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.
3. What will Morgan Smithies provide in the forward pack?
Morgan Smithies arrives in the NRL as Canberra's latest recruit directly out of England, and he has exactly one season to acquaint himself with the level of the NRL before being required to take over from Elliott Whitehead, who will hang up the boots at the end of 2024.
Whitehead has been a long-time stalwart of the Raiders, leading from the front over the years. Anytime the Raiders have had success in the last decade or so, Whitehead has been a part of it.
Smithies will now be expected to take up that role. While he can also play lock, it's the second row where he will be required, with the Raiders on a recruitment charge for players in that position, given Whitehead's impending retirement and the uncertainty over the future of Corey Harawira-Naera.
Smithies, at just 23 years of age, has already played a Test for England to go with 114 games for the Wigan Warriors. A hard-hitting, no-nonsense forward with footwork and an offload, he may need to play from the bench in 2024, but he will have a major point to prove as he attempts to confirm to the green machine recruitment staff that he was an investment worth taking.
