take on the Australian for the interim WBO title.

It was both the biggest test of Tszyu’s career to that point and his biggest risk too but it all proved worth it in the end as he claimed a ninth-round stoppage victory.

Up next for Tszyu was Carlos Ocampo, who had a 35-2 record and 23 knockouts to his name before he got in the ring with the Australian, who didn’t even need to be taking the fight.

“What Tim is doing is absolutely crazy as far as global boxing goes, the risks he is taking but that’s what he’s about,” No Limit CEO George Rose said at the time.

“He’s [Ocampo] got a hell of a record. He’s a guy who can hit and he’s here to spoil the party. It’s an absolute risk he’s taking. As far as global boxing goes, nobody else in the world is doing what Tim would do taking on a guy like Carlos Ocampo.”

But Tszyu knew what he was doing, staying active in his eventual pursuit of a shot at Charlo and making yet another statement in the process — the biggest of his career in fact — as he destroyed Ocampo with a first-round knockout.

The long-awaited bout between Tszyu and Charlo would never come, with the American instead challenging boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez to a fight that he later lost.

It then saw Charlo stripped of his belt, with Tszyu confirmed as the new WBO super welterweight champion. The next step was to make his first title defence.

And so, Tszyu capped off a big year with a unanimous decision win over Brian Mendoza in a fight that would have likely ended in a finish if it was anyone but the American in the ring.

Mendoza though went the distance against Tszyu, even as the Australian stalked him down in the final rounds, landing a few brutal uppercuts that seemingly had the challenger on the ropes.

It may not have been the finish Tszyu was after but it was still dominant as it comes, with two-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter describing him as a “bully” as the Australian refused to let up even with the result likely beyond doubt.

Mark Zahra winning Melbourne and Caulfield Cups

It was a dramatic 24 hours for Zahra before he even suited up for and later won the Caulfield Cup, with news his horse Without A Fight had failed his initial veterinary assessment.

Zahra, who had won the previous year’s Melbourne Cup riding Gold Trip, initially thought the stallion may miss the Caulfield in preparation to the Cox Plate, which was run the following weekend.

“I had to give myself an uppercut I reckon about Thursday because I didn’t sleep Wednesday night just thinking about… it was like someone stealing your missus, someone else getting the ride on Gold Trip, I was a bit shattered,” Zahra told Channel 7 of the moment when he found out Gold Trip would run in the Caulfield Cup.

“I thought, ‘F***, he is a great horse, I have an emotional bond like I don’t with any other horse, Gold Trip’. And then on Thursday, ‘What the ‘F’ are you doing?’ You picked this horse, after the last start I said to Sam Freedman I think he will win the Caulfield Cup.”

That prediction proved true as Zahra won a thrilling edition of the race.

Zahra then backed it up in spectacular fashion, again on Without A Fight, as he took out the Melbourne Cup to become the first jockey to win the race back-to-back on different horses since Harry White in 1978 and ‘79.

Mollie O’Callaghan world champs five gold medals

O’Callaghan, who reigned supreme for a second-straight year as Australia’s Olympic Program Swimmer Of The Year, stunned the swimming world when she claimed a world record and gold in the 200-metre freestyle at the world championships.

It was only the start of an incredible performance in Fukuoka from the 19-year-old, who went on to win five gold medals after defending her 100m freestyle world crown and also coming out on top alongside her Australian teammates in the 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x100m Mixed freestyle relays.

O’Callaghan’s effort in the 200-metre freestyle, which won Performance of the Year at the Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards, was the pick of the bunch.

Touching in at a time of 1:52.85, O’Callaghan broke one of swimming’s longest-standing records, with the record previously held by Federica Pellegrini and set back in 2009.

“There were tears, there was happiness. It was very mixed emotions. I’m just so proud of myself to do that and it was such an unexpected moment,” O’Callaghan said at the time.

“… To come out with a world record was really unexpected for me.”

Mackenzie Arnold’s Matildas heroics

Australia’s thrilling penalty shootout win over France in the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-finals was historic for a few reasons.

Starting with the fact it was the first time the Matildas had booked their spot in the World Cup semi-finals.

It was also the longest penalty shootout in World Cup history, which brings us to Mackenzie Arnold, who became a national hero overnight after her heroics in goal.

The only blemish — if you can even call it that — was a missed penalty shot which hit the post but Arnold more than made up for it with two crucial saves in the shootout.

“Mackenzie was amazing,” Sam Kerr said.

“She saves all our penalties at training and robs our confidence. We all just stuck to our routines and we knew she’d come through for us, but she was amazing in the game as well.”

Ange Postecoglou’s historic start at Tottenham

Even before breaking new ground as Tottenham’s new manager, Postecoglou kicked off 2023 in style as the Australian completed a domestic treble with Celtic.

Postecoglou won his fifth trophy in two seasons with the Hoops as Celtic defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3-1 in the Scottish Cup final, having already taken the team to glory in the Scottish Premiership and League Cup.

“I’m very proud of the whole group. It’s a bit surreal when you think about what we have achieved,” Postecoglou said at the time.

Of course, it would only end up being the start of Postecoglou’s rapid rise in the football world as he was officially announced as the Spurs’ latest manager in June.

Postecoglou was up against it from the start when it was confirmed in August that prolific striker Harry Kane would be departing the club on the eve of the new season.

It was always going to be hard to replace the team’s all-time top goalscorer and given slow starts in Postecoglou’s previous stints at Yokohama F. Marinos and Celtic, expectations weren’t necessarily high of the new Australian hire early on.

Instead, Postecoglou made history as he claimed his third straight Premier League Manager of the Month award after guiding Tottenham to eight wins and two draws from 11 games.

Postecoglou’s only loss in that early period came in a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea, where Tottenham was reduced to nine men.

Tottenham sat on 26 points after its first 10 games, marking the best return of any new manager during that period in Premier League history.

While the results were obviously promising, more than anything Postecoglou gave Tottenham supporters a reason to believe after Kane’s departure.

And even if it was early in the season, he wasn’t going to stop them either.

“Let them dream, that’s what being a football supporter is all about,” Postecoglou said in late October.

Nina Kennedy’s magic moment of sportsmanship

It was a golden moment, but not only because Australian Nina Kennedy came out on top in the women’s world pole vault final in Budapest.

Rather, what made the moment even more memorable was the show of sportsmanship between Kennedy and Olympic champion Katie Moon, with the pair both clearing 4.90 metres but failing to progress at the 4.95 metre mark.

The duo came together with officials and after a small chat, decided to share the gold medal and both be crowned world champions.

“I think a miracle happened tonight,” Kennedy said.

“To win a gold medal, it is just a dream come true. I jumped out of my skin tonight. It was super crazy. I felt like the whole stadium was watching every single jump, they were all around us tonight, it was really incredible.”

Kennedy had already broken two national records — at 4.85 and 4.90 metres — to get to that point in the first place.