The Cronulla Sharks were again on the cusp of more in 2023, but a lack of depth and winning mentality in the finals again saw the men from the Shire come up short.
2024 promises more of the same for the Sharks - a side who are good enough to compete and challenge, but unlikely to be able to win a handful of straight games through the finals to take the premiership.
For some, attention on this Sharks outfit having a genuine premiership window being open will have already turned to 2025 following the recent announcement by the club that they have signed released Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake from the start of that campaign.
But there is a full season that the playing group won't want to be writing off before that, with Nicho Hynes again to be the man leading from the front, although with a significant personnel change in the halves alongside him.
Here are the big questions that will define season 2024 for the Sharks.
3. What role will Siosifa Talakai play?
One big selection question will be exactly what role Siosifa Talakai will play throughout the 2024 campaign.
He has become a centre in recent years, but it's arguable that isn't his best position, with the damaging ball-runner instead suited to a position in the second-row, or, given some of Cronulla's lack of intimidation through the middle, even a bench role there where he could turn into the ultimate non-spine utility.
The other advantage of moving Talakai out of the centres is that it frees up a position there for young gun Kayal Iro.
Iro has been linked with an exit from the club over the last 12 months over a lack of playing time, and given he is might as well be the future of the Sharks in 2024, this is one that they must address this season to ensure he wants to hang around long-term.
It's a contract year too for Iro, so it's not even as if the Sharks could sit on their hands and block a release. It's now or never for Iro to crack first-grade at the Sharks, and playing Talakai out of the centres could be beneficial both long and short term for the club.
