The teams are out for the opening week of the pre-season challenge, with the St George Illawarra Dragons, Canterbury Bulldogs, Newcastle Knights and North Queensland Cowboys heading to Kogarah to get things underway.
Plenty of top stars are sitting out, but that creates opportunities for others to impress and potentially push for spots in Round 1, while an eye will also be on the future in multiple positions.
Here are the ten players to watch this weekend.
Pre-season challenge Week 1 team lists
5. Jaxon Purdue (North Queensland Cowboys)
Another club with major questions around the spine heading into 2026 are the North Queensland Cowboys.
It doesn't come through departures, but rather, through the simple fact that Todd Payten is under a mountain of pressure, and seems to be unsure who his best halves are.
Jake Clifford had the best strike rate of the halves in Townsville for 2025 playing alongside Tom Dearden, but all the talk is that Jaxon Purdue will be given another crack in the halves.
It will be intriguing to watch his performance this weekend, how much time he spends at five-eighth and how much at halfback, and just whether his kicking game has gone up the gears.
Dearden can play either the number six or seven roles, so the fact of the matter is this could be a straight shootout to find out who will partner Dearden.
