A new year has arrived, and NRL clubs will be back from their Christmas breaks to ramp up pre-season training in the next week.
The final run to the season often brings with it heightened intensity and discussion as fans ready themselves for the new campaign.
This year could on another level altogether with the season opening in Las Vegas a week ahead of schedule.
Expectations are a funny thing though. Every year, there are teams who will go well beyond what they were expected to do, and others who fall a long way short of where they were supposed to be.
But what exactly are those expectations for all 17 NRL teams in 2024?
Here is what your team needs to do to earn a pass in 2024.
10. Knights: Top four
The Knights are a very difficult team to know what to make of ahead of the 2024 season, but there is little doubt they will not be keen on going backwards from a magical second half of 2023.
If you rewind the clock, Newcastle found themselves anchored in the bottom four at one point last year and with Adam O'Brien reportedly under pressure for his job.
Fast forward to the end of the campaign though, and it was O'Brien smelling of roses after the Kalyn Ponga parade led the men from the Hunter all the way to the semi-finals, having also hosted an elimination final the week prior.
The turnaround and winning streak was miraculous, and while there will be those wondering whether it was all a flash in the pan for the Knights, they as a club need to be in the top four this year.
