Warriors coach Andrew Webster is still motivated by the pain caused by his side's preliminary final loss to the Brisbane Broncos last year - and he's using it as fuel for the upcoming NRL season.
After a magical run that saw the Warriors finish fourth on the table, the side were dismantled by the Broncos 42-12 in the preliminary playoff - ending the club's dream of making a Grand Final for the first time since 2011.
When asked how many times he'd re-watched the loss Webster told reporters: "Too many, only because it still hurts.
"I don't want to put myself through the pain [but] there are things in that game, under pressure - and in the Panthers finals game - that we didn't get right," he said. "I don't want to walk past those lessons and put them to one side and pretend it didn't happen."
But like many of the club's fans, he believes the Warriors can go even further in 2024.
"Every year's got to be our year. It has to be our year," Webster said.
"What I mean by that is the expectation is the same every year. How we go about it is different."
Although his expectations remain the same, external belief and demands have changed. Newshub understands all the club's commercial opportunities have sold out and season membership purchases are at an all-time high.
Webster also knows, as a top-four team in 2023, they'll have a target on their back going into the new season.
"Teams are going to give us their best? Great. If we want to be serious, we're going to have to learn to handle it.
"It's not going to be easy but it's an awesome challenge."
His captain Tohu Harris agrees.
"You want to have those expectations; you want to be a team that is expected to win games... every week. That excites me," Harris said.
"We want to get back to that."
No matter the mindset, Warriors fans will be hoping t leads to one outcome in 2024 - their first NRL Premiership.
