Round 27 of the 2026 NRL season saw the Penrith Panthers secure their fourth minor premiership in seven years.
The Warriors keep finding a way
Good teams win comfortably., great teams win games they probably should lose. The Warriors’ 31-30 victory over Manly felt like exactly that.
The result reinforced what we’ve been seeing throughout 2026. Whether the game becomes an attacking shootout or a defensive grind, the Warriors consistently find themselves on the right side of the result. It isn’t always pretty, but it’s become a habit.
Manly, meanwhile, can be left wondering what might have been. Their season showed flashes of genuine quality, but too often they came up short in the games that mattered most.
The Dolphins have earned their shot
The Dolphins finished the regular season with 17 wins and a top-four finish, achievements that would have seemed ambitious not long ago.
What makes them fascinating heading into the finals is that they don’t carry the same expectation as Penrith, the Warriors or the Roosters. That can be a powerful position.
They’ve already exceeded most external expectations. Now they have the opportunity to play with freedom while carrying genuine premiership credentials.
Penrith enter September exactly where they want to be
The Panthers cruised past the Tigers 38-10 to close out another exceptional regular season. There wasn’t much drama attached to the result, and that’s precisely the point.
While other contenders have spent recent weeks producing unpredictable performances, Penrith have continued doing what they have done for years: controlling games, limiting mistakes and winning comfortably.
The Panthers finished the regular season level with the Warriors on competition points and once again head into finals football looking like the side nobody wants to meet.