The Canberra Raiders enter the 2024 season as one of those that are going to prove nearly impossible to predict.
Sure, you could think you know what will happen to Ricky Stuart's green machine.
But in the best of times, this side often either wildly exceeds or grossly fails their pre-season expectations.
This year is not the best of those times. They have lost a stalwart of the playing group and snuck into the finals last year despite having mostly narrow and unconvincing wins combined with some horror-low moments throughout the campaign.
That leaves plenty of questions that will ultimately define Canberra's season. Here are the five big ones facing the Raiders in 2024.
1. How do the Raiders replace Jack Wighton?
This is the single biggest question and one of the biggest questions facing any club heading into the 2024 campaign.
Jack Wighton, who has played his entire career with the Raiders and spent the last number of years in the five-eighth role at the club, dropped a bombshell on the club in the middle of the season when he confirmed he would be moving to the South Sydney Rabbitohs for 2024.
It will also come with a change of positions at Redfern as he moves back into the centres despite entering the back end of his career.
However, what his move does for the Raiders remains to be seen, with the club now needing to build a new spine.
Jamal Fogarty will be the familiar face in the number seven, but with questions over the number one and seven jumpers (more on this later), the Raiders spine faces big questions heading into 2024.
As the second half of 2023 went along, it became clear the Raiders wouldn't find an out-and-out replacement for Wighton. They eventually signed Kaeo Weekes from the Manly Sea Eaglesย and also have youngster Ethan Strange in the squad for 2024.
That is ultimately where they will look for a replacement for Wighton. I'd expect Weekes to start in the six, but this will be one storyline to watch with interest in 2024.
