Tigers uncaged at last
The NRL’s basket-case club hasn’t played finals since 2011 and has not even managed to win three straight games since 2018 (when Ivan Cleary was coach). This year the 2022 wooden spooners have reunited the forces who won their long-ago 2005 premiership – coach Tim Sheens with Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah as assistants. The word out of Leichhardt is that there’s a personal, cultural and team revolution under way.
We’ve heard that before but Marshall, who takes over as coach in 2025, is a Midas man. For a change, Wests Tigers have recruited well – with livewire No 9 Api Koroisau, wrecking ball Isaia Papali’i and warhorse David Klemmer the new heart of a tough pack. In 2022 the Tigers averaged 15 points a game and conceded 28, but John Bateman’s X-factor can free up Adam Doueihi and Luke Brooks and ignite Joe Ofahengaue for razzle-dazzle attack.
With two very winnable Sunday games at Leichhardt Oval to start 2023, the Tigers can show their teeth early and give us all a Cinderella story to cheer on.
Mitchell for Dally M?
Even before the 2023 season kicks off, Latrell Mitchell has given the game a black eye and a beautiful moment as only he can. First, he gets arrested for scuffling with Jack Wighton outside a nightclub. A few days later, after ripping the Dragons to shreds, he’s cradling rival Tyrell Sloan in his arms after the latter endured a rough game.
As polarising as he is, no one doubts Mitchell’s brilliance on the field. The trouble for South Sydney is he’s not on the field often enough, playing only 48 of a possible 70 games due to injury or suspension so far. This is the year it all has to come together. If Mitchell plays a full season the Rabbitohs win the premiership, he wins the Dally M Medal and the critics vanish.
At 25, Mitchell is already a rugby league great. He’s also a leader of his people off the field. Can he bring together these two great passions and give us a (full) season to cherish?
Penrith triple premiers
Can the mountain men climb NRL’s Everest yet again?
Penrith won a second-straight premiership in 2022 but the true marker of the club’s success was they also won every grade under it - a feat never achieved in 115 years of rugby league.
Are they capable of matching the great Parramatta side of 1981-83 and win a three-peat of titles?
Although the victorious class of 2021-22 has splintered, Ivan and Nathan Cleary remain at the helm with stars Dylan Edwards, Jarome Luai, Isaiah Yeo also looming large. The real asset? A fresh wave of talented local juniors hungry to deliver a dynasty.
It’s Wayne’s world
If Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett is shaping the NRL’s 17th team in his image – resilient, professional, experienced, full of surprises – exciting days are ahead.
At 73, the seven-time premiership coach still has a point to prove. No one is expecting him to emulate the success he did at the Broncos (six titles), Dragons (2010 title) or Rabbitohs (2021 grand final) but only a foolish few would doubt his abilities as a man manager and motivator.
Although the Dolphins are still without a marquee man, poaching Brisbane stars Herbie Farnworth and Origin prop Tom Flegler for 2024 is a good sign, and they will field a tough pack led by Kenny and Jesse Bromwich, with Felise Kaufusi and Mark Nicholls in support.
The problem in 2023 may be points. They have moderate firepower out wide in Sean O’Sullivan, Brenko Lee and Jamayne Isaako but the halves plan is already up in smoke, with Anthony Milford axed and 19-year-old Panthers prodigy Isaiya Katoa to debut in round one.
It’s a classic Bennett ‘truth bomb’ but a good sign. He is tough as they come, and the Dolphins will need to be too if they are to survive in the NRL.
Can Ciraldo rebuild Bulldogs?
For the first time since the 1960s the Bulldogs have missed the NRL finals six years running. Can that ignominious streak end in 2023 under the leadership of the game’s next-big-thing coach, ex-Panthers 2IC Cameron Ciraldo, and the guidance of guru chairman Phil Gould?
The ’family club’ is the NRL’s greatest rebuild since Penrith. Local support has never been an issue – 50,000+ flock to the annual Good Friday showdown against the Rabbitohs – but on-field results have been dire, with 11th their best since 2016 and a wooden spoon in 2021.
The Dogs have recruited Reed Mahoney (Eels), Viliame Kikau (Panthers), Ryan Sutton (Raiders) to join 2022 star recruits Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr, and Panthers gun, Stephen Crichton, is landing in 2024. Can they gel under Ciraldo for a winning season?
They must start 2023 well. Last year, under coach Trent Barrett, the Dogs won just two of their first 10, and in the past five years they’ve lost 37 of 45 games in rounds one to nine. Starting strong will restore fan faith in the front office, and create excitement and momentum. It will also keep Ciraldo safe from Gould, a diehard Dogs player and coach and infamous meddler.
