With the end of Round 27, the regular season has drawn to a close.
Despite the impending doom that is the off-season, there is still plenty of footy to be played by the eight remaining sides.
This past weekend settled the minor premiership and a home final, and provided plenty for eliminated teams to be excited about for next year.
Before we head into finals footy, we look back just once more.
Here are 20 thoughts from Round 27s NRL action:
1. Cameron Munster is set to head to market come November 1st after rejecting Melbourne's contract extension. I always thought he'd end his career at the Broncos and this looks to be a step closer. He'll have a market but he won't attract the monster money he would have two years ago.
2. Coby Black produced the greatest NRL debut I can remember. It may be recency bias but for mine this was even more impressive than Luke Brooks and Stewart Mills. It really puts pressure on Ethan Sanders for that halfback spot next season.
3. It's impossible to ignore the fact that the Broncos allowed him to leave for Canberra. I know they have Jonah Pezet arriving next season, a brilliant young player in his own right, but you have to imagine the Broncos recruitment/retention staff are coping plenty this week.
4. Of course moving the Sharks final to Allianz was the smart move. It absolutely ends suburban ground finals moving forward, which I believe was the agenda the entire time. Shark Park is a horror trip, and I'm a born Sharks fan. That said, say goodbye to Penrith Park, Brookvale, all of the Wests Tigers grounds and the Dragons traditional homes.
5. Truth be told Peter V'Landys and co need to come out, now, and state what I've just referenced. Stop toying with fans and just say you must play in a mega stadium now. If it was truly about the Shark Park capacity, they would have just moved the game to Kogarah.
6. The referees are in the news again. Truthfully it seems to almost always be the bunker now. Why I hear you ask? I don't want to go into it this weekend, because it turns this into a super negative column, but see Blake Lawrie's try vs Addin Fonua Blake's try last week. Exact same situation, two different rulings.
7. It is absolutely time for the Bunker to appoint purely independent officials. Not referees who are competing with other referees for finals appointments. If, for some reason, you can't have one bunker official on a shift akin to a normal work day for everyone else in the world, train five specialists and rotate them.
8. For the Sharks, both Riley Pollard and Michael Gabrael were very good on debut. It's a shame that Craig Fitzgibbon didn't blood them eight weeks ago and we instead had to endure Mawene Hiroti and Niwhai Puru. They were literally always the shout.
9. The Sharks only used three substitutes on Saturday night. They looked exhausted late on whilst three guys sat fresh on the bench. Usually I'd be scorching earth about this, but it was very much calculated this time around. It was all about getting big minutes for Toby Rudolf, Hohepa Puru and Braden Uele. I didn't even see Jesse Colquhoun on the bench. Sam Stonestreet played 80 minutes for the Newtown Jets earlier that afternoon and KL Iro was only named to fill out the bench.
10. There's a real issue with touch judges ... to no one's shock. This past weekend though I noticed they are so slow or out of position that they're sometimes 20 metres behind an obvious forward pass. Of course it'll look good from 20 metres behind.
11. Also, if the bunker can use camera angles to decide onside vs offside (see the last try to the Raiders on Saturday evening) then why are those very same camera angles not able to be used for forward passes? Are the angles good or not? You can't have it both ways.
12. Scott Drinkwater, on Saturday night, again proved why some consider him a million dollar fullback. Scott Drinkwater, on Saturday night, again proved why the North Queensland Cowboys no longer consider him a million dollar fullback. The gaps between his good and bad, sometimes within minutes, is right up there with anyone else in the game.
13. Latrell Mitchell's monster shot on Tom Rodwell set a precedent that the NRL officials have not been applying for years. The shot was clean, do not get me wrong, but whiplash leading to the players chin hitting the tackler's shoulder has been a penalty and sin bin for two years. This weekend it wasn't. I hope they continue this same ruling into the finals.
14. No disrespect but Phoenix Crossland won the Newcastle Knights player of the year award late last week. He had a decent season but Newcastle have had seven players better than him this year.
15. Darius Boyd, as I predicted, was named QLD coach during the week. The reception seems to be lukewarm but he's a Maroon's legend and has wins under his belt for the QLD Under-19s. I'm not sure tactics play a huge part here and he can bring in Cameron Smith and others to assist. Good appointment.
16. I do have to point out that we all wanted, and it looked like we might get, Ivan Cleary vs Cameron Smith at Origin level. Instead we have Matt King vs Darius Boyd. I feel terrible saying anything but ... you know.
17. Is it too late for the Parramatta Eels to walk away from Jarome Luai next year? Ronald Volkman was their one real bright spot in 2026 and he's been relegated again for a guy Tigers fans ultimately couldn't wait to see the back of.
18. If Rueben Cotter's charge is downgraded, every player ever charged with anything, ever should fight the charge. A clear shoulder to the head of a player and the clearest sin bin you'll ever see. I get the feeling the Cowboys see this as a "nothing to lose" situation but this is taking the Mick.
19. The Panthers run as the best modern day side continues as they've wrapped up another award, this time the 2026 minor premiership. I think I'm one of about five people who value the minor oremiership. It needs to mean more. I don't know how you achieve that but it's a massive achievement.
20. Almost every fan, coach and player has come out to say this six-again nonsense has gone too far. Peter V'landys came out on Monday and accused players of "not telling the truth". So the players secretly love hearing that bell 36 times a half but are saying they don't ... why? Dead set!
