As you tuck into the Christmas ham, try to dodge the worst of the chat around the table and open the presents, NRL clubs will also be hoping they can score plenty from the most festive day of the year.
It's time of year when the NRL seems to stand still. Players are on leave, clubs go quiet and the signings - for about the only time all year - slow down.
But it won't stay that way for long. Clubs have turned their long-term attention towards their 2025 squads, while pre-season training will be back shortly ahead of the season kicking off in Las Vegas, which itself follows pre-season trials from the middle of February.
So, what does your club want for Christmas ahead of the 2024 season?
On behalf of the entire Zero Tackle team, we wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, and safe holiday period.
This is, frankly, a very simple one to start off this year's Christmas wishlist, but more than anything, the Brisbane Broncos want Ezra Mam's signature long-term.
The star five-eighth, who lit up the grand final and was a shoe in for the Clive Churchill medal until Nathan Cleary went balistic, has been on the open market since November 1.
All the talk is that he will indeed re-sign with the club, and he has said that he wants to, but the issue is this: The longer he doesn't, the more the questions will be asked.
Thomas Dearden and Jarome Luai have both reportedly confirmed their futures as well which will make Mam potentially even more hotly pursued by rival clubs.
This is a two-fold thing for Brisbane too. They need Mam's contract signed, sealed and delivered to be able to work out what they need to do with the rest of their salary cap.
The Raiders have spent what feels like just about every waking moment in the last 12 months talking about how they need to sign an elite back-rower.
It's not exactly a mystery why either - Elliott Whitehead, who actually played in the middle third at times last year - will hang up the boots at the end of 2024. Hudson Young is a gun, but is only one player, and adding to the depth issues, Corey Harawira-Naera is no guarantee to ever take to the field again.
That means Canberra are short in the back-row, and their very public pursuit of David Fifita as a leading case, but others as well, illustrates the club's desire to land one.
In a matter of urgency, it seems they are a show of signing Penrith back-rower Zac Hosking immediately, while others could be on the radar from the end of 2024.
Regardless, it's an area Canberra must find a signing for.
One of the more odd rugby league stories to follow throughout the second half of the 2023 season has been the way in which the Canterbury Bulldogs are setting themselves up for 2024.
Instead of signing multiple forwards, they have gone on a run of utility signings.
We don't need to go into too much depth because it has been covered ad-nauseum, but for their part, all the noise from the signings and the club's higher ups themselves has not referenced the signings as utilities, but rather players with a role.
Phil Gould has admitted it will help if they face similar problems as they did in 2023 injury-wise, but that's as close as they have come to suggesting utilities were the order of business.
Now though, it's on Cameron Ciraldo to work out the best role for these players and to understand how they fit into the 17. Most of the group are good enough to be starting, but the options the Bulldogs have available will make them one of the trickiest sides to tip and predict heading into 2024.
The Sharks have had one big criticism levelled at them time and time again over the last two years - that they are effectively a one-man team.
And there is no doubting just how well Nicho Hynes has played. His first season in black, white and blue - 2022 - was one of the greatest individual seasons ever produced.
2023 was below that level, but still made him comfortably one of the game's best players.
But if the Sharks are going to go to the next level, they need others to stand up around him at both ends of the park. Addin Fonua-Blake's arrival will go some way towards addressing a problem for the Sharks, but they won't have the impacts and benefits of that until 2025.
In the interim, the forwards that are at the club need to fight for their positions and future, while the club simply need more consistency in attack from the remainder of the spine, particularly Blayke Brailey and Will Kennedy, if they are to feature any further into the finals than Week 1 or 2.
The Titans come into 2024 with one of the competition's biggest headaches. Three fullabcks - former Queensland representative AJ Brimson, exciting but yet to hit his potential Jayden Campbell, and young gun Keano Kini.
Des Hasler will need to work out, first and foremost, who is best used in the number one jumper, but also, how he fits all three players into the side.
All three are signed long-term at Robina, and are good enough to be playing first-grade. It's not in the Titans' best interests to have any of the three looking for a way out over a lack of playing time.
Campbell has found himself at six or off the bench in recent times, but realistically, that shouldn't be an option in 2024 unless injuries strike.
Kini realistically doesn't play elsewhere from fullback though and may have the heighest ceiling of the trio.
Brimson has admitted previously he is open to the idea of playing something of a roaming role at centre in what could be a boost to the Titans' attack.
There is no answer that will satsify the trio and the Titans' fan base, but it's one Hasler must get right in what is his first major call as Titans coach.
One of the more intriguing storylines to follow throughout the 2024 season will be the Manly Sea Eagles and Luke Brooks.
The much-maligned former Tigers half has left Concord in what seems to be a the best decision for all involved parties, but it could be Manly who become the unexpected benefactors of the decision.
Signing Brooks was met with careful optimisim - his potential has always outweighed what he has been able to produce, but at Manly, he will no longer be the organiser.
Wearing the number six alongside one of the game's best and most experienced halfbacks in Daly Cherry-Evans, Brooks will be able to play his natural running game in a less pressurised environment.
To go with that, Josh Schuster in the second-row will also be an intriguing story to follow as he attempts to return to the form which saw him become a breakout sensation in his rookie season.
The Storm were bundled out of the NRL finals by the Penrith Panthers in a game where their forwards never once looked like matching up to the opposition.
That followed a Week 1 finals beatdown at the hands of the Brisbane Broncos where frankly, the same thing happened. Their forward pack, down on experience in those big games following a number of high-profile departures ahead of the season kicking off, simply didn't have what it takes.
It was obvious in more than just the finals at times. Melbourne still had a strong season in 2023, particularly when you consider there was no Ryan Papenhuyzen for the most part, as well as other injury issues, and yet, by their own lofty expectations, they weren't good enough.
To fix that in 2024, they need forwards to find another level. More consistency and leadership from the likes of Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Christian Welch and Tui Kamikamica will be crucial, but so too will continued improvements from the players like Trent Loiero and Eliesa Katoa, as well as the bench and fringe players who will push for a spot.
And just quietly... What has happened to Jack Howarth, who is now two years into a five-year deal without an NRL debut.
Kalyn Ponga was something of a magician for the Knights in the final two or three months of the 2024 NRL season.
Newcastle were, even according to their most optimistic fans, dead and buried haflway through the campaign. In fact, a bottom-four finish was looking more likely than a top eight one.
The club were ready to just about blow the operation up and start again. All reports had head coach Adam O'Brien - who is now on the verge of a contract extension - hanging by a thread.
But then Kalyn Ponga found his form, the club went bananas and they didn't drop another game over the final ten weeks to sail into the finals and host an elimination contest in Week 1.
They ultimately couldn't get past Week 2, but 2024 now needs consolidation, and a lot of that is going to come down to Ponga staying fit, and continuing the form he finshed the 2023 campaign with.
The Warriors had what could only be described as a magical 2023 season. Coming into the campaign, they weren't expected by the majority to avoid the bottom four, and yet, by the end of it, found themselves in the top four before falling short in a preliminary final against the Brisbane Broncos.
The Auckland-based club now need to throw off the naysayers and find a way to have a similar season. Consistency has often been the Warriors' biggest problem over the journey, although as I was so correctly reminded in a recent conversation, at least the debate is whether they can make it two seasons rather than two games this time.
The Cowboys have more quality second-rowers than they will have hot dinners in 2024.
Okay, maybe that's overkill, but still, they have four players fighting for effectively three spots. Director of football Michael Luck, publically at least, has claimed the club are keen on keeping all four, but it's difficult to see just how that is going to happen when one of Luciano Leilua, Kulikefu Finefuiaki, Jeremiah Nanai or Heilum Luki will likely miss the side on a weekly basis.
Of course they'd like to keep all four - they are all exceptional players.
But Luki is understood to have already shown interest in signing elsewhere for 2025 having toured the Dragons facilities in Wollongong, and while the rest aren't neccessarily in a rush to go anywhere, it has been reported the Canberra Raiders are monitoring Luciano Leilua's situation closely.
Todd Payten of course has other issues heading into 2024 after the side missed the finals in 2023, but getting this selection right and by extension the future of contracts in the position at the club will be a critical storyline to follow throughout 2024.
The Eels have a forward pack with enough big names in it that they should have been a top eight side in 2023, and yet, after making the grand final the year before, they fell short of the top eight.
A chunk of that was simply down to the consistency of that forward pack.
A part of that in itself was down to some of the strategy decisions made by Brad Arthur too, who demonstrated at times he doesn't understand how to use the interchage bench and now must surely be under pressure for his job if the Eels fall short of the top eight in 2024.
But the likes of Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Shaun Lane and Ryan Matterson must stand up as the forward pack leaders, while the younger players must also continue developing.
The Panthers have been asked to replace players - and big names at that - time and time again in recent seasons. They have managed each one successfully, as demonstrated by what is now three premierships on the bounce.
Apisai Koroisau and Viliame Kikau were the latest of those, and Koroisau in particular looked as close to unreplaceable as you could get, yet, the combination of Mitch Kenny and Soni Luke filled it strongly enough to keep Ivan Cleary's side hanging at the top of the tree.
Stephen Crichton being replaced is the latest challenge for the men from the foot of the mountains as they prepare for the 2024 campaign, with the club having signed Paul Alamoti, but lost Thomas Jenkins to the Newcastle Knights.
Jenkins was viewed as the logical replacement, although the breakout form of Sunia Turuva, who played on the wing in his rookie season while Taylan May sat injured after destroying his ACL in the pre-season, means there is now a reshuffle needed.
Turuva who was the rookie of the year, is undroppable, which means Taylan May will likely return as a centre.
Crichton is a Dally M team of the year player though, so it's not straightforward, but also impossible to suggest the Panthers won't find a way to make it work given the track record.
The Rabbitohs have made one of the more audacious signings for the 2024 campaign in Jack Wighton, who shifts from the Canberra Raiders in the first move away from the club in his career.
The biggest part of that move is that, instead of continuing as a five-eighth, he now becomes a centre.
For South Sydney, it's an enormous call. Isaiah Tass has filled the role solidly in recent times, but will now find himself out of the centres for Wighton to come into the side.
The former New South Wales Blue has played in the centres at representative level, but doing it week in and week out will be a new kettle of fish as he heads into the back-end of his career.
Adding to the dillema for South Sydney is the simple fact they missed the finals despite being top of the table in Round 11. Another miss will leave Jason Demetriou in trouble and other contract decisions likely to be calling for change at Redfern.
Without wanting to write off the 2024 campaign for the Red V, there is little doubt Shane Flanagan's first season in charge isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows for the joint-venture.
The club have already missed out on a number of key players for 2025 following the likes of Addin Fonua-Blake and Thomas Dearden signing contracts recently, but there are still names off contract.
They need Joseph Manu more than just about any club have needed a signing in recent times, while Heilum Luki has also toured the club. The Red V simply must keep an ear to the ground and follow any and all leads if high-profile players become available, as tends to happen.
The market right now looks somewhat skinny in terms of elite talent for 2025, but if one thing is for sure in the NRL, it's that contracts are barely worth the paper they are written on, so hope still remains for Flanagan and his recruitment staff.
Brandon Smith showed glimpses of what he is truly capable of at the back end of the 2023 campaign as the Roosters found a late burst of form to qualify for the finals and then knock over the Cronulla Sharks on the road in the elimination contest.
Smith's play as a number nine - as with any club hoping to make the end of season party - is crucial.
One of the key factors that ultimately improved his own game after a slow start was James Tedesco not overplaying his hand. I covered it extensively at the time, but Tedesco's drop from around 30 touches back to 20 per game improved not just himself, but those around him.
Tedesco is a player, when he gets it right, who can make his teammates look good, and the work he did in injecting himself into the game at the right moments saw Smith improve out of sight in line with the club.
One of the key performance indicators for the Roosters in 2024 will almost undoubtedly be Smith's performances, which can then be traced elsewhere around the side.
The Tigers have signed plenty of halves for 2024, but it's very unclear how they will perform under Benji Marshall.
Aidan Sezer is winding to the back-end of his career but returns for a stint in the NRL after his time in the English Super League, while Jayden Sullivan, who was stuck behind Ben Hunt at the Dragons, hasn't cemented a first-grade spot.
Latu Fainu - who has made the move from the Manly Sea Eagles - is the great hope for the Tigers, and while he will almost undoubtedly make his first-grade debut at some point in the coming season, that doesn't mean he is going to be ready to go, or ready to save a struggling outfit early in the year.
The Tigers latest rebuild, with a new coach and a new board may not happen overnight, but somehow convincing the Tigers to release Jarome Luai early would be an exceptional boost.
That said, they can't afford to be letting go of someone like David Klemmer to facilitate it.
The Dolphins first season in the competition had plenty of bright moments, and times when they looked as if they would be a genuine top eight challenger.
While their best 17 went far better than anyone would have paid credit for after a sub-standard recruitment campaign ahead of their inaugural season, the naysayers who pointed to their depth as an issue were proven correct time and time again once injuries and suspensions had their say.
The Dolphins have signed both Thomas Flegler and Herbie Farnworth for 2024 from the Brisbane Broncos in moves that will improve both their backs and forwards, but they will still need others standing up.
Improvement from the likes of Jack Bostock and Mason Teague to name a few of the youngsters will be critical, but so will the continued development of other fringe players, whether it be the likes of Connelly Lemuelu who was with the Dolphins from the start of 2023, or a player like Josh Kerr who joined mid-way through.