The Parramatta Eels enter 2024 on the back of a dramatic collapse in 2023, and under a mountain of pressure.
The blue and gold endured a topsy-turvy campaign over the last 12 months, but it was one that ultimately wound up with the club finishing outside of the top eight.
Coming off a year where they had made the grand final, it was disappointing at best and downright terrible at worst.
There is little to no doubt that another season like the last one will leave Brad Arthur scrambling for his own head coaching future, and a number of players wondering where their own long-term futures lie.
But there is also no doubt Parramatta have the cattle to turn things around. It's a side with an excellent spine, plenty of powerful forwards and exciting youth throughout the team.
Here are the questions which will determine whether they can do just that throughout the 2024 season.
5. What strategy do the Eels use at dummy half?
Hooker has become one of the game's most important positions in this modern era. Fast, accurate service, creativity, a kicking game, and solid defence have become hallmarks of the number nine role.
No team wins a competition without a good hooker either. It's as simple as that.
So when the Eels let Reed Mahoney go at the end of 2022, and signed an ageing Josh Hodgson in his place, it was fair to say eyebrows were raised right around the competition.
2023 did nothing to drop those eyebrows either, with Hodgson medically retired by the end of it. Brendan Hands stood up well though, and Joey Lussick has also rejoined the club, creating a two-way race for the role heading into 2024.
Arthur though has shown his desire to have an 80-minute dummy half, meaning there could be only room for one of the duo.
Are either Hands or Lussick truly up to playing 80 minutes week in and week out though, while also providing the spark that almost every other club around them will have thanks to a one-two punch.
Even the three-time premiers at Penrith do it, with Soni Luke coming off the bench.
It may well be time for Arthur to consider a split dummy half role for 2024 if the Eels are to surge back up the table.
