NRL 2026 Top 10 Moments of the Season
The NRL season has come to an end, here are the season-defining moments of a great 2026!
6 Oct 2026·9 min read·by Taj Soupidis
Photo: Getty Images
The 2026 NRL season had just about everything.
Record-breaking performances, unbelievable comebacks, emotional farewells, breakout stars, representative drama and one of the most remarkable grand final days in recent memory.
Here are my top 10 moments of the 2026 NRL season.
10. Coby Black's record-breaking debut
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There were plenty of memorable individual performances throughout the season, but Coby Black's NRL debut was something completely different.
The young Canberra halfback produced one of the most extraordinary first games imaginable against North Queensland in Round 27.
Black scored two tries, kicked nine goals from nine attempts, provided a try assist and finished with 98 Fantasy points as the Raiders ran away with a 50-30 victory. His performance was the most points of any NRL debutant in history.
His 98 Fantasy points smashed the previous record for a debutant, which had stood at 72 points since Chris Randall's debut in 2020.
It was the sort of debut that immediately had rugby league fans asking whether Canberra had uncovered their next star.
Black had played just one NRL game, but by the time the final siren sounded, he had already put his name firmly on the radar for 2027.
9. The Dragons finally win
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There are wins that matter because of where they take a team on the ladder.
Then there are wins that matter simply because a team desperately needed something to celebrate.
St George Illawarra finally broke through for their first win of the 2026 season when they stunned the Brisbane Broncos 30-26 in Round 13.
The Dragons had endured an agonising start to the season, and their victory ended a huge losing run while producing one of the biggest upsets of the year.
For a club that had spent so much of the season searching for confidence, the scenes after the final siren were unforgettable.
It was more than just two competition points. It was relief. It was belief.
For the Dragons and their supporters, it was the moment they finally had something to celebrate in a difficult season, and was a great moment despite such a tough few seasons.
8. Long Live Leichhardt
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Some rugby league grounds are more than just places where games are played. Leichhardt Oval is one of them.
The Wests Tigers' final NRL game at the iconic venue before its redevelopment was always going to be emotional. But the Tigers produced the perfect script.
Trailing the Titans 24-12 early in the second half, Wests came storming back to win 36-28 in front of 17,773 fans.
At the centre of it all was captain Jarome Luai. Luai scored three second-half tries, including the match-winner in the 79th minute, to complete one of the great individual performances in the ground's history.
Alex Seyfarth also produced a huge performance, making 54 tackles and scoring a crucial try.
When the final siren sounded, Leichhardt erupted. The Tigers had not simply won their final game at the ground.
They had given one of rugby league's most famous venues the farewell it deserved.
The ground is expected to return in 2028, but this was the last game at Leichhardt as fans have known it for now.
Long Live Leichhardt, the atmosphere at this game was unbelievable, and had a game to match the occasion.
7. Sandon Smith stuns Penrith
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It might be one of the greatest individual finals performances you will ever see from a player who was not expected to be the hero.
The Newcastle Knights were down to 12 men for 44 minutes after Phoenix Crossland was sent off.
They were also trailing Penrith 14-6 at half-time. Yet somehow, they won. Sandon Smith was the man who turned the game on its head.
With the Knights trailing 14-10 and 21 minutes remaining, Smith took a quick tap on halfway while the Panthers were not ready.
He ran 50 metres to score, in a brilliant moment of heads up footy IQ.
Then, in the dying seconds, Smith intercepted a desperate Penrith pass and ran 80 metres to score the try that sent Newcastle into its first grand final since 2001.
Two runaway tries. Two moments of brilliance, and one of the most extraordinary preliminary final performances in NRL history.
Smith finished with 178 running metres and 256 kick metres as the Knights completed one of the greatest finals upsets the competition has seen.
6. Nathan Cleary finally wins the Dally M Medal
Photo: Penrith Panthers
There was something almost inevitable about Nathan Cleary eventually winning the Dally M Medal.
After coming agonisingly close in 2020, the Panthers superstar finally claimed the game's most prestigious individual regular-season award in 2026.
Cleary polled 67 points, finishing well clear of Cronulla halfback Braydon Trindall on 53.
It was another piece of history for a player who has already won multiple premierships, Clive Churchill Medals and State of Origin honours.
The timing made the achievement even more remarkable.
Cleary was unable to attend the ceremony after suffering a devastating leg injury in Newcastle's preliminary-final victory over Penrith just days earlier.
Instead, his father and Panthers coach Ivan Cleary accepted the award on his behalf.
It was the individual recognition that had somehow eluded one of the defining players of his generation.
Finally, Nathan Cleary was a Dally M Medal winner after years of being the greatest player in the competition.
5. The Newcastle Knights' unbelievable season
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If you wrote the Newcastle Knights' 2026 season as a movie script, nobody would believe it.
Just 12 months earlier, Newcastle had finished with the wooden spoon.
Then came Justin Holbrook. A new coach. A renewed culture. A resurgent Kalyn Ponga. A group of young players who suddenly looked like they belonged at the top level.
Somehow, the Knights went all the way to the NRL Grand Final.
Their run included one of the greatest preliminary-final victories ever, when they beat Penrith while playing with 12 men for 44 minutes, off the back of a stunning upset, beating the Warriors at Eden Park.
They then pushed the Roosters all the way in the grand final, leading 12-0 before eventually falling 19-18.
They didn't win the premiership. But going from the bottom of the NRL to one point away from the title in a single season was arguably the biggest club turnaround of 2026.
For Newcastle supporters, it gave the club something it had not experienced since 2001.
A grand final. A truely incredible campaign, and renewed hope for one of the games most historic clubs.
4. The Roosters' incredible season
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It is almost impossible to pick just one moment from the Roosters' season. So this one belongs to the entire story.
There was the extraordinary 82-12 demolition of North Queensland, when the Roosters scored the third-highest total in NRL history.
Sam Walker scored a hat-trick and kicked 12 goals. Mark Nawaqanitawase scored a hat-trick. James Tedesco scored twice despite only playing the first half. The Roosters scored 48 points before half-time.
It was one of the most ridiculous attacking displays of the modern era.
Then came Sam Walker's injury.
When Walker suffered a syndesmosis injury against the Dolphins in Round 26, there were fears his season was over. Instead, he returned just 27 days later in the preliminary final.
He scored a try, provided the creativity the Roosters needed and helped send them into the grand final.
Then there was Mark Nawaqanitawase.
Marky Mark produced one of the performances of the finals, running for 329 metres and scoring twice in the preliminary final.
Then in the grand final, he did it again.
Two tries against Newcastle helped turn a 12-0 deficit into a Roosters lead.
Then Daly Cherry-Evans kicked the field goal.
James Tedesco produced a Clive Churchill Medal performance to close it out.
Oh, and there was one more curse to break.
The Roosters had been beaten 50-20 by South Sydney late in the regular season, putting them on the wrong side of the famous 50-point curse.
No team in the modern era had previously conceded 50 or more points during the season and gone on to win the premiership. The Roosters became the first.
Not only did they bag the NRL premiership, they completed the ultimate double. The Roosters also won the NRLW premiership.
A season that had almost everything ended with both Roosters teams as premiers.
3. NSW win the State of Origin series
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State of Origin produced one of the moments of the entire sporting year.
Queensland absolutely demolished NSW in the opening stages of Game One.
The Maroons raced to a 20-0 lead. It looked over but it wasn't.
NSW produced one of the greatest comebacks in Origin history to turn the match around and steal victory.
James Tedesco, back in the Origin arena, produced the match-winning moment.
Nathan Cleary then put the exclamation mark on the series in Game Three, leading NSW to victory at Suncorp Stadium despite being big underdogs, in one of the most memorable NSW performances of all time.
For the Blues, it was another Origin series victory. For Queensland, it was one of the most painful collapses imaginable.
2. Jai Arrow and the rugby league community
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There were plenty of great football moments in 2026. But some moments transcend the game.
Jai Arrow's battle with motor neurone disease became one of the most emotional stories rugby league has seen in years.
The Rabbitohs rallied around their teammate. Opposition clubs showed their support. Fans showed their support. The entire rugby league community came together for Arrow.
His 100th game for South Sydney became a particularly emotional occasion, with Arrow starting the match before being replaced by Cameron Murray.
The Rabbitohs then produced a huge performance against the Titans. But the story went far beyond one game. Then came Grand Final night.
Before the biggest match of the NRL season, more than 80,000 fans were treated to an emotional performance of You'll Never Walk Alone.
Amy Shark performed the song as part of a tribute to Arrow and fellow MND sufferer Charles Micallef.
Arrow and Charles were later involved in the Grand Final celebrations, ensuring that a story that had touched the entire rugby league community was part of the biggest night of the season.
It was one of those moments where rugby league showed exactly what it can mean to people. The arrow celebrations in July, his 99th and 100th games, then a Grand Final send off marked one of the most emotional stories in the history of the NRL.
1. Alex Johnston breaks the record
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There could only really be one winner.
Alex Johnston breaking Ken Irvine's all-time NRL try-scoring record was one of the greatest individual achievements of the modern era.
Irvine's record had stood since 1973. More than half a century. Then came AJ.
The South Sydney winger crossed the line to score his 213th career try and finally move past one of rugby league's most legendary figures.
But the moment wasn't just about the number. It was about who Johnston is.
A South Sydney junior. A player who has spent his entire NRL career with the Rabbitohs. A player who has repeatedly been overlooked for representative honours despite becoming one of the most prolific try-scorers the game has ever seen.
When he finally broke the record, the celebrations were enormous. Teammates surrounded him. The crowd erupted then stormed the pitch to celebrate including Roosters fans.
It was history. A truely once in a lifetime occasion that we all had the pleasure of witnessing.
Then came another remarkable detail.
Johnston finished the 2026 season with 30 tries, tying Thomas Jenkins for the Ken Irvine Medal as the NRL's leading try-scorer.
A record that had stood for 53 years was finally gone. The new record belongs to Alex Johnston.
That makes it my NRL Moment of the Year, and one of the best moments in the history of the NRL.
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