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Wayne Bennett’s stunning season at the helm of the Dolphins, Nathan Cleary’s single-handed effort to lift the Panthers to the premiership, and the fairytale showing by the Warriors.
They were among The Mole’s highlights of the 2023 season.
But as so often seems to be the case, with every high is a low. Here’s a look back at the lows of 2023.
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ROTTEN RABBITOHS
There has to be serious problems within a club when they lead the comp after 11 rounds, yet fail to play finals footy. Souths’ fall from grace was one of the big stories of 2023, with internal problems clearly a factor.
Favourite son Sam Burgess and fellow assistant coach John Morris both left the club late in the season, amidst allegations that they were ‘training the players too hard’.
LATRELL LASHED
Latrell Mitchell cops plenty of bad raps from the critics at times, but one spray during the year by Rod Churchill, son of Immortal and Souths great Clive, was particularly vicious.
Churchill eventually apologised and also stood down from presenting the medal named after his father on grand final day.
PARRA FIZZLE
The Eels became one of the few teams to make the grand final one year, and miss out on the top eight the next.
For poor old Eels fans – who have waited since 1986 to taste premiership success again – it was another bitter pill to swallow.
COACHES AXED
Struggling clubs can’t sack a dozen players mid-season – but they can axe their coaches in a desperate search for a quick fix.
The Dragons tried it with Anthony Griffin, the Titans with Justin Holbrook – and it did little to change their fortunes.
The Wests Tigers waited until season’s end to declare Tim Sheens had decided to step down. It was a lie. He was shown the door.
TIGERS FIASCO
The Tigers were a basket case yet again in 2023, winning just four games and collecting back to back wooden spoons.
Eventually the chairman, CEO, coach, his assistants and the entire board were shown the door. The supporters deserve better.
BAD BOYS
The small minority of players who continue to disrespect women, dabble with white powder and post abusive social media messages.
Unfortunately they give the many players who do great things in the community a bad name.
WRONG BUTTON
We complain about it every year, yet nothing seems to change.
The refereeing and Bunker inconsistencies continue week to week and once again cost teams games in 2023. All the fans want is a little consistency. It’s really not that hard.
DRAGON DRAMAS
Only the Tigers’ abysmal year took the heat off the Dragons, who fumbled and bumbled their way through 2023, then missed half a dozen high-profile targets they told the media they wanted for 2024.
Again, I feel for the long-suffering fans.
GOODBYE, FAREWELL, AMEN
Time waits for no man – and the game lost a host of good guys through retirement at the end of 2023 including James Tamou, Jason Croker, Wade Graham, Andrew Davey, Josh Hodgson, Josh Reynolds and Tevita Pangai Junior.
RIP
We farewelled many legendary names during the year – guys who gave us great memories, the likes of John Sattler, John McDonald, Lionel Morgan, Carl Webb and Paul Sait.
Gone but not forgotten.
WRONG ROOKIE
No disrespect to Sunia Turuva, a fine player, who won the Dally M Rookie of the year award in 2023. But Turuva played NRL and Test football in 2022 – and was in the hottest backline in the league.
The award should have gone to Jahream Bula from the Tigers – who came from nowhere and starred in an awful team.
WALLY’S WOES
The league world was rocked when Queensland great and Immortal Wally Lewis announced on television that he is suffering from dementia.
The many head knocks The King took during his career are believed to be a contributing factor to his plight.
PAPPY’S ROTTEN LUCK
League fans throughout the land rejoiced when Storm superstar Ryan Papenhuyzen finally made his comeback from a nagging knee injury that kept him out for over a year late in the season.
But ‘Pappy’ lasted just three games before suffering a badly broken ankle in the finals against the Broncos.
PAY PROBLEMS
The season was marred by a long running dispute between the NRL and the Players Association (RLPA) over pay and conditions.
The players were more militant than at any time in the game’s history, taking measures such as banning media interviews, covering up the NRL logo on their jerseys and threatening to boycott the Dally Ms before a compromise was finally reached.
What happened to the 2013 NYC Team of the Year
COWBOYS CRASH
After their breakout season in 2022, everyone thought the Cowboys could challenge for the top four – but they didn’t even make the final eight.
Some of their boom young players appeared to suffer from the dreaded second year syndrome. There’s too much talent for them to fail again in 2024.
PRANK GONE WRONG
Valentine Holmes posted, and then quickly deleted, an Instagram photo of himself with a bag of white powder in his mouth during post-season celebrations.
The Cowboys and the NRL came down hard on the star utility back, suspending Holmes for one game and fining him $100,000.
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