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.
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Grade: B-
Current record: 6 wins, 6 losses, 2 byes, + 44 F/A, 16 points
Run home: Broncos (h), Bye, Eels (a), Panthers (a), Knights (h), Raiders (a), Storm (h), Sharks (a), Eels (h), Bulldogs (a), Warriors (h), Titans (a), Roosters (h)
The Rabbitohs have been a real up and down team over the first half of the year, not helped by their injury toll which hasn't been quite as bad as last year, but has still knocked them around.
Still, when they get it right, they are one of the game's best attacking teams. That left edge is absolutely lightning, and Jye Gray may be the game's most underrated player, despite his meteoric rise.
The club are still well on track to finish in the top eight with plenty of winnable games over the run home.
They have already had two byes which is a concern, but the Rabbitohs were one of the pre-season heavy-weights despite their awful 2025, and it's hard to see that changing based on the evidence so far.
Best player: Jye Gray
Zero Tackle MVP leader: Latrell Mitchell, 9th, 100 votes
Prediction: 5th
