Idyllic, we know. Alas, there's even more good news on the horizon. Summer – let's use the term loosely and not be defined by mere dates – is full of excellent sport in which to sink your teeth until the first proclamation that your team is planning to train the house down in the pre-season.

Here's 10 of the best.

National Netball League

Kiwis, be gone. The Australian netball juggernaut rolls into a new era with the end of the competition formerly known as the ANZ Championship now morphing into the NNL. It's an all-Australian competition, meaning the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic won't be helping themselves to weekly frequent flyer points as they head over the ditch. An eight-team format, the five existing teams will be joined by the Sunshine Coast Lightning, Collingwood Magpies (Lord help us) and the Giants of Sydney's greater west. Season starts in February.

World Cup of Golf

It looks an excellent summer of golf in Australia, with the highlight coming at Kingston Heath in Melbourne from November 24-27. Adam Scott and Marc Leishman will team up for Australia in the 72-hole strokeplay, with the first and third days alternate shot and the second and final day best ball. Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker team up for the Americans, while Lee Westwood and Masters champion Danny Willett headline the English tilt. There's gold either side of the 58th running of the event, as well. Jordan Spieth headlines the Australian Open in Sydney, while Scott and Leishman make their way to the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast from December 1.

Adam Scott will represent Australia when the World Cup of Golf arrives in Melbourne. Photo: Getty Images

Lights on in Brisbane

Melbourne's Boxing Day Test and Sydney's New Year feast at the SCG are the two stand-outs on the Australian cricket calendar but this summer presents the first crack at a Test under lights at the Gabba. The Australians host Pakistan and the jury remains firmly out as to how the pink ball will play if, as usual in the middle of December, the air is like stepping into a hot shower. There's every chance of a few wild storms and the pink pill could take on a life of its own. We could see a few short fuses as well; I defer to Colonel Nathan R. Jessup from A Few Good Men: "I'm a fair guy but this heat is making me absolutely #$%&*@ crazy." The German Club, over the road from the ground, stands to be the real winner.

Sydney to Hobart

Exactly 100 yachts will hoist the sails for this year's running of the Sydney to Hobart, the 72nd running of one of the world's great ocean races. Line honours last year went to the American 100-foot maxi Comanche, owned by Jim Clark and his wife, former Australian supermodel Kristy Hinze. It won't be back in 2016 but Wild Oats will be one of the leading players, while last year's handicap winner Balance, owned by finance guru Paul Clitheroe, will also set sail on Boxing Day.

The competitors will set sail on Boxing Day. Photo: Lynne Dunlop

Big Bash League

It's taken only a few years for the BBL to become an ingrained part of the sporting summer. Teams concocted in the marketing room have tribal support already, while the timing of the tournament has proven to be the perfect cocktail for ratings and crowds. The Sydney Thunder won their first title in the previous instalment and will now be captained by Shane Watson, who replaces Mike Hussey and his excellent salt and pepper sideburns. Brisbane's Chris Lynn set the tournament on fire last year, winning player of the series and becoming the highest run-scorer with 378. It all starts on December 20 with the Sydney derby between the Thunder and the Sixers at Spotless Stadium.

Women's Big Bash League

It should have come as little surprise that the women's version of the BBL was one of the hits of last summer. The cricket was top-notch, as was the exposure, with Channel Ten broadcasting a number of games on free-to-air. A number of quality internationals return to the fray, with West Indian Hayley Matthews back for Hobart, while former England skipper Charlotte Edwards links with the defending champion Sydney Strikers. Home-grown stars Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers) and Holly Ferling (Brisbane Heat) will only grow in stature as the women's game continues to take great strides.

Lauren Cheatle of the Thunder. Photo: Getty Images

Sydney derby

At the time of writing, it was just 72 days until Sydney FC hosts the Wanderers at Allianz Stadium. But soccer fans in the Harbour City would have had this fixture pencilled in from the moment the A-League draw was released. The inter-city rivalry has bubbled along nicely indeed since the Wanderers were introduced to the west. Their tribal support has helped take the derby game to a new level and it can't hurt that the Sky Blues have sprung out of the blocks to start the season. The landscape could be different on January 14 but it's unlikely to take the sting out of a quality occasion in a city where getting people to live sport remains a struggle.

Australian Open (and associated warm up acts)

For the players, it means the chance to snare the opening Grand Slam of the year. For the punters, it means staying up until Stupid O'Clock watching marathon five setters that can drag on until 2am. The Australian Open may not have the prestige of Wimbledon but there's something special about hosting the first big one of the year, like that smell you get when you crack open a fresh can of tennis balls. All of the big names will be back, with Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams the defending champions. There's good gear across the country, as well, with Nick Kyrgios and Roger Federer headlining Perth's Hopman Cup and Rafael Nadal on debut at the Brisbane International.

Tennis star Serena Williams. Photo: AP

Magic Millions

Assuming you have any money left from Cup week, then Christmas, then what better way to watch it evaporate then to have a crack at the Magic Millions raceday on the Gold Coast on January 14. With more than $10 million on offer, it's become one of the world's richest single racedays, with the feature the 2YO Classic and the 3YO Guineas. A very handy type in Capitalist took out this year's Classic before going on to take out the Golden Slipper at Rosehill in March. Big day for Bundy Rum sales and ripe Milton Mangoes, as they say up north these days.

Rugby's Global Tens

From the makers of the Auckland Nines rugby league, Duco bring you the Global 10s at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on February 11-12. About 300 players will take to the turf over two days at the height of summer in what should be a decent shot in the arm for rugby, if ticket sales are any sort of guide. Ten Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby sides have signed up, with Toulon, South Africa's Bulls, Japan's Panasonic Wild Knights and Samoa the rest of the entrants. Organisers are hoping to make it an annual event and are already suggesting overseas teams are clamouring to play in the competition.