The votes are in from the Rugby League Zone writer panel \u2014 and the message is loud and clear: 2026 is shaping up as a heavyweight clash between the Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers, with the Brisbane Broncos lurking as the big local hope.<\/p>\n
Our panel\u2019s predictions echo a rivalry that last boiled over in a Grand Final back on October 5, 2003, when the Panthers stunned the heavily favoured Roosters 18-6 at Telstra (now Accor) Stadium. That night is still remembered for Luke Priddis\u2019s masterful performance (earning him the Clive Churchill Medal) and, of course, \u201cthat tackle\u201d \u2014 Scott Sattler\u2019s desperate, game-saving effort on Todd Byrne that preserved the lead and sealed Penrith\u2019s breakthrough premiership. Fast-forward 23 years, and our writers see a potential rematch brewing but with a result in reverse \u2013 the Sydney Roosters winning the title.<\/p>\n
After tallying every prediction, here\u2019s what our crew sees coming:<\/p>\n
Premiers: Roosters lead the way, just edging the Broncos and Panthers. One wild-card Bulldogs call from Matt Pritchard keeps things spicy.Runners Up: Panthers dominate \u2014 the clear consensus silver-medal pick.Minor Premiers: Panthers and Roosters split the honours (both on 4 votes), showing belief in their regular-season firepower.Top 8 Ladder Consensus: Panthers top the top 8 favourites, followed closely by Roosters \u2014 both appear in every single Top 8 list. Storm, Sharks, Bulldogs, Broncos and Raiders round out a very tight top tier.Wooden Spoon: Dragons are the heavy favourites, with Titans next. Bottom end looks grim for St George Illawarra.Origin: Blues hold a 7\u20135 edge \u2014 NSW backers slightly outnumber the Maroons crew.Dally M POTY: Nathan Cleary, Isaiya Katoa, James Tedesco and now Mitch Moses all in the mix.<\/p>\n
The panel sees a season where the Roosters\u2019 new-look spine and Panthers\u2019 relentless system could define September, while Broncos fans have plenty of reason to dream \u2014 high ladder finishes and title contention feature heavily.<\/p>\n
Full predictions table below. Who do you have winning it all in 2026? Drop your ladder, premiers pick or bold call below \u2014 let\u2019s see if you can out-predict the panel!<\/p>\n
WriterPremiersRunners UpMinor PremiersTop 8 (in order)Wooden SpoonOrigin SeriesDally M POTYMatt PritchardBulldogsSharksSharks1. Sharks
2. Roosters
3. Panthers
4. Bulldogs
5. Storm
6. Broncos
7. Eels
8. CowboysDragonsMaroonsIsaiya KatoaMatt AttardRoostersPanthersRoosters1. Roosters
2. Panthers
3. Bulldogs
4. Raiders
5. Sharks
6. Storm
7. Eels
8. DolphinsKnightsBluesJames TedescoLachlan JefferyRoostersPanthersPanthers1. Panthers
2. Roosters
3. Sharks
4. Eels
5. Broncos
6. Storm
7. Warriors
8. DolphinsCowboysMaroonsNathan ClearyRyan KuzioBroncosRoostersRoosters1. Roosters
2. Broncos
3. Panthers
4. Storm
5. Bulldogs
6. Raiders
7. Dolphins
8. SharksTitansBluesReece WalshShannon MeyerPanthersRaidersPanthers1. Raiders
2. Panthers
3. Roosters
4. Dolphins
5. Storm
6. Eels
7. Bulldogs
8. WarriorsDragonsMaroonsIsaiya KatoaJem NashRoostersPanthersPanthers1. Panthers
2. Broncos
3. Roosters
4. Storm
5. Raiders
6. Bulldogs
7. Sharks
8. RabbitohsDragonsBluesMitch MosesAndrew PelechatyBroncosPanthersBroncos1. Broncos
2. Panthers
3. Bulldogs
4. Sharks
5. Storm
6. Roosters
7. Raiders
8. DolphinsDragonsMaroonsAdam ReynoldsChris PetrieStormRoostersStorm1. Storm
2. Panthers
3. Roosters
4. Broncos
5. Bulldogs
6. Sharks
7. RaidersTitansBluesEthan StrangeDeb SherwoodSharksRaidersSharks1. Sharks
2. Raiders
3. Storm
4. Roosters
5. Panthers
6. Tigers
7. Warriors
8. DragonsTitansBluesKaeo WeekesNathan SmithRoostersPanthersBroncos1. Broncos
2. Roosters
3. Panthers
4. Storm
5. Bulldogs
6. Raiders
7. Eels
8. SharksDragonsBluesMitch MosesMathew WilliamsPanthersSharksPanthers1. Panthers
2. Broncos
3. Sharks
4. Bulldogs
5. Storm
6. Warriors
7. Roosters
8. DolphinsSea EaglesBluesNathan ClearyBrendan WoodBroncosRoostersRoosters1. Roosters
2. Broncos
3. Bulldogs
4. Panthers
5. Sharks
6. Raiders
7. Storm
8. DolphinsDragonsMaroonsJames TedescoRelated Articles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The votes are in from the Rugby League Zone writer panel \u2014 and the message is loud and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[251531,64,63,4428,4532,7622,16658,16659,16660,4466,92550,16661,9112,4598,760,4439,85,1080],"class_list":["post-499993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-2026-nrl-predictions","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane-broncos","tag-canberra-raiders","tag-canterbury-bulldogs","tag-canterbury-bankstown-bulldogs","tag-cronulla-sutherland-sharks","tag-manly-warringah-sea-eagles","tag-melbourne-storm","tag-nrl-2026","tag-nrl-dolphins","tag-parramatta-eels","tag-penrith-panthers","tag-rugby","tag-south-sydney-rabbitohs","tag-sports","tag-sydney-roosters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499993","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=499993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}