2022 was a busy year for the NRL's coaching carousel, with three first-grade mentors out of a job before the end of June.
Trent Barrett, Michael Maguire and Nathan Brown all felt the wrath of undelivered expectations and have paved the way for the next generation, while the Tigers have gone back to a tried-and-trusted method by re-hiring Tim Sheens.
But while brand new coaches and revered figures are likely to be given some time to implement their grand plans, there are a number of coaches at the other end – feeling the pressure after a disappointing or at least heavily scrutinised 2022 campaign.
You might find it strange to see a coach who took his team all the way to the most-recent grand final on a list of under-pressure candidates for 2023. But despite his success this year, Arthur found himself the subject of unwanted scrutiny multiple times throughout 2022.
First, there were the ridiculous accusations of nepotism in the early rounds as his son Jake was scapegoated for some poor performances. Then a report was leaked on the eve of the finals suggesting there was unrest both in the playing group and in the boardroom. There were even reports that the coach was shopping himself around to other NRL clubs.
Arthur responded with accusations of a personal agenda against him, and he enjoyed the vocal support of his playing group as the issues refused to abate before the preliminary final and the euphoric celebration of a grand final appearance silenced the agenda-driven critics – but for how long?
With both of his halves off-contract at the same time (an erroneous move that will continue to cause headaches until the matter is resolved – and possibly after it as well) and a wealth of talent and experience walking out the door in the off-season, the screws are still being applied to the Parramatta mentor.
Should the wrong half leave (although who that is, we have no idea) or the team struggle to fill the void of departing stars like Reed Mahoney and Isaiah Papali'i early, it's almost certain Arthur will start to feel the pressure.
In his favour is a number of good signings, including Josh Hodgson at dummy-half, but with Eels' fans hungry for more success, the clock will be ticking on the coach to get the best out of his new players as soon as possible.
With three of the top four sides, plus a rejuvenated Manly and the Sydney Roosters in their first five games, he'll certainly face a challenging start to the year.
The Broncos enjoyed a starkly different close to the season gone by than Arthur's Eels. It was an oft-repeated fact during their late-season collapse that the Broncos were on the cusp of the Top 4 in Round 19, only to blow it immensely and miss out on the finals altogether.
Up until recently, fans have been relatively happy with Walters' efforts to return the Broncos to the esteemed heights they're familiar with. The disastrous wooden spoon season has faded into forgettable history as the team finished 14th and then ninth, and fans should be deservedly optimistic about the plethora of talented youngsters who have made their NRL debuts in that time – but it will be finals or bust at Red Hill this year and any early indications they might not make it will force Ben Ikin's hand.
The playing ranks are laden with talent but those young prospects will have greater expectations hanging over them after another year of NRL experience. But the one who'll pay if those expectations aren't met won't be the playing group but rather their mentor.
The balance between incoming and outgoing players seems relatively even, with Reece Walsh leading the contingent of new recruits. Despite assumptions he'd fit straight into fullback when he was announced by the Broncos it appears Walters is still undecided about who'll take the custodial role – and that's a decision that needs to be made promptly.
Brisbane will get as good a test of their credentials as they could ask for in the first two weeks, with a game against the premiers closely followed by a XXXX Derby with the high-flying Cowboys. More appealing clashes follow, but if the Broncos are winless when they face the Dolphins in Round 4 expect a lot of question marks to already be hanging around Walters' future.
Griffin was a constant subject of speculation in 2022, and in the immediate aftermath of the last game of the year it looked like the Red V were going to challenge Manly for the most headline-grabbing off-season.
Young players wanted out due to the coach, their best player's future was still undecided and there were multiple reports of disharmony and claims Griffin had lost the dressing room. Add in some strange actions by the likes of Craig Young, the termination of assistant coaching staff and the club's treatment of James Graham and it looked like the epitome of an unstable working environment.
Not even two months later and Griffin deserves acknowledgement. Both of those young players have since reversed their decisions, Ben Hunt has signed on the dotted line and Craig Young is gone. New coaches have been appointed, and a number of players with question marks over their suitability against the club's ambition have been moved on.
The club actually looks like it could make some positive progress this year and challenge for the finals – but Dragons fans are well-versed in this feeling. By working to resolve issues and create a sense of cautious optimism around the club, Griffin is raising expectations – which is dangerous given the number of unknowns that still linger over the Red V lineup.
While the departures of Josh McGuire and Andrew McCullough will help to dispel the notion that the team is heavily tied to Griffin's preferences instead of the best available team, it does leave a void in the all-important dummy-half position that needs to be filled by Jacob Liddle or another recruit.
Griffin's tenure has been unusual – despite winning four more games in 2022 than he did the year before, the club finished just one place higher on the ladder.
If the team can keep progressing, they'll be a genuine chance to grab one of the lower-hanging finals places – and with an attractive early draw (including the Titans twice in the first five games), there'll be no excuses if they don't.
How any coach can survive winning one game from 17 in the modern NRL era is a reasonable question – and Justin Holbrook clearly has the answers after the Titans took a massive backward step in 2022.
He's lucky that star signing David Fifita was also failing to hit the lofty heights of expectation that had developed at Robina after securing their first finals berth in five years in 2021.
Fifita was regularly pilloried in the news for not living up to the hype or justifying his massive price-tag, meanwhile Holbrook largely escaped censure.
By winning three of their last four games, they were also able to gloss over that remarkable mid-season streak, but they were undeniably putrid during that time.
While Fifita had injury issues and captain Tino was away during that time on Origin duty, a lot of the problems actually emerged in pre-season, with the club's decision to release the only experienced half they had left in Jamal Fogarty.
While it's always good to have youth options you can depend on, going for a halves combination with a total of 25 NRL games experience between them was a disastrous call that has been acknowledged. Holbrook might be aiming for a long-term benefit in the future, but there's a reason the club have since brought in 262-game veteran Kieran Foran.
The Titans have also acted smartly in regards to dummy-half by introducing Sam Verrills, and there's a not-unreasonable belief that adding experience in these key positions will help the club immeasurably.
Either way, if the new-look Titans fail to fire in the early rounds, the scrutiny will amplify and Holbrook won't have an inexperienced squad to fall behind.
The Fifita issue may still linger, at least until the million-dollar man negotiates what is likely to be a decreased salary moving forward – or opts to go somewhere else. If that situation can't be handled professionally it could become a distraction that the coach really doesn't need.
While the Titans will take on the Storm and the Cowboys in the first five rounds, they'll open their campaign against the defending wooden-spooners and face the Dragons twice. While expectations won't be unreasonable, if the Titans can't emerge from those first five rounds without at least two wins, the clock will already be ticking on Holbrook's job security.
Few who witnessed it could forget the trainwreck press conference O'Brien gave as pressure was mounting towards the back end of the 2022 season.
With an abysmal win-loss record and the worst defensive record in the competition, the Knights coach took exception to suggestions that saving the club might be beyond him. He said, correctly, that he's been involved in four grand finals and understands a title-winning defensive system, and that it takes time to implement change.
That speech proved there is a significant gulf between being an assistant and a head coach, and it did little to reverse the club's fortunes or generate sympathy for their plight. They won their next game against the Tigers but didn't win again all season, finishing the year in 14th by a slim margin over the Warriors.
The club has lost a mass of experience during the off-season already, with David Klemmer, Anthony Milford, Edrick Lee and Mitch Barnett alone combining for 660 NRL games. While newcomer Adam Elliott has played over 100 games, no one else that the club has brought in (Jackson Hastings, Tyson Gamble, Jack Hetherington and more) is near triple-digit NRL appearances.
But perhaps the biggest question – and factor pertaining to O'Brien's hopes – is the revised decision to try, once again, to bring Kalyn Ponga into the halves.
While there's a good chance this decision is as much about trying to protect Ponga from the risk of concussion as it is enhancing the attack, it's been tried before.
After finishing the 2018 season with two appearances in the No.6, Ponga was touted as the future five-eighth at the club, despite openly expressing his preference for fullback.
In 2019 he started in the role and made another three appearances before going back to the No.1. He hasn't played five-eighth since. Clearly, he offers more to the Knights as a fullback.
O'Brien could benefit from this experiment's revival, with analysis likely to tie results more to Ponga's influence than his own, at least for a while. Perhaps the biggest problem hanging over this move is the fact that the Knights don't have a fullback of Ponga's calibre to replace him.
It is absolutely essential that the Knights emerge from their first five games with a winning record, given they play the Warriors, Tigers and Dolphins in their first three games. Any missteps will see the pressure applied early, and it will only intensify as the season progresses.
With just one five-day turnaround and a relatively comfortable draw, make no mistake – if the Knights start slow and fail to look like they'll contend for the finals this year, O'Brien could be gone before Origin. Ponga will take some heat and headlines, but the buck will stop with the coach.