The Brisbane Broncos fell agonisingly short of their first premiership in almost two decades last year, and will now aim to maintain the rage heading into 2024.

Some big name exits from Red Hill aren’t about to make life any easier for coach Kevin Walters though, with the club also aiming to prove they can now be consistent at the top.

With an ageing halfback, questions over their depth and and off-field contract negotiations likely to be a distraction, here are the five big questions likely to shape the 2024 campaign for the Brisbane Broncos.

This might be the single biggest issue for the Broncos coming into the 2024 season, such is the importance of the veteran halfback to anything the Broncos touch.

Kevin Walters’ side has plenty of youthful exuberance, and all of those players stood up in a big way during last year’s run to the grand final. Reece Walsh led them, but Ezra Mam was fantastic in the grand final in particular, while a number of other players are snapping around the first grade side and ensuring there is competition for spots.

Even those who aren’t so young but maybe lacking the experience of other established campaigners like Jesse Arthars, who booted Corey Oates out of first grade, did their job within the squad.

As the saying goes, you win a premiership with 30, not 17.

But none of what happened at the Broncos in 2023 was possible without the calm head of Adam Reynolds. They would have still probably been a solid outfit without him, and would be again in 2024 if he runs into injury issues, but it goes without saying that he adds so much to this Brisbane outfit.

The more experience other young players gain, the better Brisbane will ultimately, be, but for the time being, they simply must have Reynolds on the park in clutch moments to win games.

Love Rugby League revealed in November how Sailor had held talks with Super League clubs about a switch from the NRL for the 2024 season, with it later emerging that Leigh were the club in question.

Reports had suggested a deal had been all-but completed to bring the son of the former dual-code Australian great, Wendell, to the Leopards for the new campaign, but the situation changed dramatically over the festive period.

Love Rugby League has been told that Brisbane ultimately refused to sanction Sailor’s release owing to their own squad situation, despite Leigh being confident they had secured a deal.

In turn, they had already begun to look at their own quota situation – with the Leopards needing to release an overseas player already under contract to make the Sailor deal happen.

Leigh owner Derek Beaumont took to social media to apparently confirm the Sailor deal was off, saying: “Sailor is an NRL player and not available to sign just like some of ours who the NRL want are SL players and aren’t available to sign. Contracts need to have substance and be respected both ways. Wishing Tristan a big year in the NRL and all our players a big one in SL.”

Leigh Leopards in no rush to seek immediate replacement for Tristan Sailor after move appears to fall through

Despite having utility value across the backline, Sailor had been identified as an option to feature in the spine for Adrian Lam’s side in 2024.

Having already allowed Joe Mellor to leave and sign for Super League rivals Salford Red Devils, it does leave Leigh light in the pivots – though they do have new signings Ben McNamara and Matt Moylan.

And Love Rugby League has been told Leigh are in no rush to seek an immediate replacement for Sailor.

The collapse of the move also halts any urgent need to move one of their existing overseas players on – despite interest remaining in at least one of them.

Love Rugby League has been told Leigh will even monitor Sailor’s situation from afar in the hope it may change, with Brisbane’s plans for 2024 likely to impact that at some stage.

But as things stand, Leigh are comfortable with what they have, and are in no rush to recruit someone else despite a move for one of their major targets falling through at the last minute.