THE end of one year and the start of another always brings about a mix of emotions.

Close to my heart, there was the joy of seeing Manchester United storm to Premiership glory during 2007 but pain while following the frustrating season that Warrington Wolves endured, with their fortunes seemingly dipping week by week with injury after injury.

I think the team and head coach Paul Cullen were fighting a losing battle at times but, of course, those in the camp understandably did not see it that way and did brilliantly to keep their spirits alive at times.

I truly believe they gave every ounce of effort and will be better for it in 2008 with an even stronger squad on board.

As for Manchester United's success, I was pleased for Sir Alex Ferguson more than anyone else.

It wasn't that long ago that the talk was of him no longer being able to cut the mustard in quite the same way that he once did.

But he silenced those critics with a rebuilt team and it was a great reward for a man who arrived from Aberdeen and put greatness back into a club that had been second best for far too long.

I've read many reports of players at Old Trafford believing that the current team is better than last season's and it would be hard to bet against them not finishing top of the ladder again.

As for the big events to look forward to in 2008, there's the Beijing Olympics at the top end of my must watch' list, along with the Rugby League World Cup.

I'm hoping one or two Great Britain stars will emerge from Beijing to help build optimism for a decent medal count at the 2012 Olympics in London.

And I just hope that England can get things right on the field to push Australia all the way in the World Cup Down Under.

International rugby league has been too predictable, in my opinion, for too long and it would be superb to see some Wolves players in the national set-up shaking things up a little bit.

Soccer's European Championships have lost their bite for me now that England are out.

But January 17 should be interesting - that's when England's Italian boss Fabio Capello will be capable of giving a Press conference in fluent English.