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.
Canberra Raiders
Grade: D
Current record: 14th place, 5 wins, 8 losses, 1 bye, - 98 F/A, 12 points
Run home: Eels (a), Storm (a), Dragons (h), Bye, Bulldogs (a), Rabbitohs (h), Tigers (h), Panthers (a), Knights (h), Sharks (a), Broncos (h), Bye, Cowboys (a)
The Raiders were probably the most expected of last year's top four to fall away. The loss of Jamal Fogarty was always going to be a tough pill to swallow.
Ethan Strange and Ethan Sanders are starting to find their feet as a finals combination, but inconsistency has been a trend line around the Raiders over the years.
That has come to the fore with a young footy team in places, while their defence just hasn't been up to standard this year with the game getting faster and faster.
Ricky Stuart has his work cut out for him in the nation's capital, a face he seems to be painfully aware of given recent comments.
Best player: Ethan Strange
Zero Tackle MVP leader: Simi Sasagi, 26th place, 59 votes
Prediction: 13th
