Week 2 of the 2025 NRL Finals has wrapped up, so we’re looking over the results and digging into three big takeaways from the weekend.
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The Canberra Raiders may have finished the NRL regular season as minor premiership winners, but they’ve left the finals in straight sets following their 32-12 loss to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
“We were nowhere for a long period there… nothing went our way. No field position, no good ball, no anything – we just didn’t flinch and it was impressive.”– Craig Fitzgibbon
The visitors dominated the scoreboard despite a lot of the numbers finishing as relatively even. With possession split 50/50 and both teams completing 38 sets for a 78% completion rate, the Sharks turned their time with the ball into five tries, booking their spot in the Preliminary Finals against the Melbourne Storm.
Billy Burns, take a bow! 🤩
Telstra Moment of the Match pic.twitter.com/3gV2SuMbBK
— NRL (@NRL) September 20, 2025
Later in the weekend, the Penrith Panthers confirmed their status as premiership contenders, if not favourites for a fifth on the bounce. The machine is well-oiled at the right time of the year, as usual.
While the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs played without their captain, few anticipated Penrith’s sheer domination from the start. A clinic in attack translated into an early lead as the Panthers cruised to a 46-26 win and will no prepare to face the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp.
3 Things From Finals Week 2
Raiders Wrap Up Season In Straight Sets
That’s all she wrote for the Canberra Raiders in 2025.
They’ll have the minor premiership sitting in the trophy cabinet, but it will ultimately be remembered as a season they fell short. From 1st on the NRL ladder to out in straight sets, the Raiders planned – somewhat to their own demise – to play beyond this point, but will instead watch from home.
So after all that, the Canberra Raiders won the same amount of finals games in 2025 as Jack Wighton
— R (@iam_rb01) September 20, 2025
Ricky Stuart’s side is the youngest in the competition. They started the season being spoken about as wooden spoon contenders before climbing the NRL ladder. While they were never entirely trusted as an elite team in the competition, the Raiders kept winning. Chaos and effort defined their unlikely rise, but arguably became their undoing.
The inability to close it out last week and the energy taken out of them across 94 minutes contributed to their lack of effectiveness against the Sharks.
Stuart offered his typically sour responses after the game. When asked if his team ran out of gas, he ‘didn’t know.’ On the season as a whole, he considered it “very positive” despite the final result.
Questions will be asked again to start the 2026 season, but Stuart will use that to his advantage over the summer:
“The better you get, the more you get hunted.”
Bulldogs Taught A Lesson
The Bulldogs have made significant improvements this season on the back of a Panthers-like approach to their football. They play a high possession style, back their kick chase and are prepared to get in the arm wrestle.
However, there is a difference in being prepared and being able to do it against the best.
“That first half is a pretty painful lesson for us in the future.” – Cameron Ciraldo
Hear from Cameron Ciraldo and Viliame Kikau after the Bulldogs' Finals Week 2 clash against the Panthers. pic.twitter.com/gEUEzHsKoP
— NRL (@NRL) September 21, 2025
Penrith, despite their early-season struggles and constant turnover of players, are the premier arm-wrestle team in the NRL. Nobody does it better, particularly at this time of the year. Although, the Bulldogs defence made it easy to start the game. Nathan Cleary and the Panthers did what they liked with the ball to pile up points and put the game beyond doubt by half time.
The Bulldogs should be happy with their season regardless of the finish. Introducing Lachlan Galvin halfway through derailed their premiership aspirations in 2025, but sets them up well to compete in 2026. If they can find the extra middle Ciraldo mentioned they need in his post-game comments, the Bulldogs will again be here again next season.
That’s Panthers Footy
Every team plays slightly different to the rest. It’s not always obvious what the plan is outside the four walls of the footy club. However, everybody knows Panthers Footy. It’s become iconic throughout their four consecutive NRL premierships, and is becoming clear again as they work towards a fifth.
You could see it in the new group to start the season, but they struggled to string it together for 80 minutes.
Penrith relies on building pressure and the other team cracking to make their mark. Uncharacteristic errors with the ball and lapses in defence saw them running last after Round 12. With the errors tidied up, the defence has firmed up, and the Panthers climbed up the NRL ladder and into the finals where they’re all of a sudden in a Prelim.
Ivan Cleary has been building the team for this moment. He never really looked stressed while his team languished early in the season. We knew better here than to write them off after a 1-5 start. They’re playing like a premiership contender at the right time of the year, and the Broncos will need to be at their best on Sunday afternoon if they’re to advance to the NRL Grand Final.