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From new look halves pairings to positional depth and player contracts, each club is facing the unknown in a number of key areas as they begin their 2019 premiership assaults.
Here are the burning questions facing each of the 16 teams as the pre-season heats up.
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BRONCOS
Can the Broncos solve their halves dilemma?
The Broncos boast one of the best packs in the competition, but if they can’t sort their halves mess out they won’t challenge for the 2020 title.
Incumbent five-eighth Darius Boyd is not a No.6 and is expected to play centre next season, while halfback Jake Turpin’s best position is hooker.
Anthony Seibold seems intent on playing Anthony Milford at fullback, but historically his best position has been at No.6.
It is up to Tom Dearden and Sean O’Sullivan to step up and demand the No.7 jersey for next season, but if they can’t Seibold may look to lure Brodie Croft to the club sooner rather than later.
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RAIDERS
What will be Ricky Stuart’s halves combination next season?
It is a pretty tough call to change a halves combination that took the Raiders to their first grand final in 25 years, but that is what is on the cards at the Raiders.
English signing George Williams will pressure incumbent halfback Aidan Sezer for the No.7 jersey in pre-season.
Sezer may opt to leave the club if he feels his starting position is under threat, with the Bulldogs a potential landing spot to replace the injured Kieran Foran.
Another option would be to shift Sezer to No.6 and Jack Wighton to centre or fullback, but that appears unlikely given the form of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
BULLDOGS
Can the Bulldogs cover the loss of Kieran Foran for next season?
Luckless Canterbury five-eighth Kieran Foran has been ruled out for the entire 2020 season with a shoulder injury suffered while playing for the Kiwis.
The Bulldogs will be hoping they can get some salary cap dispensation as Foran is their highest paid player.
Of the player on their books, Jack Cogger and Lachlan Lewis are the most likely halves pairing to start Round 1.
However Dean Pay may look to lure a player like Aidan Sezer to the club in order to give his side a dominant playmaker.
SHARKS
How do the Sharks fit Jesse Ramien, Josh Dugan, Josh Morris and Bronson Xerri in the same side?
The Sharks have one of the best sides on paper in terms of quality players, but the problem is they are spoiled for choice in the same positions.
Jesse Ramien’s return to the club has added to their embarrassment of riches at the centre position, with Bronson Xerri, Josh Dugan and Josh Morris already on their books.
Dugan’s potential shift to fullback is blocked by Matt Moylan, who could shift to the halves, but that would involve dropping Shaun Johnson or premiership winner Chad Townsend.
Most likely Xerri and Ramien will start in the centres, with Morris and Dugan on the wings, but as we saw last year that might put a few noses out of joint.
TITANS
Can Justin Holbrook get the best out of Ash Taylor?
More accurately the question is can Holbrook get the best out of the Titans’ overpaid and underperforming squad?
However fair or unfair, Taylor’s form sets the tone for the entire Gold Coast squad given he is their highest paid player and halfback.
Holbrook needs his highest paid players to live up to their hefty price tags, so that the other players can follow their lead.
If Holbrook can get Taylor fit, focused and firing there is no excuses for the rest of the squad to not follow and help lift the side off the bottom of the ladder after a wooden spoon finish in 2019.
SEA EAGLES
How do the Sea Eagles cover for the potential loss of Manase Fainu?
Manase Fainu’s pending court proceedings over his alleged stabbing attack at a Sydney Church has thrown the club’s hooker depth into disarray.
The club let 2019 starting hooker Api Koroisau leave the club to join the Panthers in a bid to free up funds to re-sign the Trbojevic brothers.
Des Hasler may be wishing he had his time again, with Fainu no certainty to play in Round 1 due to the no fault stand down policy.
The club maintains they have a contingency plan in place should Fainu be unable to play for all or part of next season, but that plan doesn’t look to be on their books at the moment.
STORM
Will Brodie Croft or Jahrome Hughes get the keys to the team at halfback?
Melbourne need to decide who their best halfback is and let him play the majority of the season leading into next year’s finals series, provided the Storm make it.
Brodie Croft was preferred for the bulk of the 2019 campaign, before Craig Bellamy shifted Jahrome Hughes from fullback to halfback ahead of his side’s failed finals campaign.
Cameron Munster’s game can only improve from having a consistent halves partner over the course of a season, so that the Storm are peaking at the right time for an assault on the title.
The Storm can’t afford to be chopping and changing their halfback as they have over the past two seasons since Cooper Cronk left the club.
KNIGHTS
Can Adam O’Brien improve the club’s leaky defence?
Newcastle have a number of areas that are in need of improvement, but none more so than the side’s notoriously flaky defence.
In Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga the Knights have the attacking players to challenge any side in the competition, but they need to set the platform with their defence.
New coach Adam O’Brien has come from the best defensive team over the past two season in the Roosters and will know how to get his players into shape defensively.
However any successful defensive structure depends on the culture of the players and their willingness to buy into it, so the onus is on squad to step up in 2020.
COWBOYS
Will the Cowboys get Valentine Holmes or Latrell Mitchell?
The Cowboys again have a solid squad on paper, but the final make-up of their side and their ability to push for a title in 2020 could hinge on their ability to land Valentine Holmes or Latrell Mitchell.
Holmes remains undecided on whether he will continue his dream of playing in the NFL, while Mitchell is tossing up offers from the Tigers and Cowboys, as he plots a shift to fullback.
The Cowboys have Esan Marsters and Scott Drinkwater on their books, but Holmes and Mitchell are in another class and would take the club to the next level.
The problem for the Cowboys is signing one of the two superstars would rule them out of the race for the other and they risk missing out on the services of both if they wait too long.
EELS
Will Ryan Matterson deliver back at the Eels?
The former Roosters premiership winner has rejoined Brad Arthur’s side after his public falling out with the Tigers.
On the field in 2019 Matterson had a breakout season and was included in Brad Fittler’s NSW Blues squad for the State of Origin series.
Off the field Matterson failed to buy into the Tigers as he struggled to accept some underperforming teammates being paid more than him.
Matterson would do well to put all talk of contracts and money aside in his return to Parramatta and let his footy do the talking.
PANTHERS
Will Nathan Cleary step up as a main playmaker?
In losing James Maloney the Panthers have a void to fill in the side’s dominant playmaker and Nathan Cleary needs to take his game to the next level.
Cleary’s nine try assists in 2019 were half of Maloney’s final tally of 18 and he will need to up his ability to create try scoring opportunities for his teammates next season.
The Panthers have also signed assistant coach Trent Barrett, who will play a key role in shaping the Panthers’ attack with Cleary in the hot seat.
Cleary’s ability to combine with Jahrome Luai or Matt Burton will go a long way to defining the Panthers’ identity in the post Maloney era.
RABBITOHS
Can the club overcome the loss of Sam Burgess?
As if losing skipper Greg Inglis two games into the 2019 season wasn’t bad enough, the Rabbitohs lost his replacement Sam Burgess and another former club captain in John Sutton to retirement by the end of the year.
Much of what has defined South Sydney’s success over the last decade, including their 2014 premiership win was based around the input of these three players.
Wayne Bennett has a tall task in reshaping the culture of the club on and off the field, after the loss of the three club greats.
He may still be too young for the captaincy, but Cameron Murray should be considered a focal point of the club’s new era going forward.
DRAGONS
Can the club settle on a new and effective spine combination?
The Dragons began last season with one of the best spines on paper, but a horror year saw them finish second last ahead of only the Titans.
Injuries and suspensions played their part, but the side lacked direction and cohesion in their spine, which will need to be addressed in 2020.
So long the focal point of their attack, Gareth Widdop has gone back to the UK leaving Ben Hunt and Corey Norman as the most likely halves pairing, while Tristan Sailor is an exciting prospect at the back.
Cameron McInnes’ broken leg will hurt his preparation, but the signing of Issac Luke will ease the pressure on him, however the spine will take time to gel.
ROOSTERS
Can the Roosters cover for the loss of Cooper Cronk?
Given the impact Cronk had in bringing two premierships to the Roosters in his two seasons at the club, replacing him will not be easy.
Trent Robinson looks set to put his faith in former Sharks half Kyle Flanagan to partner Luke Keary at the scrumbase in 2020.
However Keary and Flanagan’s combination will take time to develop and Keary will need take his game to even greater heights without Cronk.
Cronk’s leadership and example at training and his pinpoint kicking game under pressure will be difficult to replace.
WARRIORS
What is the club’s best halves pairing heading into next season?
The Warriors have issues right across the park, but getting the balance right in their halves will prove crucial to their chances of climbing up the ladder in 2020.
Kodi Nikorima was brought to the club last season on a three-year deal, but failed to nail down the five-eighth spot outside Blake Green.
Rookie Chanel Harris-Tavita was a revelation in his first full season and will only get better with experience.
Green and Harris-Tavita would complement each other well in the halves, with Nikorima potentially an option at hooker or coming off the bench at dummyhalf.
WESTS TIGERS
Can the Tigers secure Latrell Mitchell?
The Tigers are in the midst of the longest finals drought in the NRL and it could take the biggest signing in the club’s history to end it.
The club is reportedly pulling out all the stops to lure Mitchell to the club, with the dual Roosters premiership winner looking to shift fullback.
The Tigers goalkicking woes would also be a thing of the past if they signed the NRL’s leading pointscorer.
Mitchell is a superstar and if Michael Maguire can snare his services he will be motivated to show the Roosters what they let walk out the door.