A 27-round season means there is no official halfway point of the 2026 NRL season, but 14 rounds completed seems as good a time as any to call it officially the downhill run.
As the State of Origin period rolls on, and the ladder becomes a distorted mess (just look at the teams who are yet to have a bye), the run to the finals still has plenty of wiggle room, but some times have shone against pre-season expectations, and others have flopped.
When we checked in after seven weeks in our quarter season report, two coaches had already been sacked.
That carnage has come to an end, and with every team now having at least one win, the idea of a team going winsless is over.
Plenty has changed through the middle of the ladder over the last seven weeks, but it's still the Penrith Panthers proving they are the NRL's dominant force.
Here is every team's grade, best players and ladder predictions as we hit half of the 2026 NRL season played.
Brisbane Broncos
Grade: D
Current record: 12th place, 5 wins, 8 losses, 1 bye, - 66 F/A, 12 points
Run home: Rabbitohs (a), Bye, Roosters (h), Sharks (h), Bye, Panthers (a), Cowboys (a), Knights (h), Dolphins (a), Warriors (h), Raiders (a), Storm (h), Bulldogs (a)
An awful first half of the year for the Broncos really.
At one stage, they were going okay without being fantastic, but they have now lost five on the bounce, including matches to the bottom two in the Dragons and Titans over the last fortnight.
Embarrassing stuff, quite frankly, for the defending premiers.
They need to turn it around in a hurry if they are going to play finals. They have two byes left, but probably need to win seven from their last eleven. Right now, that looks a very tall order.
Best player: Xavier Willison
Zero Tackle MVP leader: Xavier Willison, 34th place, 50 votes
Prediction: 12th
