Who Will Lift the 2026 NRL Premiership Trophy?

The Panthers are undoubtedly going to be in the mix again. They had an awful start to 2025, sitting bottom of the ladder midway through the season after a couple of key off-season departures that they just couldn't seem to get their head around. But class eventually shone through, and their rise to make the top eight was one of the great in-season recoveries of the modern era. Eventually, the four-time premiers were cut short at the preliminary final stage against eventual premiers the Brisbane Broncos, but even that was a thriller. They head into 2026 with a relatively stable side, young guns with more runs on the board, and a system they know still works from the second half of 2025. It would be a stunner if Penrith weren't there in the final weeks of the campaign.