10 Big Questions for the 2025 NRL Season
Exploring some of the biggest questions that will shape rugby league this year.
Can Benji actually coach?
The Tigers enter 2025 on the back of three straight wooden spoons, including a 2024 Spoon Bowl loss where they conceded 60 to seal their fate. Marshall has been there as chief assistant for one season and as the Head Coach for another, but this year feels like it’s time to actually see some tangible forward progress. He’s been (fairly IMO) afforded a lot of rope and support over the past twelve months, as the club has continued to work it’s way out a decade of dysfunction. This season has to be be different though. With the recruitment drive they’ve had and the development of guys like Galvin, Samuela Fainu and Jahream Bula, this year has to be one where they’re finishing 13th-14th at minimum (low bar I know but seriously).
Does Addin Fonua-Blake take the Sharks over the hump?
I’m incredibly bullish on the Sharks as a regular season team again this year, but the addition of one of the game’s premier front rowers in Addin Fonua-Blake needs to be one that puts them in the same conversation as Melbourne and Penrith come September. They’ve got the finals-win monkey off their back, they’re more settled in the spine with Trindall and they have an elite back five to go with a solid forward pack. With the majority of their team either entering or entrenched in their prime, this year has to be the one where the excuses dry up and their performances at the business end of the season stack up. Penrith have lost three key starters and the Roosters have been ravaged, the Sharks must view this season as a massive opportunity for a Grand Final appearance.
Who the f**k gets the Wooden Spoon?
Excuse my language but seriously!
I’ve complained about the top heavy nature of the competition recently, but the middle to bottom end of the table is as crowded as I can ever remember it. There’s genuinely no team that I think looks like a bottom four lock and I don’t think there’s any team that is just flat-out bad. The betting market seems to agree with me, with the Raiders going from outright favourites to equal 5th favourite following their Vegas ambush. If I had to pick one with a gun to my head, I’d lean towards one of the Tigers, Titans or Warriors, but I genuinely don’t think any of them are worthy of that tag this pre-season.
Can the Dolphins beat history?
It’s a tale as old as time, wherever Wayne Bennett leaves, the success and competency of an organisation goes with him. Ivan Henjak was sacked within 18 months of taking over in Brisbane, the Knights won three consecutive spoons without him, the Anthony Seibold era in Brisbane destroyed a club that should never struggle and Jason Demetriou was sacked in a storm of controversy just two months into his third season at Souths. The history is almost impossible to ignore, but for some reason I think this Dolphins team is capable of being the exception.
While I don’t think they’ll make the eight, I do think they’re a different proposition to the teams Bennett has previously coached. This is not a team that was built to compete for short term success like many of Bennett’s previous sides, they’re a young team with a lot of promising players on the rise and arguably the most qualified first-time coach in Kristian Woolf.
If they do fall victim to the Bennett curse, I’m very curious to see how they go in maintaining relevance/popularity in Brisbane. Their average Suncorp crowd dropped from 32.2k to 26.1k in their second season (🚨🚨🚨, I know) despite spending 24/27 rounds of the season in the top eight. If they’re fighting for the spoon like many predict, can that figure hold or will it continue to slide?
Can Wayne’s Magic work twice?
Speaking of Wayne, his second stint at the Bunnies is full of intrigue for me. This is the first time we’ve seen Wayne return to a squad full of players he has already coached. The only bridge between him and this squad was his previous assistant coach, who he handpicked to take over the job, and who they quit on midway through season two. Every job that Bennett has taken since 2009 has been a team built to win immediately or a team in need of being completely built/rebuilt, and this Rabbitohs squad is neither of those things. At full strength they’re a bottom half of the top eight team and without Latrell Mitchell for the first six weeks and Cam Murray at all, who knows what they are? Can Bennett work his magic again and keep this squad afloat for a season, or is it time for a complete rebuild at Redfern?
Can Wahs Fever keep the momentum?
Despite a difficult season on field in 2024, the Warriors crowds and fan engagement was one of the best stories of the year. They sold out every single home game at Mt Smart Stadium, sometimes weeks in advance, and the momentum of their golden run to the Preliminary Final in 2023 well and truly stayed alive with fans. With such a disappointing 2024 campaign, the retirements of Shaun Johnson and Tohu Harris and a listless performance in their Vegas season opener, can the Wahs keep the hype alive in 2025?
How low is the Roosters floor?
The Roosters have made the finals in eight straight seasons under Trent Robinson, a run which peaked with back to back premierships in 2019. Since then, I would argue the Roosters have frustratingly underachieved with a roster that is built to win titles but has ultimately never come close. This year, the Roosters are dealing with the departures of veteran leaders Luke Keary and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, they’ve lost star outside backs Joseph Manu and Joseph Sua'ali'i to rugby and key spine players Sam Walker and Brandon Smith to serious injuries. I’ve seen them predicted by many to finish as low as the bottom four, while others still have them firmly entrenched in the top eight. I think the end result is somewhere in-between, but I’m very interested to see how Trent Robinson goes working with what will be by far his worst squad since 2017.
Are the Cowboys actually good?
For the past two years I’ve spent every week grappling with this simple question. Some weeks they’re incredible, their stars look like elite players in the game and you wonder if they could maybe give the competition a shake. Other weeks… They’re lazy, error prone and an all-round punish to watch. I’ve still not put my finger on which version is closer to the ‘real’ Cowboys and I wonder if this year will bring us any certainty.
Moving on from the Chad at halfback is a change that I like, but Jake Clifford is another frustratingly inconsistent player and Tom Duffy is still yet to debut. Their pack is incredibly light on with middles and their outside back depth will be tested with the departures of Holmes and Feldt. With all that said, I’m still such a believer in guys like Drinkwater, Taulagi, Dearden, Cotter, Robson & Co that I think they’ll still be very much in the logjam of teams fighting for the 8.
How much juice do the Dragons veterans have left?
The Dragons have copped a lot of flack for their recruitment heading into 2025, but I don’t think I’m anywhere near as low on them as many others are. Clint Gutherson has lost a yard or five of pace, but he’s still the sole reason Parramatta avoided the spoon last year, Valentine Holmes showed signs of life in the backend of 2024 and Damien Cook can form a very solid tandem with the improving Jacob Liddle. Shane Flanagan’s character and moral compass may be questionable but his chops as a first grade coach are not and I do think finally ending the Ben Hunt saga will be a boost for the playing group. At time of writing they’ve moved into favouritism for the spoon, but as long as their veterans still have some juice, I think they’ll comfortably avoid it again.
Did Billy Slater learn from 2024?
For his first two seasons as Maroons coach, everything Billy Slater touched turned to gold. His selections were near perfect, his press conferences were a delight on the ears and his team played with a fantastic mix of toughness and skill. In 2024 though, cracks started to appear. Queensland’s depth was tested and Slater started to pick favourites, ignoring players like David Fifita and unravelling with contradictions and bizarre new statements with every press conference. Now that we’ve seen Slater at his best and hopefully his worst, can he learn from his mistakes and adapt for 2025? It certainly won’t be any easier with Nathan Cleary, Latrell Mitchell and more to return to a Blues team that physically blew them off the park in 2/3 games in 2024.
Who stops this Raiders team from winning the competition?
Emre Guler mention on Dragons bit where is?
Yes, No, Warriors, No, No, No, 13th, Maybe? (Cows biggest question mark team. Could see 3rd or 13th), Enough for 7-10th, Hope not