If you come at the king, as the great Omar Little said, you best not miss.

Brisbane learned that the hard way in 2023, pushing the Panthers to their maximum and getting punished by the brilliance of Nathan Cleary.

For Kevin Walters, the path to going one better in 2024 already has obstacles in it. Herbie Farnworth, arguably the game’s best centre and a fulcrum of the Broncos’ style, has left for the Dolphins, where he will be joined by Thomas Flegler, a crucial cog in their middle rotation.

Keenan Palasia is out too, and while he might not jump off the page to the same extent as the other two, he has played almost every game for two seasons straight and provided vital flexibility to their rotation.

The joy of being the Broncos coach is that you always have a junior nursery pushing the next great player your way, but the flipside to that is that you aren’t judged at the same level as a regular club.