The Brisbane Broncos fell agonisingly short of their first premiership in almost two decades last year, and will now aim to maintain the rage heading into 2024.
Some big name exits from Red Hill aren't about to make life any easier for coach Kevin Walters though, with the club also aiming to prove they can now be consistent at the top.
With an ageing halfback, questions over their depth and and off-field contract negotiations likely to be a distraction, here are the five big questions likely to shape the 2024 campaign for the Brisbane Broncos.
2. When will Blake Mozer crack first grade?
Blake Mozer has been compared by some good judges to Cameron Smith. Some have called him the second coming of the champion hooker, so highly regarded is he.
He has excelled at all levels making his way through the system, and is, without a doubt on his current trajectory, a future State of Origin player.
But to this stage, the youngster has only had a single first-grade game coming off the bench during Round 27 against the Melbourne Storm when both teams had most of their best 17 sitting on the sideline ahead of the first week qualifying final that would follow.
But Mozer will be primed to see first-grade in 2024.
It's just a question of when. The issue for the youngster is that Billy Walters has turned himself into one of the game's most improved players in cementing Brisbane's number nine jumper, while Tyson Smoothy jumped onto the bench at the back end of 2023 and impressed.
Mozer will likely turn himself into the best hooking option Brisbane have in the long-term, and he isn't someone they will want to lose when his contract comes up for dispute next time, which means they need to find him minutes in 2024.
But they can't do that to the detriment of the side if Walters and Smoothy in combination are actually what's best for the side.
It's going to be an intriguing storyline to follow, with Walters needing to nail his selections in the all too crucial hooking position throughout 2024.
