After a season that should see them considered back among the best in the NRL, NZ Warriors know the challenge is going again in 2024.
The Auckland club's season came to an end in disappointing fashion, with a chastening 42-12 defeat to Brisbane Broncos, missing out on a spot in the NRL Grand Final next weekend against Penrith Panthers - but the reality can't be escaped.
In just one year under coach Andrew Webster, the Warriors rebounded from 15th on the ladder and their worst season on record to within one game of playing for a first premiership.
After just six regular season wins in 2022, they won 17 - including a semi-final - to end Newcastle Knights' 10-game winning streak.
Returning to play in Aotearoa, after three years based in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Warriors showed they are a team to be respected once again.
There could be further good news to come, with a healthy core of Warriors in the mix for the NRL's Dally M awards - recognising the best of the year - later this week.
However, with a bow now tied on 2023, focus shifts to 2024.
Already, the Warriors will benefit from the renewed enthusiasm of this year, and welcome back the pair of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Chanel Harris-Tavita for good measure.
For fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, improving on a breakthrough year is top of the agenda for him and his teammates.
"It's an overall great campaign," he said. "It's a really good foundation for us to build on.
"One game doesn't reflect our year. [There's] promising signs for us moving forward, sustained success is what we're after.
"It's [been] an exciting year. We've put ourselves in a really good position and set ourselves up to hopefully have sustained success in the future."
If there's a group who've earned the success as much as the Warriors players, it's the club's fans, with the newly renamed Go Media Stadium Mt Smart packed, week in and week out.
You'd be hard-pressed to log into any form of social media and not be flooded with 'Up the Wahs' - the team's new catchcry - in one form or another, both at home and abroad.
"It's crazy," Nicoll-Klokstad continued. "The support here, Mexico I've seen a few things, even in America.
"The 'Up the Wahs' movement is crazy. This is only the beginning."
