After last year's turbulent, somewhat dissatisfying season, battered Australian rugby supporters needed a good lie down and bit of a nap over the summer break.
Fortunately back-to-back tennis tournaments hogged the television screen so insomnia wasn't a problem.
When recently stirred awake by baseline grunting -- I think that's what it was -- the disappointments of last season including Quade Cooper's implosion, the uneven Super rugby comp, a pedestrian Rugby Championship and the Wallabies' maddening inability to score tries, should have been mere memories but, no, there was a terrible hangover.
Scotch will do that to you - yet more troubling was the lingering impact of rugby's wrongs in 2012. Only a stellar 2013 can wipe the slate clean and fortunately, a brand new day and potentially brilliant year is upon us.
Gazing north this weekend to some of the great European capitals, fans will get a good look at many of the meaty fellas who will play a part in the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia later this year as the famous Six Nations tournament opens up.
The impressive English side takes on battling Scotland in London, Wales and Ireland promise to have Millennium Stadium in Cardiff rocking and in continental action Italy will attempt to fend off heavily favoured France in Rome.
Far less meaningful, but nevertheless enticing for those hoping to glimpse the potential of the Australian game this season are the first preseason hit-outs for Oz Super rugby sides.
In the Paris of the far, far south, Hobart, Melbourne's Rebels will get the ball rolling against the perennially underachieving Waratahs while in Darwin – there is simply no Euro equivalent – the Western Force and Brumbies will mix it up on Friday night.
The Reds' quest to retain their deserved mantle as Australia's leading province will get underway in Toowoomba on Saturday with a run around against the rebuilding Blues of Auckland.
Even though it's the silly season, there will be a few clues gleaned from the trials about what's ahead this year, but before evaluating the upcoming matches, let's quickly consider what might constitute a positive 12 months for the wonderful game in Australia – now under the administration of a new look governing body and chief executive -- allowing us to be cleansed of a woebegone 2012.
• Super Rugby
- At least three of Australia's five sides must remain playoff contenders until the end of the regular season and the others will have to show fight and enterprise to reward their fans.
- The depth of talent at every province must improve. Some fringe players and newcomers must step up to enhance the squads' competitiveness over what will be a long season.
- The Waratahs, regardless of whether you hate the infuriating mongrels, need to fulfill their potential. There are many parallels between the recent (disappointing) performances of the New South Wales side and the national squad. And the Tut-Tahs play their rugby in arguably one of the most competitive and unforgiving sporting cities on the globe which happens to be the biggest metropolis in the country, the key to commercial success.
• The Wallabies
- They must remain competitive, as they have despite a terrible run of injuries, but break the shackles of conservatism and service the great Australian tradition of having a crack rather than scratching around, playing with the goal of not being beaten.
- Against the Lions: Win or lose, Australia needs to play positive rugby. There will not be a weakness in this touring party which will also, for a change, be out to play a running, 15-man game. This will give the Wallabies a chance. The series should be – must be a cracker.
- The Rugby Championship. Bloody All Blacks. Enough already. Argentina's inclusion was a bright point last season, but the New Zealanders' dominance made the tournament predictable and dreary. A full strength Australian side can match the Kiwis and the Aussies need at least one victory in their first two games against the ABs to ensure they disturb the word champions' sense of superiority.
So is this an achievable wish list?
Well Scoop, sort of.
At a national level much will depend on the game plan coach Robbie Deans decides to focus on while the provincial picture won't become clear until many of the Wallabies turn out for their squads in a few weeks, although there is evidence that the player pool will run far deeper this year.
Certainly with scores of injured players returning to the fold and several promising newcomers appearing, there is much to be excited about, initially at least. In the Hobart game, James O'Connor and Cooper Vuna will put injury wrecked seasons behind them to fire the Rebels against a Waratahs squad without its countless national squad members. The Rebels are already talking a good game: they have some exciting runners but let's hope they've learned to tackle since last season.
It will be intriguing to see O'Connor march the Rebels around as their No. 10. He's got the game to be the pivot, although at the national level, his quick feet might be more useful in the centres if Deans (fingers crossed) drops his preference for a crash ball dummy to play inside centre.
Hopefully they'll remember to hide the Aussie Rules sticks at North Hobart Oval as it's going to be confusing enough for rugby union newcomer Israel Folau debuting at fullback for the Waratahs (then again, he never got close enough to the posts in an AFL game to know what they look like).
Despite his conspicuous failure as an AFL pro, Folau is a fine catch. He may be scarred from not being able to tackle properly for a couple of years, but he was a lovely style of rugby league player and he won't have lost that ability in open play. As in the AFL, correctly positioning himself and reading the play will be challenges though I hope the experiment to try him at 15 works – he's potentially devastating.
In Toowoomba, Reds boss Ewen McKenzie will start the process of sorting through an abundance of riches to establish who belongs in his backline. The Queenslanders have six national team-quality wingers to pick from and a mob of Wallabies in the midfield.
The biggest challenge for McKenzie will be developing cohesion between his tight forwards who may struggle to hold their own against the powerful South Africans and New Zealanders. Hopefully, the soon-to-return James Horwill will stay injury free for more than 30 minutes this season. The big second rower is desperately needed by both the Reds and the Wallabies, especially with Nathan Sharpe retiring from national duty.
The trials will also provide an indication as to how much the Reds will miss powerful flanker Scott Higgenbotham, now with the Rebels. I suspect his shoes will be hard to fill as he has been the most impactful running forward in Queensland for years.
David Pocock's departure to the Brumbies from the Force is the worse loss for a team this year.
For the Force, it will be interesting to watch how the often-injured, though vastly talented Hugh McMeniman goes on his return to Australia after chasing the Yen during what should have been his peak playing years, but sans Pocock and any easily identifiable match winners, the West Australians really have the potential to stink up the joint if they lose a couple of their 1st XV early in the season.
The Force's Darwin opponents, the Brumbies, probably over achieved last season under the fine leadership of captain Ben Mowen and coach Jake White. This year they return with Pocock in the pack and Christian Lealiifano adding spark to the inside backs, meaning they will be a genuine threat to other teams from the outset.
It's way too early to speculate about how Wallaby coach Deans will approach the challenge of the Lions, but with more players to pick from this year, you've got to hope he plans to be more expansive.
Regardless, the weakness in the Australian game will likely remain the lack of penetration in attack, especially in tight, and the stability of the scrum. Deans will be scouring the Super sides for fresh talent to make a difference in these areas.
The dearth of quality second rowers and genuine No 8s has been a bugbear for years and Sharpe's retirement makes matters much worse. Sitaleki Timani showed at times last season he could be part of the answer and there are a few quality locks coming through, but the stocks of monster blokes in Australia are thin.
In addition to casting an eye over potential Wallabies this weekend, Deans will be glued to the telly watching the Six Nations. The closest game should be the Wales-Ireland face off. The Welsh have lost seven straight Tests, but they have the capacity to beat anyone, especially at home. Their problem is finding a playmaker: Dan Biggar at 10 doesn't exactly inspire confidence, though he gets the nod this weekend.
He'll have his hands full with Jonathan Sexton who the Irish have finally, mercifully handed the reins to permanently after years of Rohan O'Gara mediocrity. The Irishmen's form has been patchy of late, but they boast arguably the best fullback, centre, No 8 and prop in Europe.
England should ease past Scotland at Twickenham. The Poms upset the All Blacks in their last outing and coach Stuart Lancaster's squad has world beating potential.
For the Calcutta Cup match, the English will be without Manu Tuilagi who will almost certainly play a huge role for the Lions later this year, but they have plenty of firepower all over the park and the capacity to play a breathless style of rugby.
The Scots will live off scraps but it would be great to see Tim Visser, Scotland's Dutch-born winger, get a little ball to push his case for Lions inclusion. There is no more damaging flyer in Europe.
In Rome at the Stadio Olimpico, the French can build on their recent good form, including the dismantling of the Wallabies, by clobbering the Italians.
However, the Azzurri have shown uncommon spirit in recent appearances and under coach Jacques Brunel delighted their growing fan base by actually passing the ball and attempting to play some running rugby between scrums. They still lack overall quality, but with their 70,000 fans howling for French blood, an ambush isn't out of the question.
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