SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 01: The Panthers players celebrate victory after winning the 2023 NRL Grand Final match between Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos at Accor Stadium on October 01, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Overall I'd say that the 2023 NRL season was a huge success.
We had an all time great Grand Final, we may have seen the greatest era in the game's history, a multitude of future stars emerging and the introduction of a brand new club.
I'd also like to think that we learned a few things a long the way.
10 things to be exact!
Below are those very ten things that we learned in 2023:
I'm calling it now, this Penrith system is the best the modern day game has ever seen.
However you want to interpret "modern" is up to you. I'd argue it's probably the best we've ever seen, period!
Craig Bellamy and Melbourne were famed for covering the loss of big stars with young players who came in and did the job.
Penrith, on the back of a third straight premiership, have usurped the Melbourne system, at least in my opinion.
They lost names like Apisai Koroisau, Taylan May (through injury) and Viliame Kikau, replacing them with players on half their wage, and yet lost almost nothing.
The Wests Tigers added two marquee names in Apisai Koroisau and Isaiah Papali'i heading into the 2023 season. They finished dead last.
The Bulldogs recruitment spree included Viliame Kikau, Reed Mahoney and Ryan Sutton, yet they were a mile away from a finals finish.
Big name recruits are amazing, and I have no doubt each player mentioned will play a big role in their respective club moving forward, but they don't guarantee success.
This has always been the case when it comes to signings but 2023 seemed to confirm that struggling clubs throwing big money and big name players certainly isn't without risk of failure.
I can hear Brisbane fans cringing as they know what is coming. The attacking prowess and momentum swings in 2023 are such that points can flow en mass at any time.
2023 proved that no lead is safe, even in the biggest games of the season.
The most famous example of this was of course capped off by Nathan Cleary's Grand Final winning solo try.
At 24-8, this game was over and the Broncos name was being engraved on the trophy, only for the mother of all comebacks to be completed by the Panthers.
The Sharks had the Warriors dead to rights in Round five, only to lose. Canberra fans can never, ever feel a lead is safe until that final whistle has been blown.
For many years the QLD Origin side was so strong that we use to joke they didn't need a coach. Famously Mal Meninga was even seen as a figurehead more-so than a coach.
With the talent split between NSW and QLD now so close, coaching very much does matter.
Billy Slater coached extremely well throughout the series while his NSW counterpart Brad Fittler very much didn't.
Fittler picked players out of nowhere (see TPJ) and seemingly without a plan. He even admitted to not really having a plan for Clint Gutherson, who was allowed token minutes due to an injury.
He set Nicho Hynes into a confidence tailspin after throwing him to the wolves, while his decision to move Damian Cook into the centres will go down as one of the all time clangers.
Although I really enjoyed the Dolphins entry into the competition in 2023, I think it's fair to say that we don't yet have the talent depth to justify an 18th team.
The gap between the top sides and the bottom sides is now massive.
The Dolphins chased every marquee player under the sun but really failed to land one, at least until the late signing of the Hammer.
Throwing another side in there would further stretch the player pool and ensure another relatively easy beat side.
We saw the horror lack of depth in the Dolphins squad. They started well, until members of their best 17 suffered injuries. Then they were in free fall for the rest of the season.
This may come across as hyperbole, or even unfair, but despite millions of dollars being invested, the current system is no better than what we had with the video referee.
Fans are still getting use to witnessing a try then having to watch 30 replays to "confirm" and celebrate. That will never make sense.
The amount of head-scratching moments that eventuated, despite 10 camera angles, countless HD televisions and super slow motion replays, is beyond belief.
Let me be frank, I don't really care how long it takes as long as the correct decision is made. That said, I can't stomach watching 30 replays over five minutes and then ruling "well the ref was the closest anyway".
Don't even get me started on obstruction interpretations.
"Team X has a soft draw", "team Y has more home games than team Z", "what do you mean we have to play Penrith twice?"
We heard it all within five minutes of the NRL and NRLW draws being released in November.
Until the competitions reach a point where every side plays every side twice, one home and one away, with the same amount of free-to-air TV games, the draw will never be perfect.
Just a quick spoiler, that set of circumstances will never happen!
It is what is is. The one thing I can guarantee is no one on the inside conspired to make your team's 2024 season difficult.
The Golden Boot has long been contentious. Awarding the "best player in the world" on minimal, international games is less than ideal.
For the record I think James Fisher-Harris is a magnificent player and under the current set up, a worthy winner.
Just tweet the name. Best international player this year.
Or better yet, award it in World Cup years, or years where tests are played as more than a post season wind down for those players who didn't need surgery.
Again, this is not a knock at JFH, but the system doesn't work.
There's an old saying "Rugby League is going well when Souths go well".
Well, I'm here to tell you that the game doesn't need Souths to be playing Finals to be amazing.
Of course this is just an old saying but the Bunnies didn't even make the eight, yet I'd argue this Finals series was right up there with anything we've seen recently.
The idea behind it is solid; Souths have a huge fan base and are famous etc etc.
That said, other than Souths fans, did anybody miss them in mid to late September?
I am an unashamed fan of the international game.
I've long said that the pre-game is often more entertaining and passionate than the game itself, and I stand by that. Not as a knock but as a positive.
The pre game war dances, ceremonies, hymns and anthems are like nothing else in our game.
The pure pandemonium in PNG as their side won their mini tournament brought a tear to the eye.
We need more international league beyond the World Cup. More games featuring emerging nations and more prime time games that actually matter cause international rugby league is awesome!!!