The 2026 National Rugby League finals series is a tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2026 Telstra Premiership season. The series is being played over four weekends in September and October, culminating in the 2026 NRL Grand Final on 4 October 2026.
The top eight teams from the 2026 NRL season qualified for the finals series. NRL finals series have been continuously played under this format since 2012.
Qualification
Finals structure
The system used for the 2026 NRL finals series is a final eight system. The top four teams in the eight receive the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals, such that if a top-four team loses in the first week it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games – only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home ground advantage goes to the team with the higher ladder position in the first two weeks and to the qualifying final winners in the third week.
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final play the elimination final winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final.
Bracket
Matches HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and time (AEST)VenueRefereeAttendanceNine viewership Qualifying and Elimination Finals South Sydney Rabbitohs 10–20 Newcastle Knights 11 September, 19:50 Allianz Stadium Ashley Klein 28,152 937,000 New Zealand Warriors 16–26 Dolphins 12 September, 16:05 Go Media Stadium Adam Gee 26,131 706,000 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 26–16 North Queensland Cowboys 12 September, 19:50 Allianz Stadium Grant Atkins 17,429 799,000 Penrith Panthers 19–12 Sydney Roosters 13 September, 16:05 CommBank Stadium Gerard Sutton 22,148 998,000 Semi-Finals Sydney Roosters 46-10 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 19 September, 19:50 Allianz Stadium Adam Gee 39,147 918,000 New Zealand Warriors 10–12 Newcastle Knights 20 September, 16:05 Eden Park Ashley Klein 48,511 1,088,000 Preliminary Finals Dolphins 20–36 Sydney Roosters 25 September, 19:50 Suncorp Stadium Adam Gee 52,286 1,312,000 Penrith Panthers 14–22 Newcastle Knights 27 September, 16:05 Accor Stadium Gerard Sutton 57,102 1,590,000
First week: Qualifying and Elimination Finals
Second week: Semi-Finals
Third week: Preliminary Finals
Grand Final
References