Campbell Brown and Sam Edmund’s Top 10 Australian sporting moments of 2024

SEN Breakfast’s Campbell Brown and Sam Edmund have named their Top 10 Australian sporting moments of 2024.

See their lists below:

Brown’s Top 10

10 - Penrith’s fourth straight NRL premiership

“A mighty, mighty sporting organisation.

“Hard to win one premiership, really hard to win two, almost impossible to win three, so to win four is a credit to Ivan Cleary and the Panthers.

“Unbelievable what they’ve done up there.”

9 - Sydney’s Qualifying Final comeback against GWS

“The best game of footy I saw this year and the best game I’ve seen in three or four seasons.

“It was football at its absolute best in a cut-throat final. It had it all - high marks, great goals, a good comeback.

“That’s the one that stands out from a football perspective.”

8 - Nina Kennedy’s pole vault Gold

“First ever track Gold medal went to Nina Kennedy.

“I would say she flew under the radar leading into the Olympics.

“I don’t think she was put on the pedestal that some athletes were.”

7 - Henry Dwyer’s Asfoora wins at Royal Ascot

“I love an underdog story.

“Henry Dwyer copped some criticism from people out there saying it was a waste of money, a waste of a trip, that Asfoora couldn’t possibly win and you’ll embarrass yourself on the world stage.

“He took all that in his strife and Asfoora did come out and win the King Charles Stakes. He pouts the top hot and tails on and shakes the hand of the King of England.”

6 - Patrick Cripps sets new Brownlow record

“Patrick Cripps polled 45 votes. No one in the history of the game under the 3-2-1 system has got as many votes.

“Whether you think he deserved to win, or think he deserved that many votes, whether you don’t think that the umpires know what they’re talking about - you can’t begrudge 45 votes!

“To break the all-time Brownlow record is significant.”

5 - Saya Sakakibara’s BMX Gold in Paris

“That was magnificent.

“The story of her brother Kai, the crash four years earlier - to rise from all that adversity was unbelievable.”

4 - The emergence of Gout Gout

“He is the definition of world at your feet.

“He’s probably a fraction too high in terms of this list because he hasn’t done it quite yet on the global scale.

“But the trajectory is potentially phenomenal for him.”

3 - Cam McEvoy’s 50m Gold

“This is a man that has been dedicated to his craft for a long, long time.

“Made the Olympics in 2012, 2016 and 2020 and couldn’t quite get the job done. Completely revolutionised and changed his training techniques and his preparation for Paris.

“Comes out and wins the 50m freestyle Gold. That’s on the back of years and years of dedication, preparation and a bit of heartbreak.”

2 - Harry Coffey winning the Caulfield Cup on Duke De Sessa

“I love someone that tackles adversity head on and this young man has been doing it all his life.

“He lives with cystic fibrosis and the level of dedication that he needs to go to is above and beyond normal jockeys, to make sure he is fit and capable of riding week to week and day to day.

“He’s won Group 1 races before but to come out and win a major on a long shot with his medical history, I love that sort of stuff.”

1 - Gold medal defence of Ariarne Titmus

“I’m a little bit biased because she’s a big Hawks fan.

“She won the Gold medal four years ago in the 400m freestyle and she beat a superstar in Katie Ledecky.

“I don’t reckon anyone has gone into an Olympics with more pressure on them to win Gold - we almost expected it - than Cathy Freeman did in 2000.

“She delivered and she did it magnificently. She is our golden girl.”

Edmund’s Top 10

10 - Andrew Buchanan breaking Australian marathon record

“This was huge.

“He took two hours, six minutes and 22 seconds, the only Australian to run under two hours and seven minutes.

“It is an iconic and storied event and he became our fastest ever.”

9 - Saya Sakakibara’s BMX Gold in Paris

“The family, the brother (Kai), the accident - Saya Sakakibara’s Gold medal was hard to top, not a dry eye in the house.

“It was really well captured in the broadcast. I thought it was unbelievable.”

8 - The emergence of Gout Gout

“He’s only this far down because he’s 16 and he’s got it all ahead of him.

“We’re all buying stock in the prodigy. An athletically-gifted freak who might go on to be the best Australian of all time.

“Usain Bolt is talking about him, Michael Johnson is talking about him.”

7 - Penrith’s fourth straight NRL premiership

“Incredible feat, especially in a professional sport in which clubs are bound by a salary cap and equalisation measures.

“That’s special.”

6 - NSW winning Origin in Brisbane

“Breaking the curse of Suncorp Stadium to win it.

“Forever the bridesmaids of Origin football, the Blues. They lost Game I, then came down to the MCG and annihilated Queensland in Game II.

“They were still the outsiders going into Game III at Suncorp because they hadn’t won a decider there since 2005.

“It was tight, it was tense and NSW stormed home to win 14-4.”

5 - Robbie Dolan wins Melbourne Cup aboard Knight’s Choice

“An Australian Idol contestant in his first Melbourne Cup on a rank outsider that is Knight’s Choice.

“Shelia Laxon back for the first time to win it 23 years after the first with Ethereal.

“An amazing finish at Flemington on a Tuesday afternoon.”

4 - Brisbane’s against-the-odds AFL premiership

“It was a triple fairytale - one for Chris Fagan, one for the comeback kid in Will Ashcroft who went on to win the Norm Smith Medal and then one for a guy who knew he was playing his last game, Joe Daniher.

“I’ve got the Brisbane Lions breaking through for a flag in 2024 and all the stories that surrounded that at 4.”

3 - Paris domination of Australia’s female swimmers

“Our female swimmers were at a ridiculously high level.

“I could have picked anyone of Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O’Callaghan, all legends.

“I went with Kaylee McKeown. A double in the 100m, a double in the 200m which had never been done before. Beat the world record holder in the 100 in Paris.”

2 - Jess and Noemie Fox creating history

“The fantastic Fox quinella, Jess and Noemie becoming the first Australian siblings to win individual Gold.

“The two of them together was unbelievable in Paris. They’re such marketable individuals and to have the family connection as well was massive.”

1 - Jess Hull’s 1500m Silver

“Australia had never won a women’s 1500m medal before.

“The three men who did before her - Herb Elliot, Edwin Flack and John Landy - are forever enshrined in Australian folklore.

“The Gold medallist in front of Jess Hull is the greatest middle distance runner ever, Faith Kipyegon, who won Golds at three straight Games in the same event.”