It was the start of 2011, the last Rugby World Cup year, and Irish eyes were looking ahead with a confidence to the upcoming campaign. In retrospect, it's fair to say things are going far better this time out...
We had reasons to be optimistic, however, as we had the one and only BOD still wearing the captain's armband.
Our first cover star of the year, he and sat down with Stuart Clark for a wide-ranging chat about not only the upcoming rugby calendar and his ambitions in the game as he neared the end of his career, but life with actress wife Amy Huberman and what the future might hold after retirement.
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Elsewhere in the issue, we were looking ahead at the rising artists we thought would hit the big time. With James Blake, The Vaccines and Nicki Minaj all named as 'Hot For 2011', as well as actor types Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Hemsworth, we reckon we can give ourselves a pat on the back.
Boardwalk Empire was about to arrive on Sky Atlantic and we caught up with screenwriter Terence Winter, then best known for his Sopranos work, before it became a small screen sensation. Winter talked Nucky Thompson, that Brian Jonestown Massacre theme, and working with Martin Scorsese – "I was like a girl going to the prom" he laughed of rocking up to "Marty"'s mansion for their first plot development meeting.
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Bard Of Salford John Cooper Clarke sat down with Olaf Tyaransen to talk about his long struggle with drug addiction, his second career as a Ronnie Wood lookalike and his influence on Arctic Monkeys and... The Simpsons.
"I like to think Sideshow Bob is slightly modelled on me," he mused. "He could be, couldn't he?"
In the Hot Press Interview, Roscommon politician and pro-Cannabis campaigner Luke 'Ming' Flanagan opened up ahead of the General Election and made a few suggestions:
"Anyone looking to be involved in politics or policy-making should spend at least a week in prison."
Critically speaking, we were loving new offerings from Joan As Policewoman and Iron & Wine, while Ed Power reckoned of Adele's 21: "There's a steeliness to the writing that (just about) holds cliches at bay."
It certainly worked out well for her.