I have done the sums. From the day the draw is released (November 14th) there are 85 days until pre-season rugby league.
Thats only 12 weekends of horrible, hot and sweaty, rugby league-less-ness.
It may seem like a long, long way away, but with the NRL, NRLW and Pre-Season Cup draws being released, hope is suddenly on the horizon.
The mad scramble on Friday morning sent us all into a level of frenzy.
Some planned their away trips, others looked for rivalry games. Most proclaimed 2026 was "our season".
Every fixture next season is exciting in its own way, but some just stand out above the rest.
We've compiled ten such fixtures below. The reasons vary, but they all promise to be hot encounters.
Here are ten must watch fixtures for 2026.
2. Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters, Round 4
This was the game many, myself included, scrambled to find as soon as the news started breaking about the 2026 fixtures.
Daly Cherry-Evans returns to Brookvale Oval after playing 352 games for the Sea Eagles. He delivered a Premiership for Manly but will return the great villian.
Outside of the obvious storyline, the headline act is the Tom Trbojevic vs. James Tedesco clash. Haumole Olakau'atu's battle with Angus Crichton isn't bad either.
Being a month in the season, both sides should be fully fit and firing. There's no doubt they plugged this fixture into a marquee spot and for good reason.
