The 2026 NRL season has run its course, with the Sydney Roosters claiming the premiership, the Newcastle Knights being the surprise packet, the Penrith Panthers finding another preliminary final, and last year's top four all dropping out of the finals.
The changing nature of the NRL in 2026 has left this Top 50 list as extremely tricky to compile, but after hours of deliberation, Zero Tackle's top 50 NRL players of the year has been locked in.
Today, we kick off with Part 1 - players 50 through to 41 - where only three players made last year's list at all. Two of those are ranked in a very similar position, while a Melbourne star has fallen away with injuries impacting progress.
Unlike previous years, this year, every club features as part of the Top 50, but two clubs feature their only player in Part 1.
Here are players 50 to 41 from the 2026 NRL season.
50. Isaiah Papali'i (Penrith Panthers)
Last year's rank: Not ranked
Papali'i always had potential coming through the grades, and 2026 may have been the best year of his career as he worked past 200 NRL games.
Playing 25 games for the Panthers, Papali'i started all bar one in the second-row, consistently playing big minutes and being among the best - certainly among the best forwards - in a team who made a preliminary final.
He wound up averaging 123 metres per contest, tackling at 93 per cent and added a staggering 43 offloads. His danger was evident every time he took to the field and Penrith will want more out of him in 2027 as he currently negotiates his future.
49. Jahrome Hughes (Melbourne Storm)
Last year's rank: 25
Hughes is still one of the game's elite players, but ultimately takes a dramatic swing down this list in 2026 owing to missing a number of games, and the overall struggles of the Storm.
When the list is based off 2026 form only, it's tough to have him any higher, although he did come up with 23 try assists in 18 games despite Melbourne's struggles.
Would be most unsurprising to see him bounce back up this list in 2027, with the halfback still paramount to everything Melbourne does - and it's impossible to see the Storm being quite as poor next year.
48. Tolutau Koula (Manly Sea Eagles)
Last year's rank: 47
Koula lands in a similar spot to last year after another strong season where he has continued to cement his place as one of the game's elite ball runners.
19 games limited by an injury in the middle of the campaign don't dampen what he provided, scoring nine tries and assisting another nine from the centres, while he came up with over four tackle busts per game, and almost a line break per contest.
Defensively he continues to improve, and he has no issue doing the tough stuff, running for 164 metres per game.
47. Jack Williams (Parramatta Eels)
Last year's rank: Not ranked
Easily the Eels best player in 2026. Able to play in the second-row or through the middle, Williams more or less split his time throughout the course of the campaign, but was no less effective in either role.
Across 24 games, he was rock solid in defence, making a staggering 952 tackles to end in the upper echelong of all NRL players in that stat.
He also came up with 114 metres per contest, and was a constant threat with the ball in hand whether in the middle or on the edge.
In a tricky season for the Eels, he was one of the bright spots.
46. Mitch Barnett (New Zealand Warriors)
Last year's rank: Not ranked
Barnett missed some time through injury, but really stepped it up during the second half of the year, proving beyond all reasonable doubt why the Broncos moved heaven and earth to sign him for 2027 despite his advancing age.
A State of Origin representative, picked having only returned from a knee injury weeks earlier, Barnett finished the year with only 17 games, but made 152 metres per contest and tackled at 94 per cent.
His consistency was outstanding, and he regularly featured among the top vote getters for the Warriors in Zero Tackle's MVP towards the end of the year.
45. Nicho Hynes (Cronulla Sharks)
Last year's rank: 45
The Sharks have had another fail at the end of their campaign, and there was some thought given to leaving Hynes off this list altogether, although in the end he sneaks into exactly the same spot he held last year.
Ultimately, Hynes has been overtaken by both Blayke Brailey and Braydon Trindall as the best player in the Shire, and is absolutely no longer the club's dominant half.
He had some strong performances through the middle of the year and finished with 23 try assists, but he will struggle to beat the accusations that he disappears when the going gets tough for the Sharks, and the lack of performance when Braydon Trindall was out clearly marks where Hynes' cards sit.
44. Alex Twal (Wests Tigers)
Last year's rank: Not ranked
The best player at the Tigers despite missing some time through injury, Twal has had a career-best year and will look to continue building on that in to 2027.
His work rate through the middle is simply phenomenal, and while he will never win the award for style points, that doesn't matter when he is churning out the level of work he does.
By the end of the season he averaged over 40 tackles per game at almost 97 per cent, and added 117 metres per contest, while he also added plenty with 29 offloads.
43. Alex Johnston (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
Last year's rank: Not ranked
Alex Johnston just keeps winding back the clock.
Now the game's greatest ever try-scorer, he had a better run with injuries this year, managing 22 games and deserves an upgrade to be included in this list.
He finished equal top of the competition for tries, but added more than Thomas Jenkins did elsewhere, finishing with 42 line breaks and 7 try assists, while his all-round ability as a winger in defence and positioning continued to shine through.
42. Tom Dearden (North Queensland Cowboys)
Last year's rank: Not ranked
Dearden narrowly missed this list last year, but is impossible to leave out this time around despite only playing 14 games.
The Cowboys won half of those, but arguably, Dearden was the most important part of all of them, coming up with 15 try assists and 19 line break assists, to go with 7 forced drop outs.
He is also the best defensive half in the competition and has no issue running the ball.
If the Cowboys are going anywhere in 2027, he will be at the forefront of it.
41. Sua Fa'alogo (Melbourne Storm)
Last year's rank: Not ranked
Sua Fa'alogo has rapidly turned himself in to one of the best attacking weapons anywhere in the NRL.
Playing all 24 games for the Storm in 2026, he finished with 18 tries, 133 tackle breaks, 15 try assists, 23 line breaks and 192 metres per game.
They are elite numbers for any fullback.
He continues to struggle in defence though, and will need to improve there if he is to climb this list, or the Storm are to return to the finals, in 2027.
