For the past two years, the Mudgee Dragons have fallen at one of the final hurdles.
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In 2022 their Peter McDonald Premiership season was ended by Dubbo CYMS at the preliminary final stage while last year it was the Fishies again, this time in the biggest game of the season.
How will the Dragons respond to that heartbreak?
We go again
The pain of grand final defeat is "always in the back of your mind", according to Dragons player-coach Clay Priest, but Mudgee quickly moved on from last September.
"It's been and gone now," Priest added.
"You can't take it back. The boys haven't even really spoken about it, to be honest."
The Dragons are one of the title favourites again in 2024, having only lost a few players while their off-season signings are headlined by former NRL player and Indigenous All Star, Zac Saddler.
Priest, rightly, doesn't want to be too confident but he was feeling "pretty positive" about his side's prospects.
"You want to strive to beat the most successful sides and Dubbo CYMS is the most successful side coming into the competition this year," Priest said.
"That's definitely something we're striving to do, to knock them off. I'm really looking forward to when we get to take them on.
"It's a good opportunity and a good challenge for us and the boys are looking forward to it, but we're looking forward to taking on everyone this year.
"It's not all about Dubbo CYMS. I know we all like to talk about Dubbo CYMS but there's plenty of opportunities there for other sides, too."
Experience counts
While the addition of Saddler is huge, the retention of Jack Littlejohn is just as important.
Both Priest and Littlejohn contemplated retirement after last season's grand final loss but the desire to win a competition for their club brought the ex-NRL guns back.
Littlejohn has been a driving force behind the Dragons' success since arriving in the town in 2018 and will be key to their hopes again this season.
"He's the director in our side," Priest said.
"He's got a really strong resume and his presence on the field is second to none.
"With him being a previous captain-coach, you've got to pay respect to him because he's been there and done it.
"We were both tossing it (retirement) up and we're both getting on. I wasn't taking on this role as of last year.
"I told them I was done but then I did my homework and threw out a few lures and then to have him back was a big success."
How they could line up
Burgess is a loss from the forward pack while young front-rower Hudson Brown has gone to chase his NRL dream with the Melbourne Storm.
The versatile Jayden Brown has also left for Denman, but the new signings will provide Priest with quality and depth.
Saddler is an obvious one but there's excitement around fullback Ethan Pegus.
Pegus starred during the Gulgong Terriers' unbeaten run to the Castlereagh League title last season and he could take the fullback's spot from Littlejohn.
"He's got that little bit of x-factor about him," Priest said.
"To have him in the side and the way he sort of floats around, it's really nice to see."
Pegus isn't the only Castlereagh recruit, with some Dunedoo players moving to the Dragons after their team folded due to a lack of numbers. Camden Sutton is one of those and the centre will push for a spot again after being part of the Mudgee side which won the 2016 Group 10 title.
Potential lineup: 1 Ethan Pegus, 2 Joshwa Wilson-Tuckey, 3 David West, 4 Nathan Orr, 5 Lleyton Lothian, 6 Jack Littlejohn, 7 Pacey Stockton, 8 Zac Saddler, 9 Jack Beasley, 10 Cody Godden, 11 James Goonrey, 12 Jake Durrant, 13, Clay Priest; Bench: 14 Billy Carberry, 15 Tom Lawson, 16 Nick Bligh, 17 Luke Moody
Our say
The Dragons will be around the money again. The signing of Saddler is a massive statement of intent from the 2023 runners-up.
Saddler could take the competition by storm and if Priest stays free or injury and suspension then the Dragons' pack will be hard to stop.
With young players improving and three ex-NRL guns in the lineup, the Dragons have what it takes to lift the silverware this season.