After 27 weeks of the NRL competition, the cream has risen to the top with eight remaining to fight for the premiership trophy on the first weekend of October.
With plenty of sides showing strengths and vulnerabilities in recent weeks, intriguing questions emerge of who will make the significant moves during the play-offs series?
Here are the five biggest questions heading into Week 1 of the finals.
2. Can the Roosters shake three losses and go deep without Walker and form?
The Roosters will have to combat a poor form slump heading into the big matches, but given one of those games was against South Sydney with mass resting makes the task slightly easier.
The tri-colours were one of the most-feared sides leading into August and looked to be the form-team of the competition heading into finals.
Since then, their star halfback Sam Walker has gone down with a syndesmosis injury and undergone surgery, with slim hopes he will make a return before the big dance in October.
The club has now lost three games in a row, fumbled the minor premiership, and will most likely be without Walker for their finals campaign.
Can they defy the odds and apply pressure on the Panthers and Warriors?
Both those sides have emerged as top contenders to take out the premiership trophy, but although any team from the top eight in 2026 has the chance to claim it this year, more on that later.
You can never rule out Trent Robinson, who will have some tricks up his sleeve to ensure the tri-colours stay in the fight.
The acquisition of Daly Cherry-Evans on a short-term deal has proven to be a masterstroke, with the 370-game veteran slotting back into the halfback position with Walker sidelined.
It's where he has played 15 seasons at a high level and is now the key man to steer them to their first title in seven years.
One of the best strikers for a field goal, Cherry-Evans has proven to win the close games during his time at Manly, holding the record for most one-pointers in the NRL era and a record-leading seven golden-point victories.
