The Parramatta Eels enter 2024 on the back of a dramatic collapse in 2023, and under a mountain of pressure.
The blue and gold endured a topsy-turvy campaign over the last 12 months, but it was one that ultimately wound up with the club finishing outside of the top eight.
Coming off a year where they had made the grand final, it was disappointing at best and downright terrible at worst.
There is little to no doubt that another season like the last one will leave Brad Arthur scrambling for his own head coaching future, and a number of players wondering where their own long-term futures lie.
But there is also no doubt Parramatta have the cattle to turn things around. It's a side with an excellent spine, plenty of powerful forwards and exciting youth throughout the team.
Here are the questions which will determine whether they can do just that throughout the 2024 season.
Unfortunately, a lot of the pressure centred on the blue and gold coming into the 2024 season is on coach Brad Arthur.
Despite leading Parramatta to a grand final just 12 months ago, the 2023 campaign saw them tumble out of the finals, and it was a return to a trend that has realistically summed up much of his time in charge of the Western Sydney-based club.
That trend? Not hitting their potential.
The potential of this Eels' squad, the length of time Arthur has been at the helm, and the favourable circumstances they have had at times means that, realistically, by now, the blue and gold should have snapped the NRL's longest premiership drought during Arthur's tenure.
But they haven't, and with only a single trip to the big dance to show for it, that pressure is squarely on the shoulders of the coach heading into 2024.
Not to say he can't answer it, but Arthur has shown time and time again that he doesn't utilise his bench in line with the modern game, and hasn't made the neccessary structure changes for the Eels to compete with the big guns.
He wasn't helped by injury at times in 2023, but don't expect even that to be an excuse which will save him from feeling the heat if 2024 goes the same way as last year.
2023 was a mixed season for Dylan Brown, not aided by a lengthy suspension for an off-field incident through the middle of it.
When he was on the field, he made a difference to the Eels, but ultimately not enough to turn the club into a genuine powerhouse. Playing in a team with a controlling halfback as exceptional as Mitchell Moses, Brown should absolutely be among the best five-eighths in the competition.
And at his best, there is little doubt he has been that.
His try assist numbers have been excellent in each of the last two years, and without some of his performances, Parramatta probably would have been lower on the ladder than where they ultimately wound up last year.
But he needs to go to another level in taking more of the pressure off Moses, and backing up a forward pack which, more often than it doesn't, lays a fantastic platform for him.
The five-eighth is a New Zealand representative for a reason though, and 2024 needs to be the year where he takes his game to the next level if the Eels are to return to the premiership picture.
One of the bigger question marks heading into 2024 for Brad Arthur is exactly how his back five line up. It could well be that getting this right makes a major difference to the plight of Parramatta.
While it's quite obvious that Clint Gutherson takes the number one jumper, Maika Sivo will be on one wing, and Will Penisini is the first man picked in the centres, just who else plays in the vacant wing and centre position is up in the air.
The Eels have brought Morgan Harper to the club for 2024, while they are still waiting on Haze Dunster and Sean Russell to fulfil the enormous amounts of potential they have shown at every level they played prior to the NRL.
Bailey Simonsson is also at the club, and has been solid since his move from the Raiders without being impressive, while Zac Cini, once rated as one of the best youngsters in the Wests Tigers' system, is another who could feature throughout 2024.
It's difficult to work out exactly which way Arthur will go here, but what Parramatta need is defensively solid players to fix issues out wide. Harper was that two years ago and could get back there under Arthur, while Russell and Dunster need to continue finding new levels.
I'm not going to make a determination here, but Arthur needs to get it right from Round 1.
There is absolutely zero doubt around just how good Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Junior Paulo are in the Eels' starting forward pack.
Both are State of Origin calibre players and among the best in the NRL.
J'maine Hopgood too, despite falling off the wagon a little during the second half of his rookie NRL season, was solid and will look to increase consistency this year.
But that, unfortunately for the Eels, is where things take a turn. While they signed Joe Ofahengaue from the Tigers late in 2023 and he will add something, it's not enough to suggest the blue and gold come into the season with a forward pack that has the depth of other top contenders.
They will be looking for more out of Jirah Momoisea and Ofahiki Ogden if they are to get to that level, while Makahesi Makatoa is now a very known quantity, albeit an improving one. Wiremu Greig too has the ability to add plenty.
There is also the small matter of where Ryan Matterson plays.
But for Parramatta's pack to succeed, they need the likes of Momoisea, Ogden, Makatoa and Greig to go up a level in 2024. It's a simple as that.
Hooker has become one of the game's most important positions in this modern era. Fast, accurate service, creativity, a kicking game, and solid defence have become hallmarks of the number nine role.
No team wins a competition without a good hooker either. It's as simple as that.
So when the Eels let Reed Mahoney go at the end of 2022, and signed an ageing Josh Hodgson in his place, it was fair to say eyebrows were raised right around the competition.
2023 did nothing to drop those eyebrows either, with Hodgson medically retired by the end of it. Brendan Hands stood up well though, and Joey Lussick has also rejoined the club, creating a two-way race for the role heading into 2024.
Arthur though has shown his desire to have an 80-minute dummy half, meaning there could be only room for one of the duo.
Are either Hands or Lussick truly up to playing 80 minutes week in and week out though, while also providing the spark that almost every other club around them will have thanks to a one-two punch.
Even the three-time premiers at Penrith do it, with Soni Luke coming off the bench.
It may well be time for Arthur to consider a split dummy half role for 2024 if the Eels are to surge back up the table.