Source :- THE AGE NEWS
With nine Sydney clubs and a pair of powerhouses at either end of the eastern seaboard, it’s easy to spend an entire season navel-gazing. Fun too.
See a week of Wests Tigers headlines that ranged from vaping to their halfback walking out, then back in, busting up and making up with his coach and teammates along the way.
The Tigers, Eels and Dragons boast three of the game’s largest fan bases and most recognisable brands, and occupy two of the three bottom rungs of the ladder, bringing all the scrutiny that deserves.
The Panthers have flexed their post-Origin muscles at the top of the ladder again and the Roosters are flying – with the latter’s small galaxy of stars putting 82 points on North Queensland, becoming the first team to outscore the clock in 91 years.
The drums are beating once more out of Belmore too. The game’s loudest supporters are cautiously finding voice again as Canterbury push back into the top eight with six wins from their last seven games.
Meanwhile, the Broncos and Storm will both miss the finals – just the second time in the NRL era that both grand finalists become September spectators without a salary cap punishment involved (2006 – Tigers and Cowboys, and 2005 – Roosters and Bulldogs).
And quietly doing their thing among the usual suspects that dominate rugby league’s news cycle is Newcastle, spinning one of the game’s more remarkable revivals.
Justin Holbrook is surely now a firm favourite to claim Dally M coach of the year honours after taking last year’s wooden spooners to the brink of a finals return.
His nearest competitors – Kristian Woolf lifting the Dolphins to within touching distance of their own maiden top-eight finish, and Andrew Webster’s Warriors harnessing serious momentum across the ditch – tell the other under-told tales of 2026. So too, the extra gear Cronulla is finding under Craig Fitzgibbon this season as Sydney’s smallest club.
But right now, the Knights are our narrative. Especially with three straight losses by two points or less against the Rabbitohs, Sharks and Roosters accompanied by brutal, season-ending injuries to Dylans Brown and Lucas.
The shift in Kalyn Ponga’s body language all season was particularly noticeable in Saturday’s thumping win over Brisbane. With a last-round bye, one more victory from their last four games will have Ponga and Newcastle deservedly back in the mix come September.
Figures at the club privately acknowledge that if not for Holbrook’s arrival and sweeping changes this time last year, then the long-running fear Ponga was destined to move on was going to be realised.
Instead, the playmaking shake-up bringing in Brown and Sandon Smith has been more successful than anyone imagined. Just as talk about Ponga’s future, rugby union and the Roosters started to fire up again earlier this year, the Knights buried it by announcing a three-year extension.
All the hype, hoopla and endless speculation that has accompanied Ponga’s previous career moves was sidestepped as easily as the headgeared No.1 taking on a backpedalling defender.
Along with Fletcher Sharpe, Newcastle’s playmaking quartet has steered an enterprising, entertaining style well-suited to the game’s latest high-octane officiating, and even without Brown at the scrumbase, they put Brisbane to bed.
Sharpe’s second try against the Broncos was their 25th try from inside their own half this year – the most of any side in the NRL. Holbrook’s easy-going outlook and coaxing of career-best form from forwards Jacob Saifiti, Trey Mooney, Lucas and Jermaine McEwen, among others, has revitalised an attack that this time last year simply hurt to watch.
The Dolphins are even easier on the eye, even with moments of brilliance against St George Illawarra outnumbered by bumbling and fumbling in an unconvincing 28-22 win.
Isaiya Katoa will be better for his cautious return from a broken wrist. Just in time for Saturday’s latest Battle of Brisbane, with little doubt over the city’s new pecking order.
Webster’s Warriors, meanwhile, host Penrith having already produced the best game of 2026 when they clashed in late May. The Kiwi side are the closest this competition has to the Panthers in so many ways – be it game-play, consistency or unflappable coach helming the whole show.
After a month of indifferent mid-season form from both front-runners, the Warriors warmed up by pummelling the Gold Coast with eight tries. Penrith beat up Canberra in similar fashion. A top-tier clash is just reward for the stunning surge rugby league is enjoying in New Zealand.
A Warriors home final too wouldn’t go astray if they can jag a top-two finish. Auckland’s Eden Park can seat 50,000 fans (an extra 20,000 on the club’s usual Mt Smart haunt) and it would still be well short of fitting everyone in. Just another story worth telling really.
