The Manly Sea Eagles endured a difficult first season under Anthony Seibold, but will hit the ground running for 2024 with the sky the limit.
A club with a rich junior talent pool, improving youngsters on the fringes of first-grade and some of the biggest stars in the game at their disposal, anything less than the finals for a second year in a row simply won't be good enough.
Manly made the big call at the end of 2022 to move Des Hasler on from his role, instead controversially handing the head coaching chair to Seibold.
If he can't make it work this year though, his head may well be on the chopping block, and some critical questions will determine exactly how the Sea Eagles perform throughout the 2024 campaign.
Here are the five biggest.
2. Will Luke Brooks fit in at five-eighth?
One of the key transfers for any club this season is that of Luke Brooks, who makes his way from the Wests Tigers after more than a decade without a finals appearance, to the Manly Sea Eagles.
It's a move that simply had to happen and was best for both parties. The Tigers desperately needed to move in a new direction, and Brooks, who has never quite hit his potential or found success in a Tigers' jersey, needed a fresh start.
And the move is a good one.
He hasn't gone to a club in a similar position as the Tigers were for much of Brooks' tenure at the club. Instead, he arrives at Manly and will be the number two option in the halves, partnering Queensland Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
On the rare occasions, Brooks has had a good game at the Tigers in the last few years, it has been built off his running game, and with Cherry-Evans now controlling the kicking game for him, he can play that role.
He can run in support, work off the ruck and use his passing game to be creative for his teammates.
If he fits, then the move has the power to completely transform Manly's attack and take the pressure off Cherry-Evans in one go, two factors the Sea Eagles desperately need if they are going to make a march up the table in 2024.
