The 2023 season now seems like it ended many, many months ago.
With a large number of players returning to pre-season training, attention has quickly and firmly turned to the 2024 campaign.
With a new season comes new hope, new opportunities and most importantly of all, new recruits!
Today I'm going to rank the ins, outs and re-signings of each of the clubs who played Finals footy in 2023.
Of course some of the top sides don't need to undertake a big recruitment spree, focusing instead on retention, while others need a few changes to take that next step.
Not every player will be mentioned, just the ones I see making an impact.
8. Canberra Raiders
Major ins: Morgan Smithies, Simi Sasagi
Major outs: Jack Wighton
Re-signed: Corey Horsburgh, Emre Guler, Hudson Young, Sebastian Kris
The Raiders managed to re-sign four pieces of their future puzzle, and with a minimum amount of fuss too I may add.
This was brilliant business.
Their recruitment though, to put it bluntly, was utterly terrible.
Morgan Smithies is a clever pick up and Simi Sasagi comes with big potential with a look to the future, but they undoubtedly are weaker overall.
Losing marquee man Jack Wighton will hurt both on and off the field. I can't believe they didn't do everything, and then some, to retain their star half.
Perhaps a change of scenery was required but the Raiders were given ample time to find a replacement and largely failed.
The re-signings keep this from being an F but there's no way Ricky Stuart can possibly believe his side, which limped into the eight, is a title threat next season.
Grade: D
