Who had a breakout season at your club this year? Which player failed to live up to expectations in 2026?
Here we analyse each club to find out which players had a breakthrough season, and who is planning to wash away the memories of 2026 on Mad Monday.
Panthers
Breakthrough: Thomas ‘Milky’ Jenkins. Ken Irvine medal winner as leading try scorer. Tipped to make the Kangaroos squad later this year. Casey Mclean was selected for NSW at age 20.
Breakdown: Blaize Talagi. Dropped due mainly to his defence. Still played well, just not well enough for the high-flying Panthers.
Warriors
Breakthrough: Nobody, the Wahs finished second due to their strength as a team.
Breakdown: Nobody, the Wahs finished second due to their strength as a team.
Dolphins
Breakthrough: Jack Bostock. Young winger/centre used his speed, size, strength and skill to complement Herbie Farnworth in the centres, and debuted for NSW. Selwyn Cobbo also returned to form this season, especially in State of Origin.
Breakdown: Nobody, which is why many teams fear the attacking power of the Dolphins in the finals.
Roosters
Breakthrough: Naufahu White. Improved every season since debuting in 2021, but this year became one of the best props in the world.
Breakdown: Nobody, which is why the Roosters are still a realistic chance to win the premiership.
Sharks
Breakthrough: Blayke Brailey. Matured as a player and a captain for the Sharks. Vital to their success, and played well for NSW.
Breakdown: The entire team in the last 5 weeks of the regular season. They need to improve enormously in the finals.
Rabbitohs
Breakthrough: Tallis Duncan. One of their best players in every game, even when he played out of position in the centres. Kangaroos bolter? Alex Johnstone has always been good, but this year he finally got the try scoring record.
Breakdown: Wayne Bennett. The supercoach still makes bizarre selections: Jye Gray dropped for Matt Dufty, Jack Wighton in the centres when the team needs a half – and Campbell Graham kept on the wing…
Tyrone Munro – missed the entire season due to an investigation into alleged domestic violence.
Knights
Breakthrough: Nobody. The Knights are not expected to go deep into finals.
Breakdown: Dylan Brown. He didn’t play badly, but he didn’t play well enough to justify his salary.
Cowboys
Breakthrough: Nobody, which is why the Cowboys won’t win many finals games.
Breakdown: Nobody, which is how the Cowboys made the finals.
Sea Eagles
Breakthrough: Tolutau Koula. The speed machine added more aspects to his game and was rewarded with NSW selection.
Breakdown: Physically, Tom Trbojevic and his hamstring – again, but he still played well when fit. Anthony Seibold – sacked as coach.
Storm
Breakthrough: Sualauvi ‘Sua’ Fa’alogo. Electrifying speed, agility and skill made him an excellent replacement for Ryan Papenhuyzen. Cooper Clarke, the big prop is tipped to win Rookie of the Year.
Breakdown: Cameron Munster. Nowhere near as good as he used to be.
Raiders
Breakthrough: Simi Sasagi. Had an outstanding start to the season in the centres after switching from the back row, before a serious injury. Ethan Strange showed why he is likley to become the NSW no.6.
Breakdown: Matthew Timoko, New Zealand international lost his spot to Sasagi.
Bulldogs
Breakthrough: Jacob Preston has been good for the last few seasons, but improved yet again and threatened established back rowers for a NSW cap.
Breakdown: Marcelo Montoya, out of form before he eventually retired.
Eels
Breakthrough: Ronald Volkman. Replacement five-eighth who showed signs of class to retain the starting spot.
Breakdown: Bodies. Parramatta suffered the most of any team through injuries to key players this season.
Broncos
Breakthrough: Josiah Karapani impressed on the wing during a terrible season for the Broncos.
Breakdown: The team, but especially Gehamat Shibasaki who went from QLD and Australia rep to sitting on the bench.
Tigers
Breakthrough: Samuela Fainu, a strong, skilful back-rower who shone for the Tigers.
Breakdown: Jarome Luai. The star recruit did not live up to the hype. Adam Doueihi also underperformed alongside Luai in the halves and got attention for the wrong reasons. Benji Marshall didn’t appear to handle the job of head coach.
Titans
Breakthrough: Jojo Fifita and Keano Kini both played well enough to earn representative honours.
Breakdown: No individual breakdowns, just another lacklustre season from the Titans.
Dragons
Breakthrough: Ryan and Toby Couchman weren’t brilliant, neither were Hamish Stewart or Setu Tu, but the youngsters showed they could enjoy breakthrough seasons soon.
Breakdown: Shane Flanagan – sacked as coach. Valentine Holmes was one of the senior players who performed below expectations for most of the season. Not surprisingly, the wooden spooners released 10 players at the end of the season.
Overall breakthrough: Thomas ‘Milky’ Jenkins
Overall breakdown: Gehamat Shibasaki
Overall breakdown special mention: Tyrone Munro – missed the entire season due to an investigation into alleged domestic violence.
Image: Getty Images
The Frownlow Medal 