already revealed a host of huge games to kick off the season<\/a>, the NRL has also confirmed a big win for fans: return match-ups between teams within a four and five-week period are gone.<\/p>\nWHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n
In other words, no longer will fans have to watch their team play another twice in the space of a month, as was the case a number of times in 2024.<\/p>\n
There were seven return match-ups within the span of four weeks in 2025 and eight within five weeks, but that number has been cut all the way down to zero with only five return match-ups within six-week gaps in 2026.<\/p>\n
The last time the NRL had a season with zero return match-ups spaced fewer than six rounds apart was 2008, however that came with 40 five-day turnarounds. <\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s announcement will come as welcome news for fans, who won\u2019t have to wait long for their teams to return to action with the NRL also confirming the annual pre-season challenge, which is live and exclusive on Fox League, will kick off on February 7. <\/p>\n
The Bulldogs and Cowboys face off at 5.30pm at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium with the Dragons and Knights to follow at 7.30pm. <\/p>\n
In other news, the NRL also confirmed Dylan Brown will face off against his former Parramatta teammates for the first time in Round 13 with the Eels scheduled to play the Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium on May 30. <\/p>\n
It is one of several rivalry games that headline the 2026 schedule, with Daly Cherry-Evans returning to 4 Pines Park to face former side Manly in Round 4.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the All-Stars game will be played outside of Australia for just the second time with the annual fixture taking place on February 15 in Hamilton, New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Check back at 11am AEDT on foxsports.com.au for the full 2026 NRL and NRLW draws!<\/p>\n
2026 Pre-Season Challenge Draw<\/p>\n
Round One<\/p>\n
Saturday, February 7<\/p>\n
Bulldogs vs Cowboys @ Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 5:30pm<\/p>\n
Dragons vs Knights @ Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 7:30pm<\/p>\n
Round Two<\/p>\n
Thursday, February 12<\/p>\n
Dolphins vs Titans @ Kayo Stadium 8:00pm (AEDT) 7:00pm (local time)<\/p>\n
Friday, February 13<\/p>\n
Raiders vs Storm @ Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan 5:30pm<\/p>\n
Cowboys vs Panthers BB Print Stadium, Mackay 8:00pm (AEDT), 7:00pm (local time)<\/p>\n
Saturday, February 14<\/p>\n
Warriors vs Sea Eagles @ Mclean Park, Napier 1:40pm (AEDT), 3:40pm (local time)<\/p>\n
West Tigers vs Roosters @ McDonald Jones Stadium 3:50pm<\/p>\n
Knights vs Bulldogs @ McDonald Jones Stadium 6:00pm<\/p>\n
Dragons vs Rabbitohs @ WIN Stadium 8:10pm<\/p>\n
Sunday, February 15<\/p>\n
Sharks vs Eels @ Henson Park 6:00pm<\/p>\n
Round Three<\/p>\n
Friday, February 20<\/p>\n
Warriors vs Dolphins @ Leichhardt Oval 6:00pm<\/p>\n
Wests Tigers vs Panthers @ Leichhardt Oval 8:10pm<\/p>\n
Saturday, February 21<\/p>\n
Sharks vs Raiders @ Polytec Stadium, Gosford 3:50pm<\/p>\n
Roosters vs Eels @ Polytec Stadium, Gosford 6:00pm<\/p>\n
Storm vs Titans @ Sunshine Coast Stadium 8:10pm (AEDT), 7:10pm (local time)<\/p>\n
Sunday, February 22<\/p>\n
Rabbitohs vs Sea Eagles @ Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee 4:00pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was one of the more heavily criticised parts of last year\u2019s NRL draw, but rugby league fans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-282387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}