The 2023 NRL regular season is in the books after a frantic final round, laced with brilliant debuts, blowouts and costly send-offs.
Only three of the top 14 teams remained in the same ladder position they started the weekend in, with top spot changing hands and one high-profile outfit sent tumbling out of the Top 8.
Just one match was decided by a single-digit margin as six favourites covered, while four encounters produced 54-plus points.
Check out the changes to the NRL landscape ahead of what shapes as the most absorbing finals series in years.
Souths sent packing as Roosters surge
Widely regarded as the most prominent challenger to Penrithâs supremacy for a good chunk of the season, South Sydney is destined to be remembered as 2023âs great underachiever.
The Rabbitohs lost nine of their last 13 matches to slump to a ninth-place finish, with a 26-12 defeat to bitter rivals Sydney Roosters â who subsequently leapfrogged them for a place in the playoffs â the final insult to a baffling decline.
Trouble behind the scenes that saw assistant coach Sam Burgess dramatically quit only a week earlier set the stage for Southsâ sorry exit from the premiership race.
Meanwhile, Latrell Mitchellâs brain snap in Newcastle â ruling him out of the must-win blockbuster â deserves to live on in infamy.
Jack Wightonâs 2024 arrival wonât solve the problems triggered Jason Demetriouâs chargesâ dramatic slide as a summer of soul-searching looms at Redfern.
In contrast, the Roosters have pulled off one of the most remarkable late-season charges to snatch seventh spot.
The struggling heavyweights sat 10th or lower on the ladder from Round 11 but walked the tightrope with five straight wins â outlasting Souths despite Jared Waerea-Hargreavesâ suspension and Joey Manuâs injury absence to extend the clubâs finals streak to seven seasons.
Opening as only the slightest of outsiders for Saturdayâs away elimination final against Cronulla Sharks, the Roosters are on the sixth line of title betting at $21.
A Storm star is born
We had to wait 27 weeks for it, but Sualauvi Faalogo delivered the most memorable NRL debut of 2023 in Melbourneâs pivotal Thursday night victory over Brisbane.
Just three minutes after being injected from the bench at Suncorp Stadium, the specialist fullback/winger combined spectacularly with Ryan Papenhuyzen to score a match-turning try, then exploded again in the 72nd minute to dot down for the solo sealer in a 32-22 win.
Papenhuyzenâs blazing performance in his first NRL start since July last year was a huge pre-finals boost for the Storm, who moved up to third spot â and booked a second trip to Brisbane for Fridayâs qualifying final.
Where Craig Bellamy slots in ultra-reliable fullback fill-in Nick Meaney and whether he can find a spot for livewire Faalogo shape as two of the more intriguing elements of the upcoming Team List Tuesday.
The Broncos essentially surrendered their first minor premiership in 23 years by resting a stack of superstars, as well as being pitched into a hoodoo match-up in week one. They are now on a 14-matching losing streak against the Storm and have not won against the heavyweights at home since 2009.
Nevertheless, the Broncos are $1.65 favourites to book the first preliminary final berth and are hot on the Panthersâ tail at $3.00 for the premiership, with the Storm on the third line of betting at $6.50.
Momentum or rest?
Heading into the final round on long winning streaks and in similar situations, the Warriors and Newcastle Knights â guaranteed an away qualifying final and a home elimination final, respectively, regardless of their results â employed differing selection policies for their âdead-rubberâ matches.
The Warriors made nine changes to their line-up, including giving Shaun Johnson and Addin Fonua-Blake their first rest of the season.
A patched-up side featuring two debutants and a host of NSW Cup staples were duly thumped 34-10 by a Dolphins side that was on a six-match losing streak.
The likes of Josh Curran, Adam Pompey and Ed Kosi enhanced their finals claims, but it was a mixed day out for the returning Te Maire Martin and, in particular, centre tyro Rocco Berry.
The result cost the Warriors a share of club records for most consecutive wins and most victories in a regular season, as well as consigning them to a week one road trip to Penrith.
But despite their seven-match tear, the Warriors have been limping past also-rans for several weeks and did look in need of a freshen-up.
Rookie coach Andrew Webster has rarely pulled the wrong rein this year and his big guns should come out firing in the clubâs first finals match in five years.
The Knights, resting only Dane Gagai with Kalyn Ponga out injured, rolled on to an eighth straight win â 32-12 over St George Illawarra in Wollongong â as Dom Youngâs late double set fire to the highlight reels.
Adam OâBrienâs resurgent side takes irresistible momentum into Sundayâs elimination final showdown with the Raiders at McDonald Jones Stadium.
If this weekendâs results go according to plan (the Warriors are $4.40 outsiders to tip up Penrith, the Knights are $1.22 favourites to advance at Canberraâs expense), the premiershipâs two biggest improvers of 2023 will square off in Auckland in week two.
Kris spears Raidersâ home final hopes
Penrithâs minor premiership-sealing 42-12 win on Saturday that also quashed North Queenslandâs slim Top 8 hopes simultaneously guaranteed Canberraâs spot in the finals.
But the Raiders still had plenty to play for at Cronulla, with a home elimination final the prize for the victor.
Ricky Stuartâs injury and suspension-hit line-up had the better of the first half to lead 6-4 and were only down by four when the game, quite literally, was tipped on its head in the 59th minute.
Sebastian Krisâ ugly spear tackle on Sione Katoa changed the complexion of a tense encounter, with the Sharks scoring three tries in the ensuing 11 minutes to run out 24-6 winners. Kris will be fortunate to play again before April 2024.
Meanwhile, no team heads into the playoffs with less momentum than the Raiders â the first team in the NRL era to qualify for the finals without a 13-plus win to their name â after winning just two (narrowly, against the battling Tigers and Bulldogs) of their last six.
Ricky Stuartâs rickety Green Machine opened as a $4.25 underdog to keep their season alive on the road against the Knights, who trounced them 28-6 in the capital only five weeks ago.
Battlers endure fitting finale
Canterbury, St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers finished a long way behind the field, mustering a meagre total of just four wins combined in the last 11 rounds (one of which was the Dragons edging the Tigers) to complete utterly miserable campaigns.
Appropriately, all three beleaguered clubs saw out 2023 with disappointing losses.
The Tigers undeniably put the cue in the rack a week early, crashing 54-12 to Manly in a limp display.
The Dragons, who to their credit have put in a decent effort of late, faded late in a 32-12 home loss to the Knights, a late flurry wasnât enough to save the embattled Bulldogs from a 34-30 loss to the Titans.
With a long summer of hard work and self-reflection ahead, the trio of long-term also-ransâ prospects of immediate improvement in 2024 are modest.
The Tigers have already rerouted the coaching succession plan with Benji Marshall thrust into the hotseat early amid continuous boardroom blundering and a roster that is only getting weaker.
The Dragons have pinned their hopes on controversial coach Shane Flanaganâs arrival, but he wonât have much more to work with than whatâs already there.
The Bulldogs â full of bluster with Cameron Ciraldoâs arrival, some big-name recruits and Phil Gouldâs all-knowing influence behind them â have the best chance of climbing the ladder next year, but the first season of the rebuild was a disaster.
Whether Stephen Crichton, along with a host of mid-level recruits, will be enough to shore up their on-field deficiencies, let alone the off-field discontent that has emerged publicly in recent weeks, remains to be seen.