Corey Parker: What a perfect off-season looks like for every NRL club heading into 2024

Here are a few thoughts on what every club needs to happen between now and round one to make 2024 a winner.

PANTHERS

It’s hard to imagine how things could be better at Penrith, after four grand finals and three premierships in a row. They’re simply doubling down on whatever they’ve been doing, surely, with a few small tweaks from Ivan Cleary to stay ahead of the game.

Their perfect off-season, having proven themselves a historically-outstanding side, would be staying fresh and healthy. No complacency, no serious injuries. Nathan Cleary comes back from the grand final knee injury without drama, ready to go again. And the production line rolls on, in terms of replacing the players they’ve lost.

They’re significant losses again, with Stephen Crichton and Spencer Leniu departing off the back of Api Koroisau, Viliame Kikau and Matt Burton in previous seasons. But Paul Alamoti is a great signing from Canterbury to cover Crichton’s exit in the centres. When you’re clearly a handy young player in a struggling side like the Bulldogs, the sky’s the limit plugging him into this champion Panthers team. They’ll hope to have him ready for a flying start in their line-up, Izack Tago style. Meanwhile, they’ll be on the lookout for more Zac Hosking types, having turned him into a terrific cut-price contributor this season.

BRONCOS

Ezra Mam, though he’s got nothing to show for it, just produced one of the great grand final performances for the Broncos and he epitomises the team’s big upside: youth. Brisbane ideally get Mam locked away on a long-term contract, which no doubt just became more expensive, and see their other big prospects like Blake Mozer start to flourish during pre-season.

That grand final loss will hurt for a long time, losing after leading by 16 points midway through the second half. Now, all that can be done is embracing the pain in the right way. Be brutally honest in the review about what went wrong and make sure it never happens again. And don’t take it for granted that you’ll be back there next year; it’s back to square one and only hard work will get you another chance.

The Broncos are losing some pretty key players in Herbie Farnworth, Tom Flegler and Keenan Palasia. They will take some replacing but Selwyn Cobbo, Jesse Arthars or Deine Mariner could grab that opening at centre, while in the middle forwards Brisbane will hope Xavier Willison’s ACL rehab goes smoothly for a return mid-next season.

Again, youth is on the Broncos’ side. It’s a vibrant young team that plays fast, powerful football and for three-quarters of the players, their best is still ahead of them. It has been a great year for the Broncos, barring the manner of the grand final loss. Take the good, manage the bad, nail your pre-season and there’s another big opportunity there for the taking in 2024 for Kevin Walters’ side.

STORM

Nelson Asofa-Solomona needs to be a starting front-rower, full stop, so that’s an easy win to be had in off-season planning. He’s not a bench player; you can’t be paying $850,000 for a rotation forward. And ideally it’s a huge pre-season for Christian Welch, the club captain, who seriously looks at risk of ending up in England. Your skipper and recent Queensland Origin prop can’t be starting off the bench in big games, yet recently he’s just offered zero impact. If there’s not a big return to his old form next season, I’d be looking to move him on.

For mine, the Storm really need to go to market. They had a big crack at getting Payne Haas, which you can take as an admission that they need to be stronger and deeper in the middle forwards; Brisbane bashed Melbourne through the middle in that week-one finals game. Josh King works hard in the middle and there’s upside in the edge backrowers, with Eliesa Katoa and Trent Loiero having the chance to build on strong 2023 seasons. But they need to add some real punch.

The big one for the Storm, which every rugby league fan is hoping has a happy ending, is the recovery of Ryan Papenhuyzen. He’s a star of our game, so fingers crossed that his latest rehab runs smoothly, rather than turning into another saga where it’s unclear whether he’ll ever be able to return to what he was. Paps back in his 2020 Clive Churchill Medal form … everyone wants that dream to somehow come true.

WARRIORS

The upside looks huge for the Warriors, especially if they can continue that enormous wave of emotion that they rode all of this season. They enter their off-season with the Dally M Coach of the Year planning the next campaign, in Andrew Webster, and the RLPA Players Champion running the show at halfback, in Shaun Johnson. They’re in good hands.

Chanel Harris-Tavita is back as another halves option alongside Johnson. That creates extremely healthy competition and depth, with Te Maire Martin and Luke Metcalf also in the mix, while Wayde Egan should only get better as their hooker having been brilliant for them this season.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s return is clearly a huge tick and ideally, they work out exactly what it’s going to look like early in their preparations. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad says he’s already been promised retention of the fullback spot, which is the right call for mine; he’s earned it. I don’t see RTS walking straight back into the No.1 jersey at this stage of his career, despite having won the 2018 Dally M Medal there. He should be a good fit in the centres and ideally that plan is established from the outset.

KNIGHTS

You’d like to think the Knights would be flying over this off-season. After so many tough years, they’ve finished this season with both Dally M Medallists, plus a finals win and a back-to-back NRLW premiership. It’s wonderful for the game when Newcastle is going well, given it’s such a rugby league heartland, and that club and its fans look headed for far better times. Playing the Knights at home in front of a big crowd is a fond memory of my career and they’re back to that type of buzz.

Heading into pre-season, you’d like to think the Knights can simply power ahead with the magic they captured to end this year. If they can combine that with hard work, under the vastly improved leadership of megastar captain Kalyn Ponga, then they should have great things to look forward to.

The Knights – under coach Adam O’Brien, who now has a bit of breathing space – finally managed to land on a style of football that matched defensive grit with Ponga’s brilliance. Losing Dominic Young and Lachlan Fitzgibbon is a blow but the arrival of Jack Cogger, fresh off playing a crucial role in Penrith’s grand final win, is handy for the halves options.

SHARKS

Cronulla need a genuine game-breaker. An X-factor player who can lift them beyond a game plan that has become a bit ‘Nicho Hynes or nothing’. With Matt Moylan waning, I reckon the Sharks should have considered a massive play for Ezra Mam as their five-eighth, off the back of his grand final hat-trick and having not yet re-signed with Brisbane. The Broncos were looking at about $700,000 per season as a retention offer and though it seems more than likely they will lock him down, perhaps there’s a tiny window in which to blow them out of the water.

Nicho is a great player and they have some decent outside backs and middle forwards, but there’s not much else in the way of strike, barring Siosifa Talakai and Will Kennedy in absolute full flight. If there’s any war chest available, Ezra would be an ideal marquee target; if he’s quickly retained by Brisbane, maybe the Sharks then look at Jarome Luai.

Coach Craig Fitzgibbon has a certain model for his team, based around continuity and cohesion. It’s delivered them two finals finishes but they’ve then gone winless in the big games, so you have to have doubts about how far it can take them. On that count, they’ll want to recalibrate their defence over the off-season after it didn’t reach the heights of 2022.

ROOSTERS

The Roosters pulled off a Houdini act to make the finals, given the form and injury hurdles they faced this season. Their roster remains an absolute standout, when healthy, and they’ll add Dominic Young and Spencer Leniu for 2024.

It’s an elite list of players that is only getting better, so a pre-season without injuries is priority No.1. Ideally, the likes of James Tedesco and Brandon Smith recharge and find their best form from the outset after coming under heavy scrutiny this year. Having Joey Manu waiting in the wings is an incredible luxury but the Roosters don’t want to be dealing with any narratives about him replacing Teddy at fullback due to a slow start.

A fit and firing Sam Walker is a massive priority for the Roosters. I think he proved late this season that he’s the player to fill their halfback position long-term and a smooth pre-season cementing that role in the team is a must. Being the No.7 for a big club carries a lot of weight but when he came back into the team, he looked brilliant alongside Luke Keary and showed everyone what he can do.

RAIDERS

Landing on the right roles for their young talents is what can make this a successful off-season for Canberra, who will need plenty to go right if they’re to match that admirable effort to make this year’s finals. Jack Wighton is a huge loss in terms of class, as is Jarrod Croker for his vast experience.

While the likes of Josh Papali’i and Joe Tapine are still there leading the way, Papa is another year older and you’d ideally like to see some of those younger guys really stepping up as leaders of the team this pre-season; the likes of Corey Horsburgh and Hudson Young, who made Origin debuts this season, and PM’s XIII pick Emre Guler. As guys who like to play tough and gritty, they’re in the Canberra mould.

The spine is a concern. It’s hard to say with confidence that Jamal Fogarty is the answer at halfback; Ethan Strange is a halves prospect Canberra would love to see blossom, while Ethan Sanders is due to arrive from Parramatta for 2025. Meanwhile, you’d love to see either Xavier Savage or Sebastian Kris really put their hand up in pre-season and say, ‘I’m the fullback’. The facts are that Canberra struggled in both attack and defence this year; defence is largely an attitude thing but finding more points is going to require some guys to really lift. Matt Timoko was a shining light in the centres and his best football is ahead of him, as is Trey Mooney’s.

RABBITOHS

I liked the line in the sand that South Sydney just drew as a club by extending the contract of coach Jason Demetriou, after all the drama that clouded the back half of their season. It shows stability and a commitment to their course of action. Now, with that decision having been made, it’s time for the senior players to buy in; namely, Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker. There are few players in the competition who wield the type of influence that Latrell and his unique ability does over the Rabbitohs. A simple rule of leadership: never ask anyone to do something you’re not willing to do yourself. Be selfless and set the standards.

Some of what we saw this season from Latrell, both as a player and a leader, probably doesn’t pass muster. He’s been given a brilliant example of what can happen with a change of attitude and investment: Kalyn Ponga won the Dally M Medal and almost single-handedly dragged his team into the second week of the finals, having significantly lifted his buy-in at the Knights. For the Rabbitohs not to play finals, with the roster at their disposal and their mid-season form, was a catastrophe.

They shouldn’t need to look far for inspiration this pre-season and you’d hope that Latrell and Coy, alongside Cam Murray, are at the forefront of cleaning the slate. There is a ridiculous amount of talent in that team, even before you add Jack Wighton to partner Campbell Graham in the centres. Isaiah Tass is a terrific player and all of a sudden it’s a squeeze to get him into the team, especially with the likes of Tyrone Munro coming up.

Unity is the word at South Sydney. If they’re on the same page, with the egos firmly parked, then they’re back into the finals and contending for a premiership. And they’ll want to be on the same page from the outset, because no club will be under more scrutiny or pressure in the opening six weeks.

EELS

Solving obvious deficiencies at hooker and in the outside backs would represent a perfect off-season for Parramatta, after a year in which they went from grand finalists to out of the top eight. At No.9, they’d love for either Joey Lussick of Brendan Hands to grab the role after the Josh Hodgson experiment failed, while they’ll be hoping someone can lock down the other centre/wing spots alongside Will Penisini and Maika Sivo.

With the Brown-Moses halves combination and a Paulo-RCG-Hopgood middle, they’ve still got the big bases covered and just need those players to stay fit. Ideally, while building some depth behind them; there’s plenty of young props there with a chance to cement a rotation spot, while Daejarn Asi earned himself a new contract as the back-up half and will ideally close the gap to the elite output of the first-choice halves.

Kelma Tuilagi is a strong signing for the Eels. Having lost Isaiah Papali’i, he gives them some extra starch in those edge back-row options, alongside the established Shaun Lane and Ryan Matterson, plus boom prospect Toni Mataele.

COWBOYS

The good news is that everything is still there for the Cowboys. The players in that football team lifted themselves to a preliminary final with pure hard work in 2022 and for whatever reason, it just didn’t pan out that way this year. They had a stack of guys involved in the World Cup, which would have made their pre-season shorter and more disjointed; and they simply missed the jump and couldn’t drag it back. You’d have to say that their desire in defence largely failed to reach the standards of 2022, but they know they have the capacity to lift it.

The Cowboys have all the right players in all the right areas. They boast arguably the best young back-rowers in the comp in Jeremiah Nanai and Heilum Luki, while Griffin Neame also still has plenty of good football in front of him. I love Tom Dearden in the halves and a good pre-season could really catapult him into the NRL’s elite next year, while Scott Drinkwater went within a whisker of winning the Dally M Medal and is only just hitting his prime. Hooker Reece Robson this season became the latest Cowboy to play Origin and plays the kind of football where you always know you’re getting maximum effort.

Chad Townsend is a big question mark they’d love to go some way to solving during pre-season. His 2022 season was terrific, this year nowhere near it. Is the best he can offer the Cowboys already gone, or can he recharge and get this team humming again come round one? You’d hope the former, because the steady hand he can provide is invaluable. There are high hopes for local junior Tom Duffy down the track in the halves, but you’d love to see him get time to develop properly without rushing him into a team under pressure.

SEA EAGLES

It will be interesting to see what conversations are had during Manly’s pre-season because a tough, pragmatic chat around Tom Trbojevic’s future might be in order. He’s an absolute champion at fullback but that doesn’t count for much if he can’t stay on the field, and speedster Toluta’u Koula was absolutely sensational playing No.1 in his absence; his numbers were off the charts. Perhaps there’s a chance to play Tommy in the centres, where he’s starred in Origin for NSW, to avoid such frequent injuries. On one hand, it would be a shame; but on the other, it may give a superstar of our game a new, sustainable lease on life.

Josh Schuster remains a real problem for them. The signing of Luke Brooks and also the re-signing of Jake Arthur should tell him that his prospects of playing five-eighth are all but over, so he really needs to get his head around either No.13 or edge back-row. This is a delicate situation, doubly so since they’ve already loaded him up with a big contract. If I was his coach, I’d be losing patience very quickly with a guy on big money who isn’t putting in; yet at the same time, recognise that as a younger guy he might need an arm thrown around him rather than an ultimatum. Having an $850,000 per season guy in reserve grade is good for no one. Jason Saab is another who remains underwhelming at times and can really lift his consistency; his best can be brilliant and there’s scope for far more of it.

Brooks has the potential to be a really good story next season. He wasn’t the player to deliver success to Wests Tigers but he can certainly play and may finally taste some success at the Sea Eagles. Daly Cherry-Evans remains arguably the most skilful half in the comp, a born chief playmaker, and Brooks could thrive alongside a guy like that rather than having it all on his own shoulders. Manly would love to see those two guys build a combination and get on like a house on fire during pre-season. It could be what drives them back into the finals.

DOLPHINS

Signing two Test players from Brisbane – Dally M Centre of the Year Herbie Farnworth and new Kangaroos prop Tom Flegler – is a massive kickstart to the 2024 campaign for the Dolphins. Honestly, those signings could not look better in hindsight and should bring a real buzz to pre-season under Wayne Bennett. Tommy steps out of the shadow of Payne Haas and Patty Carrigan, and should really benefit from joining the Dolphins given that he gets to tap the knowledge of the Bromwich brothers and Felise Kaufusi. Herbie, meanwhile, immediately bolsters a weak spot for the Dolphins last season in their outside backs, aside from the Dally M award-winning efforts of Jamayne Isaako.

The success of those two signings should be a no-brainer and in the spine, things look tantalisingly close to a winning formula. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow starred at fullback this season and Jeremy Marshall-King was terrific at hooker. Sean O’Sullivan proved he can do a job for you at halfback and Isaiya Katoa’s ceiling at five-eighth is yet to be determined, with stardom not out of the question. For starters, you’d imagine he’d look pretty good if you chucked him straight into the Broncos’ line-up rather than a work-in-progress side. He can play.

Sustainability is a big key for the Dolphins, in this early stage of building their roster. They must get as much time as possible out of those veteran players and pray that there’s no early injury damage to any of their big names. That could make all the difference in trying to prolong their winning form past what we saw in season one.

TITANS

Two words: Des Hasler. Having made the bold call to dump Justin Holbrook as coach, the Gold Coast boys won’t know what’s hit them when dual premiership winner Dessie gets to work. The Titans have long needed the hard-edged preparedness that Hasler teams are known for, while the mad science element will be interesting with the players at his disposal.

Dessie has come up with some of the most innovative coaching we’ve seen, particularly with how he’s used his forwards. Who knows what strings we might see added to the bows of Dave Fifita and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui during pre-season?

Before anything, the Titans need a halfback ASAP. If Ben Hunt still wants to come back to Queensland, they should make him their top priority as a 2025 signing, even if he will be right into the final years of his career by then. With some top-shelf forwards, decent outside backs, and an otherwise reasonable spine with AJ Brimson, Sam Verrills and Kieran Foran, the No.7 is the obvious shortcoming. They might as well get Hunt locked in if possible, then see if the likes of Tanah Boyd can make a case for themselves through next season; especially given Foran is nearing the end.

BULLDOGS

Starting with the obvious: what a signing Stephen Crichton is. The Bulldogs have now added a Penrith premiership winner in Matt Burton, a dual premiership winner in Viliame Kikau and a triple premiership winner in Crichton. That’s an awful lot of class and success to plug into a struggling club and this pre-season, it all comes together, with Crichton given the opportunity for more influence than ever before with a permanent fullback role. From State of Origin to grand finals, Crichton is a serious big-game player and he’ll be intent on getting back into big games with the Bulldogs sooner rather than later. If pre-season runs smoothly and he’s firing on all cylinders as a fullback come round one, watch out.

That makes a spine of Crichton, Burton, Reed Mahoney and likely Toby Sexton. There’s still hope for Sexton; you’d like to see him really come to grips with his role this pre-season and execute it efficiently, because he just needs to be a game manager rather than a star in that spine. Elsewhere, losing the hefty contract of Luke Thompson is a big plus but there’s been a stack of curious bit-part signings that will have to be worked out before round one; the likes of Kurt Mann, Drew Hutchison, Jaeman Salmon, Blake Taafe, Bronson Xerri and Sio Siua Taukeiaho.

If I was a Bulldogs player getting ready for pre-season under Cameron Ciraldo … oh boy, strap yourself in. It’s going to be a tough one and they must embrace it. The Bulldogs wore some criticism over the brutality of certain training methods this year but honestly … this may sound harsh, but you need to weed out that sort of whingeing. It’s a telltale sign of a weak club. Ever heard players at the Panthers, Storm or Roosters whinge about how hard their training is? The camp we did at Brisbane in 2006 was the hardest training I’ve ever done in my life, which didn’t bother me too much when I was lifting the trophy in October. Nothing that’s worth anything ever comes easy in rugby league.

DRAGONS

New coach, now hope. Premiership winner Shane Flanagan makes his long-awaited coaching comeback at St George Illawarra and the one thing you’d hope to see under him from the outset is far greater stability. Flanno is already working very hard trying to get the right sort of players into that side and he had an early win by keeping Ben Hunt, easily the Dragons’ best player this year, as his halfback for next season.

Dragons fans need to know what they’re actually getting. That Hunt is the halfback. That either Tyrell Sloan or Zac Lomax is going to be the fullback. Honestly, while it’s not a stacked roster, they’ve got the players to have performed far better than they did this season. Stability will remove the excuses that instability seemed to afford them in 2023. The direction and clarity that Flanno will provide should be a huge asset.

The Dragons haven’t had a feared pack for quite some time but I liked what I saw from Blake Lawrie this season; he’s still just 26 and should be coming into his best football. Sloan is a scratch-your-head type player but clearly has genuine talent, while Flanno may just be the coach to nurture the best out of Lomax, who can really play despite copping plenty of criticism. Talatau Amone still has plenty of growth in him as a five-eighth. There is far more consistent performances to be squeezed out of guys like these and working under a champion coach certainly can’t hurt.

WESTS TIGERS

Unless they’ve got designs on doing a reverse Penrith by winning a three-peat of wooden spoons, there’s only one way the Tigers can go: up. With nothing to show for a stack of big signings, then Tim Sheens and others being moved on amid some football department turmoil, I’m not sure that the club has ever been lower in a decade of underachievement. It can’t get any worse, if that’s a positive.

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There’s always a bit of hesitation involved in getting excited about anything at the Tigers. They’ve locked in young fullback Jahream Bula until the end of 2027, yet I’m not yet convinced that he’s a long-term option either as a No.1 or as an NRL player. For the Tigers’ sake, I hope I’m wrong; I at least hope they didn’t break the bank for that long-term deal. And certainly you’d hope he has the pre-season of his life, with all eyes on him to lift a struggling side.

Like plenty of clubs, the Tigers really need to find some answers in their halves. Losing Luke Brooks gives them a chance to start fresh but at the moment, the cupboard is bare for No.7s. They’ve at least solved their hooker spot with Api Koroisau, though they’ll be hoping to find far more willing back-up for him next season. Not many teammates matched his will to win, never mind his class, in 2023.

Whatever Benji Marshall does in his first pre-season as head coach, he needs to find a resilience that has long been missing at the Tigers. Honestly, you’d love nothing more over the first six weeks of next season than to find out what this team stands for. What their DNA is. The Dolphins were able to do that this year, showing us that whatever shortcomings in their inaugural roster, they were going to turn up and have a red-hot crack. That mentality has not been in the Tigers’ DNA for a very long time and I’m a little concerned as to whether it can be found under an attack-first guy like Benji.