Arabic version: غياب الأربعة الأوائل في دوري NRL عن النهائيات يهز موسم 2026

According to The Guardian, last season’s NRL top four — the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders, Melbourne Storm and Canterbury Bulldogs — will all finish outside the finals in 2026. It is the first time since 1992 that the previous year’s top four have missed the finals together.

Brisbane’s premiership defence has been particularly damaging. The Broncos, the competition’s best-supported club, have had their finals hopes ended well before the final round and can finish no worse than second-last. Their defence of the title is the worst by a reigning premier since Wests finished bottom in 1953.

The season has also included difficult departures and public setbacks for Brisbane. The club apologised after a sponsor’s car advertisement interrupted retiring halfback Adam Reynolds’s lap of honour at Suncorp Stadium with three other departing teammates. Chief executive Dave Donaghy called the send-off a “missed opportunity”. Payne Haas, who is leaving for South Sydney, declined to further discuss his reasons when speaking before his final Broncos match against the Bulldogs in Sydney.

The Bulldogs have also fallen short after appearing to be premiership contenders midway through last season. Their scoring problems while Lachlan Galvin settles into the NRL were not resolved by Stephen Crichton’s move into the halves, and a late-season recovery faded. Phil Gould previously pointed to the faster game and the difficulty of relying on defence.

Melbourne’s absence is another major break from recent history. Apart from 2010, when salary-cap breach sanctions prevented them from competing despite a winning record, the Storm had not missed a finals series since 2002. Coach Craig Bellamy indicated last month that 2027 will likely be his final season in charge. The NRL has also trialled a post-try kick-off rule intended to reduce runaway momentum, though Storm hooker Harry Grant said he did not believe changing kick-offs was the answer.