THE NRL is going back to the future for Australian rugby league’s 107th season, with a number of old favourites returning to the 13-man game for 2014. For starters, many fans will be walking out of the exit gates a lot earlier than they’re used to, with the homecoming of regular Saturday afternoon footy. Eleven 3pm or 4.30pm fixtures have been scheduled for the first 20 rounds; throw in two Friday afternoon kick-offs (Good Friday and Anzac Day) and it's clear officials have taken literally the loud calls from fans to pull the game out of the dark ages … It's obvious, too, that in 2014 the NRL is keen to turn ANZ Stadium into its big-match HQ, with 13 “Sydney blockbusters” scheduled for the giant arena this season.

Some of the most burning questions in the game will be answered this year, among them: how would English Super League star Sam Tomkins handle the intensity of the NRL? Secondly, it is possible, in this day and age of salary cap-influenced talent equalisation, for a team to collect three wooden spoons in a row (poor Parra). And most importantly, what’s gonna happen when the ASADA volcano that Cronulla has been living under for the past 12 months erupts? If it ever erupts? Perhaps Pompeii and The Shire will become sister cities ...

With the Australian Rugby League Commission now well and truly settled and governing the game in accordance with its bosses (the 16 NRL clubs), is it safe to assume that teething problems will become fewer and fewer as the action rolls on throughout 2014? One thing is certain: if we have any more seventh-tackle tries allowed, the mob roar from Townsville will deafen the nation. What a year ahead. Catch our 2014 NRL Season Preview in full in our March edition – ON SALE NOW.