With the full NRL draw out for 2026, teams and their fans will have circled dates in their calendars.
Must-win games, key outings, rivalry clashes.
No team is going to win 24 from 24 throughout the course of an NRL season that is wildly tough to predict at the best of times, but clubs will know the key games they must win.
For fans, neutral or supporters, here are the five biggest clashes to watch for each and every NRL side throughout the 2026 season, kicking off in Las Vegas on the first weekend of March and winding itself across Australia and New Zealand over the following six months.
Brisbane Broncos
Round 1, vs Penrith Panthers, at Suncorp Stadium, Friday, March 6, 8pm
Round 3, vs Melbourne Storm, at AAMI Park, Friday, March 20, 8pm
Round 8, vs Canterbury Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium, Friday, April 24, 8pm
Round 23, vs The Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium, Saturday, August 8, 5:30pm
Round 25, vs Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium, Friday, August 21, 6pm
The Broncos are the defending premiers, and so it makes plenty of sense that their biggest adversaries from the 2025 campaign are all features in the matches to watch.
Kicking off the season against Penrith, and then having the grand final rematch a fortnight later gives them a blockbuster start, before we look at games against the Bulldogs and Raiders - coming in Round 25, baffingly in the Friday 6pm slot - as huge encounters.
It's also hard to overlook the rivalary clash with the Dolphins in the final rounds of the year.
