Two less teams, two more contenders. That was the consensus among coaches and captains as the Illawarra Rugby League launched its season on Friday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Mojo Homes Cup thats kicks off on April 22 will see just six teams vying for the silverware following the withdrawal of Helensburgh and Cronulla Caringbah from the top grade.
It's far from an ideal situation, but the 2023 season will see six sides with genuine title aspirations take to the park.
Reigning premiers Collegians will return under the competition's only new coach in Peter Hooper following the departure of three-time premiership-winner Nathan Fien, while Pete McLeod, Jarrod Costello and Luke Manahan remain at the helm of finalists' Wests, Thirroul and De La Salle respectively.
All retain clear premiership claims, but Dapto and Corrimal have made major off-season moves in an effort to push themselves into the title frame.
Second-year Canaries coach Blake Wallace will have trio of former NRL stars Brad Takairangi, Aaron Gray and Pita Godinet at his disposal, while Cougars coach Drew Keys will have former NSW Origin half Jarrod Mullen at Ziems Park.
Having watched his young guns empty the tank without much joy last season, Wallace said the club knew it had to add some experience to push into the title frame.
"When guys of that quality that come up, you do what you've got to do to get it over the line and we're pretty lucky to have those three having a run for us," Wallace said
"I looked back at the season and some spots we needed to fill and that's what we went after. As a club we've gone out and bought players in in the past and it's sometimes put us in a bad spot in years to follow.
"We had to be mindful of that happening again, but I think we've done the right thing in terms of who we've brought in and how we've gone about it.
"I don't think we were that far off last year, regardless of results, we were in games. We've got really good juniors there, it's just about putting the right people around them."
The quality cattle will bring added expectation, but Wallace insists internal expectations are far more onerous.
"At the end of the day, I'd be disappointed if we're not [in finals] come the end of the year," Wallace said.
"We want to win, we're not there to take part. We've got some quality and experience that can get us there and we're going to go as far into it as we can."
Read more: Griffin tight-lipped on Dragons future
Corrimal skipper Bill Ryder says Mullen's presence has a has a similarly transformative effect on expectations at Ziems Park.
"The improvement is not just going to be from him touching the ball, it's going to be from just having him around," Ryder said.
"When he's played at the level he's played at, he brings a lot of intensity and competitiveness to his training, which is what we need.
"I think it's really flicked the switch for us. It's been a couple of tough years but everyone wants to play finals and we're no different, that's our expectation.
"We've probably had our best recruiting year in a long time and, building off the last couple of years, we're not here to make up the numbers.
"We're here to compete, win, make finals and see what happens."
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content.
Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play