The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year.
Colours Club Season Home ground(s) Head coach Captain(s) Brisbane Broncos 34th season Suncorp Stadium Kevin Walters Alex Glenn Canberra Raiders 40th season GIO Stadium Canberra Ricky Stuart Jarrod Croker & Josh Hodgson Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 87th season Stadium Australia & Bankwest Stadium Trent Barrett Josh Jackson Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 55th season Netstrata Jubilee Stadium → Josh Hannay (interim) Wade Graham Gold Coast Titans 15th season Cbus Super Stadium Justin Holbrook Kevin Proctor & Jamal Fogarty Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 72nd season 4 Pines Park Des Hasler Daly Cherry-Evans Melbourne Storm 24th season AAMI Park Craig Bellamy Jesse Bromwich & Dale Finucane Newcastle Knights 34th season McDonald Jones Stadium Adam O'Brien Daniel Saifiti & Jayden Brailey New Zealand Warriors 27th season Central Coast Stadium Nathan Brown Roger Tuivasa-Sheck North Queensland Cowboys 27th season Queensland Country Bank Stadium Todd Payten → Jason Taumalolo Parramatta Eels 75th season Bankwest Stadium Brad Arthur Clint Gutherson Penrith Panthers 55th season BlueBet Stadium Ivan Cleary Isaah Yeo & Nathan Cleary South Sydney Rabbitohs 112th season Stadium Australia Wayne Bennett Adam Reynolds St. George Illawarra Dragons 23rd season Netstrata Jubilee Stadium & WIN Stadium Anthony Griffin Ben Hunt Sydney Roosters 114th season Sydney Cricket Ground Trent Robinson → James Tedesco Wests Tigers 22nd season Leichhardt Oval, Campbelltown Stadium & Bankwest Stadium Michael Maguire James Tamou
Regular season
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 F1 F2 F3 GF Brisbane BroncosPAR−8GCT−12CBY+24MEL−34SOU−29PEN−8PAR−40GCT+8NQL−1MAN−44SYD+18MEL−28SGI−28CAN−22SOU−46CRO+8XWTI−18PEN−6NQL+19NEW−8SYD−1NZL+2CRO−8NEW+13 Canberra RaidersWTI+18CRO+2NZL−3GCT+16PEN−20PAR−25NQL−2SOU−14NEW−8CBY+2MEL−24SYD−28XBRI+22SGI−2GCT−38MAN+14CRO+16PAR+2NEW−10SGI+8MEL−10MAN−1NZL+12SYD−24 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsNEW−16PEN−28BRI−24SOU−38MEL−34NQL−12CRO+6PAR−22SGI−20CAN−2GCT−10PEN−26XSGI+22PAR−26MAN−66SYD−6SOU−8CRO−20GCT−28WTI−12NZL−14NEW−6MAN−18WTI+38 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksSGI+14CAN−2PAR−24NQL+38SYD−8NEW−4CBY−6MEL−26PEN−48SOU−10SGI+1*GCT+28XPEN+1NQL+2BRI−8NZL+8CAN−16CBY+20MAN−18NZL−2NEW−2WTI+30BRI+8MEL−12 Gold Coast TitansNZL−13BRI+12NQL+36CAN−16NEW+26MAN−36SOU−10BRI−8WTI+8PEN−36CBY+10CRO−28MEL−6SYD−1MAN−32CAN+38XPAR−18SGI+22CBY+28NQL+22SOU−30MEL−14NEW−1NZL+44SYD−1 Manly Warringah Sea EaglesSYD−42SOU−14SGI−26PEN−40NZL+1GCT+36WTI+34PEN−12NZL+6BRI+44PAR+22NEW−8XNQL+32GCT+32CBY+66CAN−14SGI+14WTI+20CRO+18MEL−10PAR+46CAN+1CBY+18NQL+28MEL−28SYD+36SOU−20 Melbourne StormSOU+8PAR−4PEN−2BRI+34CBY+34SYD+16NZL+22CRO+26SOU+50SGI+26CAN+24BRI+28GCT+6NZL+26WTI+50SYD+46XNEW+44NQL+4PEN+27MAN+10CAN+10GCT+14PAR−12CRO+12MAN+28XPEN−4 Newcastle KnightsCBY+16NZL+4WTI−4SGI−9GCT−26CRO+4PEN−18SYD−34CAN+8WTI−18NQL−16MAN+8PAR−36SOU−14NZL+4NQL+38XMEL−44SYD−20CAN+10BRI+8CRO+2CBY+6GCT+1BRI−13PAR−8 New Zealand WarriorsGCT+13NEW−4CAN+3SYD−20MAN−1SGI+6MEL−22NQL+4MAN−6PAR−16WTI+4NQL−1XMEL−26NEW−4SGI−1*CRO−8PEN−14SOU−38WTI+2CRO+2CBY+14BRI−2CAN−12GCT−44 North Queensland CowboysPEN−24SGI−7GCT−36CRO−38WTI+4CBY+12CAN+2NZL−4BRI+1SYD−14NEW+16NZL+1XMAN−32CRO−2NEW−38SOU−28SYD−16MEL−4BRI−19GCT−22WTI−8PAR−16SGI+12MAN−28 Parramatta EelsBRI+8MEL+4CRO+24WTI+14SGI−14CAN+25BRI+40CBY+22SYD+13NZL+16MAN−22SOU−18NEW+36WTI+28CBY+26PEN−1XGCT+18CAN−2SYD−28SOU−28MAN−46NQL+16MEL+12PEN−34NEW+8PEN−2 Penrith PanthersNQL+24CBY+28MEL+2MAN+40CAN+20BRI+8NEW+18MAN+12CRO+48GCT+36SOU+44CBY+26WTI−20CRO−1SYD+26PAR+1XNZL+14BRI+6MEL−27SYD+6SGI+18SOU+13WTI+14PAR+34SOU−6PAR+2MEL+4SOU+2 South Sydney RabbitohsMEL−8MAN+14SYD+10CBY+38BRI+29WTI+4*GCT+10CAN+14MEL−50CRO+10PEN−44PAR+18XNEW+14BRI+46WTI+16NQL+28CBY+8NZL+38SGI+36PAR+28GCT+30PEN−13SYD+42SGI+4PEN+6XMAN+20PEN−2 St. George Illawarra DragonsCRO−14NQL+7MAN+26NEW+9PAR+14NZL−6SYD−24WTI−8CBY+20MEL−26CRO−1*WTI−16BRI+28CBY−22CAN+2NZL+1*XMAN−14GCT−22SOU−36CAN−8PEN−18SYD−18NQL−12SOU−4 Sydney RoostersMAN+42WTI+34SOU−10NZL+20CRO+8MEL−16SGI+24NEW+34PAR−13NQL+14BRI−18CAN+28XGCT+1PEN−26MEL−46CBY+6NQL+16NEW+20PAR+28PEN−6BRI+1SGI+18SOU−42CAN+24GCT+1MAN−36 Wests TigersCAN−18SYD−34NEW+4PAR−14NQL−4SOU−4*MAN−34SGI+8GCT−8NEW+18NZL−4SGI+16PEN+20PAR−28MEL−50SOU−16XBRI+18MAN−20NZL−2CBY+12NQL+8CRO−30PEN−14CBY−38 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 F1 F2 F3 GF
Bold – Home game X – Bye * – Golden point game Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder
Ladder progression
Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8. Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round. Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round. Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round. Team123456789101112131415161718192021222324251 Melbourne Storm 2 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 42 442 Penrith Panthers (P)2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 24 24 26 28 30 32 34 34 36 38 40 42 443 South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 38 40 424 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 24 26 26 28 30 32 345 Sydney Roosters 2 4 4 6 8 8 10 12 12 14 14 16 18 20 20 20 22 24 26 28 28 30 32 32 346 Parramatta Eels 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 18 18 20 22 24 24 26 28 28 28 28 28 30 32 327 Newcastle Knights 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 12 14 16 16 16 18 20 22 24 26 268 Gold Coast Titans 0 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 12 14 14 16 18 20 20 20 20 229 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 18 18 18 20 22 2210 Canberra Raiders 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 16 18 18 20 20 20 22 2211 St. George Illawarra Dragons 0 2 4 6 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 1812 New Zealand Warriors 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 16 18 18 18 1813 Wests Tigers 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 10 10 10 10 12 14 14 14 16 18 18 18 1814 Brisbane Broncos 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 14 14 1615 North Queensland Cowboys 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 16 1616 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 8
Finals series Due to the imposition of lockdown measures in New South Wales due to a COVID-19 outbreak, all finals matches were played at neutral venues in Queensland. HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and Time (Local)VenueRefereeCrowd QUALIFYING & ELIMINATION FINALS Melbourne Storm 40 – 12 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 10 September 2021, 7:50pm Sunshine Coast Stadium Grant Atkins 9,120 Sydney Roosters 25 – 24 Gold Coast Titans 11 September 2021, 5:40pm Queensland Country Bank Stadium Adam Gee 18,244 Penrith Panthers 10 – 16 South Sydney Rabbitohs 11 September 2021, 7:50pm Gerard Sutton Parramatta Eels 28 – 20 Newcastle Knights 12 September 2021, 4:05pm Browne Park Ashley Klein 5,087 SEMI FINALS Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 42 – 6 Sydney Roosters 17 September 2021, 7:50pm BB Print Stadium Gerard Sutton 5,824 Penrith Panthers 8 – 6 Parramatta Eels 18 September 2021, 7:50pm BB Print Stadium Ashley Klein 6,011 PRELIMINARY FINALS South Sydney Rabbitohs 36 – 16 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24 September 2021, 8:05pm Suncorp Stadium Ashley Klein 26,249 Melbourne Storm 6 – 10 Penrith Panthers 25 September 2021, 4:00pm Suncorp Stadium Gerard Sutton 29,011
Bracket
Grand Final
Player statistics and records
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 25.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals304 Reuben Garrick211100248 Adam Reynolds51122213 Nathan Cleary10852174 Adam Doueihi9690148 Jamal Fogarty4660 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer27 Alex Johnston25 Tom Trbojevic23 Josh Addo-Carr23 Jason Saab21 Reuben Garrick
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer112 Adam Reynolds110 Reuben Garrick85 Nathan Cleary69 Adam Doueihi66 Jamal Fogarty Top 5 tacklers TacklesPlayer1,036 Jayden Brailey1,010 Andrew McCullough956 Blayke Brailey926 Damien Cook911 Reece Robson
2021 Transfers
Players Source: