The 2025 NRL season was the 118th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The regular season was followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competition ladder. The Canberra Raiders were the minor premiers, while the Brisbane Broncos won their seventh premiership.
The season recorded the highest aggregate and average regular season crowds in first-grade rugby league history, surpassing the record set the previous year.
Teams The lineup of teams in the league remained unchanged for the 3rd consecutive year, with seventeen participating in the regular season: ten from New South Wales, four from Queensland and one from each of Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand.
Club Season Home ground(s) Head coach Captain(s) Brisbane Broncos 38th season Suncorp Stadium Michael Maguire Adam Reynolds Canberra Raiders 44th season GIO Stadium Ricky Stuart Joseph Tapine Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 91st season Accor Stadium and Belmore Sports Ground Cameron Ciraldo Stephen Crichton Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 59th season Sharks Stadium Craig Fitzgibbon Cameron McInnes Dolphins 3rd season Suncorp Stadium and Kayo Stadium Kristian Woolf Tom Gilbert → Isaiya Katoa & Felise Kaufusi Gold Coast Titans 19th season Cbus Super Stadium Des Hasler Tino Fa'asuamaleaui Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 76th season 4 Pines Park Anthony Seibold Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic Melbourne Storm 28th season AAMI Park Craig Bellamy Harry Grant Newcastle Knights 38th season McDonald Jones Stadium Adam O'Brien Kalyn Ponga New Zealand Warriors 31st season Go Media Stadium Andrew Webster Mitchell Barnett and James Fisher-Harris North Queensland Cowboys 31st season Queensland Country Bank Stadium Todd Payten Reuben Cotter and Tom Dearden Parramatta Eels 79th season CommBank StadiumJason Ryles Mitchell Moses Penrith Panthers 59th season CommBank Stadium Ivan Cleary Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo South Sydney Rabbitohs 116th season Accor StadiumWayne Bennett Cameron Murray → Cody Walker St. George Illawarra Dragons 27th season Jubilee Stadium and WIN Stadium Shane Flanagan Damien Cook and Clint Gutherson Sydney Roosters 118th season Allianz Stadium Trent Robinson James Tedesco Wests Tigers 26th season CommBank Stadium, Leichhardt Oval and Campbelltown Sports Stadium Benji Marshall Apisai Koroisau and Jarome Luai
Pre-season
Trials Italics indicates a non-NRL club
DateTimeHomeScoreAwayStadiumReport8 February 202517:00 AEST (UTC+10:00) Burleigh Bears0–22 Brisbane BroncosUAA Oval, Gold CoastReport8 February 202518:00 AEST (UTC+10:00) Central Queensland Capras22–20 DolphinsMarley Brown Oval, Gladstone Report
All Stars match
Pre-season Challenge
The 17-game pre-season challenge was played from 7 February to 23 February 2025, being won for a second straight year by the Brisbane Broncos.
Regular season Results
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 26 27 F1 F2 F3 GF Brisbane BroncosSYD+36CAN−10NQL+10DOL+8WTI+22SYD−10NZL−2*CBY+24PEN–24SOU–8SGI–4XMAN–28GCT+30XCRO+6NZL+14CBY+4GCT+12XPAR–2SOU+46MEL–20DOL+10NEW+34NQL+8MEL+16CAN+1*XPEN+2MEL+4 Canberra RaidersNZL+22BRI+10MAN−28NQL−10CRO+4PAR+38GCT+10DOL+12MEL+2*CBY–12GCT+16NZL+6SYD+2SOU+24XWTI+4NEW+4SGI+4XPAR+24NEW+26SGI–6MAN+16XPEN+4*WTI+14DOL–38BRI–1*CRO–20 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsSGI+8GCT+16PAR+8CRO+14NEW+20XSOU+32BRI−24GCT+20CAN+12SYD+4DOL–36XPAR+18SOU+6XPEN–2BRI–4NQL+4SGI+2MAN+38WTI–14NZL+18SYD–20MEL–6PEN+24CRO–18MEL–8PEN−20 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksPEN−6NQL+24SOU+15CBY−14CAN−4MAN+6NEW+20WTI–2*PAR+10MAN+16MEL+5SYD–26XNZL–30SGI+12BRI–6MEL–24XDOL+12SYD+13SOU+2NQL+20SGI–8GCT+32XNEW+24CBY+18SYD+10CAN+20MEL–8 DolphinsSOU−2NEW−14WTI−12BRI−8GCT+26PEN+18MEL+20CAN−12SYD−10PAR+4NZL–4CBY+36XSGI+50NQL+54NEW–6SOU+22XCRO−12NQL+19XNZL+2SYD–52BRI–10MAN–28GCT+6CAN+38 Gold Coast TitansXCBY−16NEW+20SYD+18DOL−26SGI−22CAN−10NQL−32CBY–20NEW+4CAN–16XMEL–12BRI–30MAN+20PAR–16NQL–6XBRI–12WTI–1NZL+8PEN–4*SOU–2CRO–32NZL–14DOL–6WTI+8 Manly Warringah Sea EaglesNQL+30NZL−20CAN+28PAR+14MEL−24CRO−6SGI−2PEN+16XCRO–16NQL+18PAR–20BRI+28NEW–4*GCT–20XWTI+18SOU+18XMEL+2CBY–38SYD–16CAN–16WTI–14DOL+28SGI+16NZL+1 Melbourne StormPAR+38XPEN+6SGI−6MAN+24NZL+28DOL–20SOU+8CAN–2*WTI+64CRO–5XGCT+12NQL+24XSOU+1*CRO+24NQL+6NEW+18MAN–2SYD+4PAR+6BRI+20PEN+4*CBY+6SYD–30BRI–16CBY+8XCRO+8BRI–4 Newcastle KnightsWTI+2DOL+14GCT−22XCBY−20WTI–16CRO−20NZL–14SOU+26GCT–4PAR–22PEN+19SGI–14MAN+4*SYD–4DOL+6CAN−4XMEL–18NZL–5CAN–26XPEN–36NQL–34BRI–34CRO–24PAR–56 New Zealand WarriorsCAN−22MAN+20SYD+8WTI+2XMEL–28BRI+2*NEW+14NQL+4SGI+1DOL+4CAN–6SOU+6CRO+30XPEN–10BRI–14XWTI+20NEW+5GCT–8DOL–2CBY–18SGI+4GCT+14PAR–4MAN–1PEN–16 North Queensland CowboysMAN−30CRO−24BRI−10CAN+10PEN+4SOU+8XGCT+32NZL–4PEN0*MAN–18XWTI+4MEL–24DOL–54SYD–34GCT+6MEL–6CBY−4DOL–19SGI+6CRO–20PAR–1NEW+34WTI+6BRI–8X Parramatta EelsMEL−38WTI−26CBY−8MAN−14SGI+1*CAN−38WTI+16XCRO−10DOL–4NEW+22MAN+20PEN–8CBY–18XGCT+16SGI–14XPEN–22CAN–24BRI+2MEL–6NQL+1SOU–4SYD+20NZL+4NEW+56 Penrith PanthersCRO+6SYD−6MEL−6SOU−10NQL−4DOL−18SYD+28MAN−16BRI+24NQL0*XNEW–19PAR+8WTI+4XNZL+10CBY+2XPAR+22SOU+20WTI+34GCT+4*NEW+36MEL–4*CAN–4*CBY–24SGI+20NZL+16CBY+20BRI–2 South Sydney RabbitohsDOL+2SGI+1CRO−15PEN+10SYD+6NQL−8CBY–32MEL−8NEW–26BRI+8WTI+10XNZL–6CAN–24CBY–6MEL−1*DOL–22MAN–18XPEN–20CRO–2BRI–46GCT+2PAR+4SGI+40XSYD–30 St. George Illawarra DragonsCBY−8SOU−1XMEL+6PAR−1*GCT+22MAN+2SYD−28WTI–6NZL–1BRI+4XNEW+14DOL–50CRO–12XPAR+14CAN–4SYD–7CBY–2NQL−6CAN+6CRO+8NZL–4SOU–40MAN–16PEN–20 Sydney RoostersBRI−36PEN+6NZL−8GCT−18SOU−6BRI+10PEN−28SGI+28DOL+10XCBY–4CRO+26CAN–2XNEW+4NQL+34XWTI–2SGI+7CRO–13MEL–4MAN+16DOL+52CBY+20PAR–20MEL+30SOU+30CRO–10 Wests TigersNEW−2PAR+26DOL+12NZL−2BRI−22NEW+16PAR−16CRO+2*SGI+6MEL–64SOU–10XNQL–4PEN–4XCAN–4MAN−18SYD+2NZL–20GCT+1PEN–34CBY+14XMAN+14NQL–6CAN–14GCT–8 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 26 27 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 eight. 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.
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 26 27 1 Canberra Raiders 2 4 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 36 38 40 42 44 44 2 Melbourne Storm 2 4 6 6 8 10 10 12 12 14 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 30 32 34 36 38 40 40 40 3 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 20 20 22 24 26 28 28 28 30 32 34 34 36 36 36 38 38 4 Brisbane Broncos 2 2 4 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 26 28 28 30 32 34 36 5 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 0 2 4 4 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 18 18 20 22 24 26 28 28 30 32 34 36 6 New Zealand Warriors 0 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 18 20 22 24 24 24 26 28 30 30 30 30 32 34 34 34 7 Penrith Panthers 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 6 7 9 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 31 31 31 33 8 Sydney Roosters 0 2 2 2 2 4 4 6 8 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 22 22 24 26 28 28 30 32 9 Dolphins 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 16 18 20 20 22 24 26 26 26 26 28 30 10 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2 2 4 6 6 6 6 8 10 10 12 12 14 14 14 16 18 20 22 24 24 24 24 24 26 28 30 11 Parramatta Eels 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 6 6 6 8 10 10 10 12 14 14 16 16 16 18 18 20 20 22 24 26 12 North Queensland Cowboys 0 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 10 11 11 13 15 15 15 15 17 17 17 17 19 19 19 21 23 23 25 13 Wests Tigers 0 2 4 4 4 6 6 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 14 14 14 16 16 18 18 20 22 24 24 24 24 14 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2 4 4 6 8 8 8 8 8 10 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 16 16 16 16 18 20 22 24 24 15 St. George Illawarra Dragons 0 0 2 4 4 6 8 8 8 8 10 12 14 14 14 16 18 18 18 18 18 20 22 22 22 22 22 16 Gold Coast Titans 2 2 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 14 14 14 16 16 16 17 16 16 18 17 Newcastle Knights 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 12 12 14 14 16 16 16 16 18 18 18 18 18 18
Finals series
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and time (AEST)VenueRefereeAttendance Qualifying and elimination finals Melbourne Storm26–18 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 12 September, 19:50 AAMI Park Adam Gee 22,117 New Zealand Warriors 8–24 Penrith Panthers 13 September, 16:05 Go Media Stadium Grant Atkins 24,524 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 20–10 Sydney Roosters 13 September, 19:50 Sharks Stadium Todd Smith 12,842 Canberra Raiders 28–29* Brisbane Broncos 14 September, 16:05 GIO Stadium Ashley Klein 25,523 Semi-finals Canberra Raiders 12–32 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 20 September, 19:50 GIO Stadium Grant Atkins24,322 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 26–46 Penrith Panthers 21 September, 16:05 Accor Stadium Ashley Klein 56,872 Preliminary finals Melbourne Storm 22–14 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 26 September, 19:50 AAMI Park Ashley Klein 29,233 Brisbane Broncos 16–14 Penrith Panthers 28 September, 16:05 Suncorp Stadium Grant Atkins 52,491 * Match decided in golden point extra time.
Bracket
Grand final
Player statistics and records In Round 7, Nathan Cleary surpassed Ryan Girdler as the highest scoring Penrith Panthers player of all time. In Round 13, Alex Johnston became the first player in the NRL era (1998–present), and second of all time, to score 200 career tries. In Round 14, Kayal Iro became the first player in the NRL era to score a try in each of their first nine games of a season. In Round 14, Josh Papali'i surpassed Jason Croker as the most capped Canberra Raiders player of all time. In Round 27, James Fisher-Harris scored a try in the first 9 seconds of a match, the fastest in NRL history. No player was sent off throughout the entire season for the first time since 2017.
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of the finals series.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerClubTriesGoalsField goals278Jamayne IsaakoDolphins111170228Nicho HynesCronulla-Sutherland Sharks8980192Jamal FogartyCanberra Raiders2920184Scott DrinkwaterNorth Queensland Cowboys11700184Nathan ClearyPenrith Panthers6791 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayerClub24Mark NawaqanitawaseSydney Roosters22Hamiso Tabuai-FidowDolphins20Xavier CoatesMelbourne Storm19Josh Addo-CarrParramatta Eels19Daniel TupouSydney Roosters
Top 5 goal kickers GoalsPlayerClub117Jamayne IsaakoDolphins98Nicho HynesCronulla-Sutherland Sharks92Jamal FogartyCanberra Raiders81Adam ReynoldsBrisbane Broncos79Nathan ClearyPenrith Panthers Top 5 tacklers TacklesPlayerClub1,220Blayke BraileyCronulla-Sutherland Sharks1,023Terrell MayWests Tigers1,018Damien CookSt. George Illawarra Dragons987Mitch KennyPenrith Panthers949Reed MahoneyCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Team of the Year Dally M Team of the Year Announced on the evening of 1 October 2025.
Jersey Position Player 1 James Tedesco 2 Mark Nawaqanitawase 3 Kotoni Staggs 4 Stephen Crichton 5 Xavier Coates 6 Ethan Strange 7 Nathan Cleary 8 Addin Fonua-Blake 9 Blayke Brailey 10 Payne Haas 11 Eliesa Katoa 12 Hudson Young 13 Erin Clark
Players' Dream Team The Rugby League Players Association announced the 2025 Players' Dream team on 22 September 2025. Jersey Position Player 1 James Tedesco 2 Mark Nawaqanitawase 3 Herbie Farnworth 4 Stephen Crichton 5 Xavier Coates 6 Ethan Strange 7 Isaiya Katoa 8 Joseph Tapine 9 Harry Grant 10 Payne Haas 11 Eliesa Katoa 12 Hudson Young 13 Erin Clark 14 Impact Kurt Mann
Weekly awards After each round, the NRL announces via social media two weekly awards. The player with the most fantasy points each round is announced through the NRL Fantasy social media account.