WELL, that was fun while it lasted.
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It's been a long time since Newcastle Knights fans had such cause to get excited about their footy team, and they can only hope there's plenty more where that came from.
A 10-game winning streak, a home final, the most tries by any team in the NRL, three consecutive sell-out crowds at McDonald Jones Stadium ... surely not even the most parochial of diehards could have conjured up those scenarios in their wildest dreams.
But the big question, as the dust settles on a breakout 2023 NRL campaign, is can the Knights do it again?
The Novocastrian faithful should know by now that it is tempting fate to take anything for granted.
The last time Newcastle finished in the top four and hosted a home play-off, way back in 2006, barely 12 months later they came within about 10 minutes of finishing stony motherless, only for Kurt Gidley to inspire a miraculous last-round escape.
Then after 2013, the last time before this season that the Knights enjoyed success in the play-offs, came the seven longest, leanest years in the club's history, which delivered three wooden spoons and not a single post-season appearance.
Those are fading memories, of course, and after featuring in the finals three times in the past four years, there is a sense that the Knights have emerged from a seemingly endless rebuilding process and are now in a potential premiership window.
With coach Adam O'Brien expected to extend his deal until at least the end of 2026, and given that the Wests Group are providing the financial security the club has craved since 1988, finally there are some definitive signs of long-term stability.
But as veteran centre Dane Gagai noted in the lead-up to Newcastle's triumph against Canberra in week one of the finals: "Once this year is done, everyone starts all over again next year."
And nobody can guarantee how that might unfold. Just ask the North Queensland Cowboys, who went from second-last in 2021, to a preliminary final last year, and then nosedived to 11th this season.
The Knights will be desperate to avoid a similar fate, especially as they will kick off 2024 amid heightened expectations.
Only the true believers gave Newcastle any real chance this year. That won't be the case next season.
And while the Knights appear on an upward trajectory, there are certain questions that will need to be answered.
For starters, in Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Kurt Mann, Hymel Hunt, Lachlan Miller, Adam Clune and Dominic Young, Newcastle are parting company with some proven performers.
Young's club-record 25 tries, in particular, will be almost impossible to replace.
By all accounts, the Knights' roster next season will include a large percentage of young tyros, including English imports Kai Pearce-Paul and Will Pryce. Both are highly rated, but the NRL is a huge step up from Super League, as Bailey Hodgson and Joe Wardle would no doubt testify.
Meanwhile, Newcastle officials could find themselves in a bidding war to retain several key players who come off contract at the end of next season, headed by Bradman Best, Jacob Saifiti and Phoenix Crossland.
All will be entitled to start negotiating with rival clubs as of November 1, and the longer that drags on, the greater the chance of it becoming a distraction.
In addition, two key members of Newcastle's spine, Jackson Hastings and Jayden Brailey, will be returning from serious injuries that have required major surgery, which will present physical and mental challenges as they prepare for 2024.
The Knights appear to be heading into something of a transitional phase, during which up-and-comers will be given every opportunity to push their case for NRL opportunities.
The good thing is that they'll be filtering into a squad who have whet their collective appetites with a taste of success and will presumably will be hungry for more.
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