Six new coaches. Dual referees. Two comebacks from retirement. Two Englishmen testing themselves in the NRL and three defectors back from Super League.

The new NRL season is set to open with a raft of changes, stories and questions to keep fans interested in the months ahead.

Can Manly, Australia's first World Club Challenge victors in six years, back up last year's record-breaking 40-0 grand final triumph and become the first side in the NRL era to defend a premiership?

Can super coach Wayne Bennett - the last man to oversee back-to-back premierships, with Brisbane in 1997-98 - transform St George Illawarra from pretty to gritty and fight for the title?

Will the Melbourne Storm claim a fourth successive minor premiership and contest a fourth successive grand final despite losing five representative stars from the team that lost the 2008 decider?

And how successful will the introduction of two referees be in ridding the game of illegal wrestling tactics?

Kiwi legend Stacey Jones returns after three years away from the NRL, and one year into retirement, to join the Warriors in the Auckland-based club's hunt for a maiden NRL title.

The Warriors' fairytale run last year left them 80 minutes shy of a grand final and coach Ivan Cleary is hopeful Jones, at 32, can help take them one step further.

But Cleary insists the champion halfback is not the saviour.

"It's a bit unfair on Stacey to say we're pinning our hopes on him because that's not the case at all," Cleary said.

"He's come back because he wants to play and he thinks he can help.

"I guess how much help and in what context, we're yet to find out.

"He's shown he's definitely still got it, and the good thing is I'm sure he will improve.

"I don't believe our success or failure will hinge solely on Stacey - we've got a fair few options around him."

Jones may be the biggest name returning to the NRL in 2009 but he is not alone.

Brisbane's Michael DeVere is back after leaving the NRL in 2005 and having spent the last two years in retirement.

Former Dragons skipper and Test star Trent Barrett quit his three-year deal with Wigan after just two seasons to return to Australia and join the title-less Cronulla Sharks.

Another ex-Dragon, hooker Aaron Gorrell, is also back home and has joined Brisbane after his stint with Les Catalans while Shane Elford is back where it all began, with Penrith, after winning the 2005 title with Wests Tigers and spending two years with Huddersfield.

Then, of course, there's the two Englishmen in Australia to test themselves in the toughest league competition in the world.

Gareth Ellis, lauded as England's premier backrower and one of the best in the world, has joined the Tigers while his Leeds Rhinos teammate Jordan Tansey is on loan to the Sydney Roosters.

Both won the Super League title with the Rhinos last year and are seeking to join the likes of Adrian Morley and Jamie Lyon as dual league champions - Super League and NRL premiership winners.

Daniel Anderson is also aiming to become a dual league champion - but as a coach.

Anderson returns to Parramatta and is one of six new mentors this year - three of them rookies.

An Eels assistant coach from 1999-2001, Anderson led the Warriors to the 2002 NRL grand final which they lost to the Roosters.

His biggest success came in 2006 when St Helens won the Super League title and then beat Brisbane in the 2007 World Club Challenge.

A man who knows a thing or two about winning - Bennett - is the biggest name in the wholesale coaching changes for the 2009 season.

The six-time premiership winner takes over at St George Illawarra, with his Brisbane assistant Ivan Henjak stepping into the top job at the Broncos.

Neil Henry has left Canberra and returned to Townsville to coach North Queensland, with Raiders assistant David Furner taking the reins in the nation's capital.

Joining Furner and Henjak on debut is Kevin Moore, who also has stepped up as an assistant to take control at the Bulldogs.

While Furner and Henjak inherit finals teams, Moore has had to rebuild his outfit from scratch and clean up the rubble caused by off-field dramas and a wooden spoon.

But, just as rugby league as a sport did last year in its Centenary season, the Bulldogs are hoping to move forward without forgetting the past.

"(This season) is not about rebuilding our reputation," Moore said.

"Our club's been around for 75 years next year. You don't have to rebuild what's gone before you.

"One poor season doesn't eradicate all that.

"Because things were going so bad on the field people think that you've lost your culture but that's certainly not the case.

"It certainly is a new start for us so it's about looking into the future but also embracing what's been so good about the club in the past."

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