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.

North Queensland Cowboys

Grade: B
Current record: 9th place, 8 wins, 6 losses, 0 byes, - 13 F/A, 16 points
Run home: Bye, Warriors (a), Panthers (h), Bye, Sea Eagles (a), Dolphins (a), Broncos (h), Roosters (h), Titans (a), Eels (a), Bye, Tigers (h), Raiders (h)

Remember when the Cowboys were under all sorts of pressure weeks into the season and Todd Payten was seemingly in the sack race alongside Shane Flanagan and Andrew Seibold.

That almost feels like years ago.

His side still have a lot of work to do, but they have eight wins from twelve games, and it's hard to rate them anything other than a dramatic success so far this year.

That's not to say things won't change, and the byes could work either way yet despite the guaranteed six points to come. Expect them to be well and truly in the mix for finals spot, particularly if they can improve on their four and three record at home, but with the Warriors, Panthers, Sea Eagles and Dolphins in their next four games, it's fair to say they haven't quite had their litmus test yet this season.

Best player: Scott Drinkwater
Zero Tackle MVP leader: Scott Drinkwater, 3rd, 133 votes
Prediction: 9th