Under pressure: The player at each NRL club carrying extra weight on their shoulders heading into crucial 2023 season

With the official start of the NRL season just a few weeks away, many players will be starting to feel the pressure.

Some will be looking to improve on a season that went a bit off track, knowing that what they delivered never matched what was expected.

Others will be worried about doing it all again after a sensational 2022, hoping to show everyone that it wasn’t just a fluke.

And then there will be those carrying the weight of a team on their shoulders, knowing they need to once again be the glue that holds everything together.

Brisbane Broncos – Adam Reynolds

The Broncos marquee signing of 2022 was meant to be the saviour of the struggling squad. But injury hampered his first season in Brisbane, and the side fizzled out in their run to the finals.

We know what the 11-year veteran can do, but now is the time for him to remind anyone who may have forgotten. While his guidance and leadership off the field in undeniable, Broncos fans will be wanting to see Reynolds deliver the results on the field in 2023.

Canberra Raiders – Jack Wighton

Heading into his 12th season with the Green Machine, one of Canberra’s most beloved sons will feel the weight of the nation’s capital on his shoulders.

With a 2022 campaign filled with injuries for Wighton and his team, he didn’t really get to hit his stride until towards the end of the season. He helped steer his side to Week 2 of the finals, so Raiders fans will be expecting the same – if not better – this season.

(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Canterbury Bulldogs – Viliame Kikau

The big Fijian is an absolute wrecking ball on the left edge, trampling over everything that gets in his way. But as many have learnt before him, it can be the team around you that makes you look good, and leaving the premiers may also see him leave behind what (or who) made him successful.

Kikau may be heading to Belmore with back-to-back premierships in his pocket, but he also has a ton of expectations on his shoulders, with nothing short of continued success to be his required benchmark.

Cronulla Sharks – Nicho Hynes

After what can only be described as a close-to-perfect 2022, the 26-year-old will be looking to replicate his fortunes.

Taking to the number seven jersey at his new club like he had been there forever, winning both the Dally M Player of the Year award with a record-breaking 38 points, along with the Halfback of the Year award, Sharks fans can’t wait to see what heights their Hero Hynes will reach in 2023.

That’s a lot to live up to.

Nicho Hynes (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Gold Coast Titans – David Fifita

They should be making statues for this guy already, but instead, we have spent the past season wondering what on earth has gone wrong.

Fifita exploded onto the scene, becoming one of the most dominant backrowers in the NRL. And then all of a sudden, he either got bored or forgot how to play. He went missing for his Titans on many occasions which was frustrating to watch, and then he would show glimmers of greatness which got us even more angry as it reminded everyone that he was indeed talented.

Heading into this season coming off contract, Fifita needs to get back to playing how we all know he can.

Manly Sea Eagles – Tom Trbojevic

2021 – Absolute perfection.

2022 – Absolute heartbreak.

2023 – Everyone expects the injuries to be all in the past and Turbo back to normal. The expectations are so high for the former Dally M Medal winner, particularly as the Sea Eagles lacking attacking firepower when he’s not on the field.

That’s a lot of pressure to take into the season.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Melbourne Storm – Cameron Munster

After being one of the most dominating teams of the century, the Storm doesn’t seem to be the constant threat they once were.

Losing players like Brandon Smith, Felise Kaufusi and the Bromwich brothers, on top of having a star fullback like Ryan Papenhuyzen stuck on the sidelines, the team will once again look to Munster.

The Dolphins wanted the champion five-eighth very badly and went toe-to-toe with the Storm for his signature. But Melbourne threw the chequebook at Munster and won in the end. Now he has to show them why he was worth the fight.

Newcastle Knights – Kalyn Ponga

Very similar to Turbo on the injury front, Ponga has suffered from many concussions leading to long stints on the sideline.

But on top of that, he hasn’t been able to live up to the expectations the club had when signing him from the Cowboys to come and wear the number one jersey for the Knights. While effort never seems to be the issue, consistency has been missing, and his bathroom escapades with teammate Kurt Mann was a real slap in the face to the fans.

Newcastle have struggled for cohesion and leadership from the middle, and Ponga will make his way into the halves for 2023. All eyes will be on the 24-year-old to produce some magic.

(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

New Zealand Warriors – Shaun Johnson

Hooley Dooley.

He was meant to return home and be the saviour, instead, the prodigal son was in very poor form during homecoming.

Lacking in strike power, often flat and without answers, many Warriors fans accused him of checking out during the season.

Johnson heads into 2023 as an out-of-form 33-year-old with one year left on his contract. If that doesn’t make him lift then nothing will.

North Queensland Cowboys – Jeremiah Nanai

Dally M Rookie of the Year, Second Rower of the Year, the only non-winger in the top ten try scorers for the season Maroons debutant, Kangaroos debutant. That’s a big year for anyone let alone a 19-year-old.

Much like Hynes, Nanai had a sensational 2022, so all eyes will be on him to do it again.

The Cowboys’ off-contract excitement machine will be expected to produce the same level of excellence in 2023 – and that may prove difficult.

(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Parramatta Eels – Mitch Moses

This was a tough one, but with the premiership clock continuing to click, pressure is usually felt most by the team’s halfback.

Moses had a brilliant 2022, but as we all know Parramatta fell short at the final hurdle. He needs to dig deeper, pull something else out of his bag, find another trick up his sleeve, all the cliches you can think of, to be holding the trophy at the end of 2023. And Blue and Gold fans will be expecting nothing less.

With so much speculation still surrounding his future, IF Moses does stay with the Eels, then the club’s premiership hopes will quickly fall back into his hands.

Penrith Panthers – Nathan Cleary

The talented halfback took his team to premiership glory in 2021. They then said farewell to Matt Burton, Kurt Capewell and Charlie Staines, but Cleary steadied the ship and did it all again in 2022.

The premiers are losing more troops with Vilaime Kiaku and Api Korisau moving on, and while the Panthers are currently holding back-to-back titles, anything less than a three-peat will be seen as a failure by their fans.

And Cleary knows this.

Nathan Cleary. (Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)

St George Illawarra Dragons – Zac Lomax

This club is in so much strife, you probably could have named a number of different players.

Lomax has to stop listening to his mum telling him that he is good and start playing at the level she has led him to believe he is at.

The Red V have lost some big names in Tariq Sims, Josh McGuire, Andrew McCullough and George Burgess. There will be a lot of inexperienced faces around him, and the veteran Ben Hunt simply cannot be expected to do everything again.

Heading into his sixth season with the Red V, Lomax needs to lose the attitude, stop the in-fighting, take a good hard look in the mirror and become a leader for his side.

South Sydney Rabbitohs – Latrell Mitchell

The Bunnies played like ‘busteds’ while Mitchell was injured last season, and then sprang back to life once he returned. He was a huge reason for the resurgence at the back end of 2022 and led them to one game shy of the grand final.

When you feel like you are the one carrying a team, it can never end well. Especially when it starts to affect your performance. The talented fullback is often known for taking his foot off the pedal and ‘going missing.’ With everyone knowing what a difference he can make to his side when he is ‘on’, Souths fans will expect him to be like that in every single game.

(Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)

Sydney Roosters – Brandon Smith

Known for always having something to say, Smith needs to close his mouth for a bit, get back to letting his footy do the talking and prove why he was worth all of the drama surrounding his move to the Roosters.

The former Storm hooker did not have a great 2022, with a season full of inconsistency thanks to injury and suspension.

While Smith has made out that life is a beach at Bondi, he now has to show his new club why he was worth the big dollars, as well as why he was the better option than previous number nine, Sam Verrills.

Wests Tigers – Luke Brooks

While big things are expected from the club’s headline recruit in Api Korosiau Isaiah Papali’i, Brooks heads into the season with even more on him.

It seems the knives are always out for Brooks, and while many feel sorry for the barrage he cops, in the end, it’s a results-driven business. The Tigers haven’t reached the finals in ten years, something most halfbacks have a hand in securing.

On top of the on-field pressure is the fact that Tim Sheens has backed his number seven, and even let Jackson Hastings go. Brooks is also off contract at the end of this year – the perfect storm.

(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

The Dolphins – Anthony Milford

The man that could have been so much has been given yet another chance.

The Broncos didn’t keep him, Souths couldn’t have him, and he was less than ordinary during his stint at Newcastle.

Wayne Bennett has thrown him a lifeline, and he may never get another. The 30-year-old needs to show he can not only guide the NRL’s newest franchise around the park, but do it well.