The Manly Sea Eagles endured a difficult first season under Anthony Seibold, but will hit the ground running for 2024 with the sky the limit.
A club with a rich junior talent pool, improving youngsters on the fringes of first-grade and some of the biggest stars in the game at their disposal, anything less than the finals for a second year in a row simply won't be good enough.
Manly made the big call at the end of 2022 to move Des Hasler on from his role, instead controversially handing the head coaching chair to Seibold.
If he can't make it work this year though, his head may well be on the chopping block, and some critical questions will determine exactly how the Sea Eagles perform throughout the 2024 campaign.
Here are the five biggest.
In what can only be described as one of the more positive signs around the fitness of Tom Trbojevic in some time, the star fullback made it unscathed through a scrimmage against the St George Illawarra Dragons last week.
His performance was so good that Dragons' coach Shane Flanagan was left proclaiming that he could lead the Sea Eagles to a premiership, something that would be scarcely believable if not for prior runs on the board.
The last time Trbojevic played anything near a full season was that insane 2021 COVID-hit season, where 15 regular season games were enough for him to take the Dally M Medal in a canter and lead Manly to a preliminary final.
That said, pre-season fitness doesn't mean much for Trbojevic. The last time he managed more than 20 games in a season was way back in 2018.
But such is his talent, particularly in the modern, sped-up way of life in rugby league, he could be the difference between a premiership contender and a bottom-four side.
He is, without doubt, one of the best players in the game, and if he stays fit, then it could be a completely different Manly side in 2024.
One of the key transfers for any club this season is that of Luke Brooks, who makes his way from the Wests Tigers after more than a decade without a finals appearance, to the Manly Sea Eagles.
It's a move that simply had to happen and was best for both parties. The Tigers desperately needed to move in a new direction, and Brooks, who has never quite hit his potential or found success in a Tigers' jersey, needed a fresh start.
And the move is a good one.
He hasn't gone to a club in a similar position as the Tigers were for much of Brooks' tenure at the club. Instead, he arrives at Manly and will be the number two option in the halves, partnering Queensland Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
On the rare occasions, Brooks has had a good game at the Tigers in the last few years, it has been built off his running game, and with Cherry-Evans now controlling the kicking game for him, he can play that role.
He can run in support, work off the ruck and use his passing game to be creative for his teammates.
If he fits, then the move has the power to completely transform Manly's attack and take the pressure off Cherry-Evans in one go, two factors the Sea Eagles desperately need if they are going to make a march up the table in 2024.
Schuster comes into the 2024 campaign following a failed move to five-eighth in 2023. That was hampered horrendously by injury problems, but there is also little doubt he struggled to fit in at number six.
With Brooks arriving at the club, it means any chance of him filling that role is gone, and Schuster, who is on a big-money deal on the Northern Beaches, needs to rapidly get back to his best.
2021 - Schuster's rookie season - saw him become one of the competition's breakout stars on the edge, running gaps and working excellently on the back of Tom Trbojevic's form.
But 2022 was the start of those injury and fitness problems, with Schuster making it clear he wanted to play five-eighth on the back of media attention who seemed to forget or ignore the fact he had captained the New South Wales under-18 team in 2019 from the second-row.
The edge is Schuster's - at least for now - best position and where he needs to be if he is going to rediscover that form which turned him into a sensation during his rookie season.
I've written about this extensively previously, but for Manly to succeed, Jake Trbojevic needs to be viewed as a prop in the modern game, rather than a lock.
When Trbojevic entered the competition, he was the definition of a lock forward, but the position has rapidly evolved into something different since his arrival in the competition.
Instead of being a third prop with some play-making ability, the number 13 is now a half in a forward's body.
It's why the likes of Cameron Murray, Isaah Yeo and Patrick Carrigan have quickly risen to prominence in the discussion around the game's best number 13, leaving the likes of Trbojevic and Jason Taumalolo at the North Queensland Cowboys in the rear-view mirror.
Trbojevic though has proven he is well and truly up to the rigours of being a big-minute prop given the impact he had at Origin level in 2023 - and it's a role Manly needs him to play.
While they have plenty of power packets in the middle, led by Taniela Paseka and Toafofoa Sipley, Trbojevic provides the stability, and without trying to ball-play, he provides his two biggest skills - running hard and tackling with excellent technique - in spades.
That does leave the question around the number 13 jersey, but Josh Aloiai has shown a little bit of potential as a ball-playing forward and should have first crack there in 2024.
Reuben Garrick has become a permanent fixture at the Sea Eagles during the course of his career to date, and in doing so, has worn many different hats.
Winger. Prolific try-scorer. Excellent goal-kicker. Fill-in bordering on almost permanent fullback.
But 2024 will present a new, and difficult challenge for Garrick, with all talk suggesting he is going to run out in the centres come Round 1.
In what will be a permanent move, Garrick is tipped to take the centre spot previously occupied by Brad Parker, partnering Tolutau Koula, while leaving Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu and other fringe players to fight for the wing spots.
But is moving one of the NRL's best wingers to the centres really the best idea for the Sea Eagles heading into 2024?
Tall and lanky, there is little doubt Garrick has the ability to make it in the centres, but it has quickly become one of the NRL's trickiest positions to play, particularly defensively.
The last thing Manly needs is to compromise their edge defence in trying to slot players in around Garrick, particularly given the influence he has had on the wing.