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.
St George Illawarra Dragons
Grade: F
Current record: 17th place, 1 win, 12 losses, 1 bye, - 243 F/A, 4 points
Run home: Bye, Knights (a), Raiders (a), Tigers (h), Bye, Warriors (a), Titans (h), Dolphins (h), Sharks (h), Tigers (a), Bulldogs (h), Sea Eagles (a), Eels (h)
It's hard to put into words just how bad the Dragons have been this year.
Awful, really.
They did manage a win against the Broncos to open their account a fortnight ago, but have just had collapse after collapse, and beatig after beating.
Avoiding the wooden spoon for interim coach Dean Young and his troops would be something of a miracle from here.
Best player: Hamish Stewart
Zero Tackle MVP leader: Toby Couchman, 81st place, 31 votes
Prediction: 17th
