BEN STANLEY - © Fairfax NZ News

UFC fighter Mark Hunt believes Sonny Bill Williams only deserves "beginner credit", despite claiming the NZPBA heavyweight belt.

DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - © Fairfax NZ News

OPINION: The Sonny Bill Williams knockers are in for a field day based on their own questionable arguments.

AARON LAWTON - © Fairfax NZ News

New Zealand Cricket has contracted the former head of strategy for the New Zealand Racing Board to prepare a feasibility study into overhauling its entire domestic cricket structure.

LIAM NAPIER - © Fairfax NZ News

Don't let the South Africans settle. Keep the foreigners under the cosh, out of their comfort zone.

DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - © Fairfax NZ News

Super Rugby looks ready to take the next step and extend into new territories beyond New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

LIAM NAPIER - © Fairfax NZ News

Some have labelled them poachers and pillagers. For 16 years, the Crusaders were berated for scouting and snaffling large portions of New Zealand's best talent.

MARC HINTON - © Fairfax NZ News

Dave Rennie reckons he's picked a lot of "good buggers" for his debut Super Rugby season with the Chiefs. He's about to find out if they're good rugby players as well.

MARC HINTON - © Fairfax NZ News

It's nothing new for Piri Weepu to kick off a rugby season in less than pristine condition.

PHIL GIFFORD - © Fairfax NZ News

Like Dunedin scarfies who have sobered up from the holiday parties, rugby fans who went nuts over the World Cup are now considering how much fun there's going to be in Super Rugby.

LIAM NAPIER - © Fairfax NZ News

Regain respect. Restore some pride. These are realistic targets for the Hurricanes, who embark on a self-inflicted rebuild of epic proportions.

FRED WOODCOCK - © Fairfax NZ News

It's a cold, damp, rather sleepy and subdued sort of morning at the Pegasus Golf Club, just north of Christchurch.

AARON LAWTON - © Fairfax NZ News

Determining the future of Black Caps coach John Wright is a "top priority" for New Zealand Cricket, boss David White says.

BRAD WALTER, ADRIAN PROSZENKO AND BEN STANLEY - © Fairfax NZ News

The prospect of a South Island franchise has emerged as the NRL ponders expanding the competition.

Auckland Council's demand for a "monopoly rent" from Ports of Auckland is facing a backlash from business as well as from the unions.

The bond between pets and owners is under the microscope as part of a study into the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes.

How of much of your life is on display in cyberspace?

A bigger, stronger Green Party says it will not be "tuakana teina" to anyone.

Officials are pushing for a sunbed ban to follow one coming in NSW, Australia.

Most Cantabrians are behind plans to rebuild the city, while others are less convinced.

A controversial Church of Scientology drug-awareness programme has received govt funding.

The creator of one of New Zealand's best-loved children's book series has called for repeat drink-driver Jon Gadsby to be dumped as their author.

A high-profile criminal lawyer is under scrutiny over his relationship with a teenage client.

House hunters could be in line to snap up bargains, with an end tipped to the sellers' market.

Rugby fans could find it more expensive to follow the All Blacks overseas if a ticket licensing deal goes to a large UK company.

David and Jeanette Beaumont lost their adopted son Matt when the CTV building collapsed. One year on, they relive their last memories of him with Lois Cairns.

The minerals industry wants to water down a proposed law already under fire for making it too easy to drill the ocean floor for oil and gas, mine it for gold and phosphates and dump waste.

Battling back from the devastation of a year ago, many Cantabrians have had to come up with ingenious solutions to demoralising problems. Tony Wall meets the radio station owners who wouldn't give up

One of the biggest names in food has launch plans for New Zealand, writes Rob O'Neill.

MARC HINTON - © Fairfax NZ News

The words of Vlade Divac are no doubt still ringing in the ears of one or two NZ Breakers with the glint of the NBA in their eyes.

TONY SMITH IN CHRISTCHURCH - © Fairfax NZ News

The Coast to Coast multisport race now belongs to the House of Ussher.

© Fairfax NZ News

OPINION: Let me count the ways I love the Halberg Awards.

© Fairfax NZ News

Of all the images South African fans had thrust in front of them when their national team were dumped out of the world cup, the one of Allan Donald was among the worst.

SIMON PLUMB - © Fairfax NZ News

A Fiji lawyer's two-decade term in lucrative Fifa and OFC positions is over after the Star-Times highlighted he had been disbarred.

STEVE KILGALLON AND AARON LAWTON - © Fairfax NZ News

Shane Cameron will return to the ring and to heavyweight boxing on May 30 – to meet Monte Barrett.

DAVID LONG - © Fairfax NZ News

Pure Black Racing have a roster of riders, a schedule and are back in business.

BILLY HARRIS - © Fairfax NZ News

OPINION: They say sport can teach us a lot about life. But not everything it teaches us is stuff we want to know.

CHRIS BARCLAY IN SYDNEY - © Fairfax NZ News

The Brisbane Roar are wary of obsessing over the danger Paul Ifill poses.

FRED WOODCOCK - © Fairfax NZ News

Tony Readings takes the reins for his first match in charge of the New Zealand women's football team against the world's top-ranked side.

NATHAN BURDON IN QUEENSTOWN - © Fairfax NZ News

Phil Burleigh faced one of the faster rugby turnarounds this past week.

TOBY ROBSON IN MANGATAINOKA - © Fairfax NZ News

The setting was unusual for Super Rugby even if the result was no surprise.

LIAM NAPIER - © Fairfax NZ News

With a sharpened scalpel, the Chiefs have undergone a much-needed facelift.

MICHELLE COOKE - © Fairfax NZ News

Vintage bikers, road cyclists and mountain bikers travelled to Christchurch's newest cinema on Thursday night, and kept on pedalling once they arrived – the movie screening relied on it.

LOIS CAIRNS AND MICHELLE COOKE - © Fairfax NZ News

Parts of an upmarket Christchurch shopping mall were shut down yesterday after engineers raised concerns about the building's ability to withstand another large earthquake.

MARIKA HILL - © Fairfax NZ News

Auckland hospital bosses have quashed staff speculation that three managers are jumping ship ahead of a merger between two of the city's health boards.

MICHELLE ROBINSON - © Fairfax NZ News

First was breast versus bottle, now a new debate is set to cause anxiety for parents – fingers versus spoon.

More than 100,000 households are paying too much in rates because they don't realise they are eligible for rebates, according to official estimates.

Ethnic groups are pushing to have multicultural policy "entrenched" in any future constitution.

NZ needs to keep its dignity and prove it has its own sovereign justice system, says Bram van der Kolk.

He's still our sexiest politician, but the teapot tapes and the furore over a radio stunt have driven John Key's overall popularity to its lowest ebb.

The mood of the nation is at the lowest point since the global financial crisis of 2008 – and New Zealanders' hopes for this year are bleak.