2026 Season

Yeah I remember at the time in 2024 there was a real "one last job" vibe to that season, like you had comments from players and coaches basically saying they knew it was going to be really really hard to climb the mountaintop again given who they were losing.

But they weren't talking about Luai like many highlights watchers assumed. They were talking about James Fisher-Harris.

NZ Warriors 3rd with a 15-6 record this season, Wests Tigers 14th, 7-14.

Warriors' best ever season in defence was 2011 where they conceded 394 points, they're probably going to beat that. 65% win rate with Fish in the team since he got there, making him their winningest player ever. A lot of things going right at that club obviously but that's a team that has kept winning despite one of the worst injury records in the comp, can't keep the same halfback for more than a few games straight, because of an all-conquering forward pack, and he's the best forward in a team full of really good ones.

The core of the Penrith dynasty: Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards, Brian To'o, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Liam Martin. They had a lot of other really good players but those are the ones they wanted most badly to keep.

There should be some conversations about Fish's place in the history of the sport if he gets a 5th premiership this year. You'd be silly to write him off.
 
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HarVeeGee13 said:
Yeah I remember at the time in 2024 there was a real "one last job" vibe to that season, like you had comments from players and coaches basically saying they knew it was going to be really really hard to climb the mountaintop again given who they were losing.

But they weren't talking about Luai like many highlights watchers assumed. They were talking about James Fisher-Harris.

NZ Warriors 3rd with a 15-6 record this season, Wests Tigers 14th, 7-14.

Warriors' best ever season in defence was 2011 where they conceded 394 points, they're probably going to beat that. 65% win rate with Fish in the team since he got there, making him their winningest player ever. A lot of things going right at that club obviously but that's a team that has kept winning despite one of the worst injury records in the comp, can't keep the same halfback for more than a few games straight, because of an all-conquering forward pack, and he's the best forward in a team full of really good ones.

The core of the Penrith dynasty: Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards, Brian To'o, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Liam Martin. They had a lot of other really good players but those are the ones they wanted most badly to keep.

There should be some conversations about Fish's place in the history of the sport if he gets a 5th premiership this year. You'd be silly to write him off. Lazarus
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Glenn Lazarus had a slightly better record:

Glenn Lazarus won 5 premierships across 3 different clubs (Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos, and Melbourne Storm), boasting an elite first-grade career win percentage of just under 70% (approximately 69.5% to 70%) over his 254 club games
 
Yeah if we were doing a post-war Team of the Century up until today, Lazarus is one of the first props picked. Or even if there was a Team of the Century B Team.

I wonder if the interest in Moses Leota has been lukewarm since he was given permission to talk to other teams. A lot of fans are baulking at his price tag. I think theres the extra 100-200k Panthers tax other teams probably don't want to pay, understandably so.
 
Leota is an interesting one because he’s your enforcer & big game player, not the week to week guy. Right in the heart of that dynasty they’d use a bunch of subs on him specifically so he could play three 10-15 minute stints. The luxury of having Yeo and Fish on your team. I don’t think he’s been as effective as the #1 prop on that team, although he’s still been very good.
 
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PTB said:
Y

Glenn Lazarus had a slightly better record:

Glenn Lazarus won 5 premierships across 3 different clubs (Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos, and Melbourne Storm), boasting an elite first-grade career win percentage of just under 70% (approximately 69.5% to 70%) over his 254 club games
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Yep, when you talk about Fish the first player you think to compare him to is arguably the best prop to play the game.

I do think Payne Haas is the guy I’d want for one game to save the world from the space aliens, but he has kind of mailed it in since winning the comp and signing elsewhere. Fish has never ever done that.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Yep, when you talk about Fish the first player you think to compare him to is arguably the best prop to play the game.

I do think Payne Haas is the guy I’d want for one game to save the world from the space aliens, but he has kind of mailed it in since winning the comp and signing elsewhere. Fish has never ever done that.
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Totally agree that Lazarus is the best prop forward to have played the game. Fish is the closest I’ve seen to him for the success he brings to each team he’s part of. It’s their mind set and the confidence they give to each player around them that sets them apart. Haas is the most devastating forward I’ve seen, however you would never see either Lazarus or Fish mailing it in as you say. Their character and pride wouldn’t allow that.
 
As a Kiwi player, Fish would have to be right up there as their number one forward. Could probably add Jesse Bromwich in the conversation as well.
 
Lazarus was probably underated in the all star raiders side of 87-91, but proved how great he was when he went to a Broncos side that had been equally star studded but underperforming until 92 and took them to dual premierships. Lazzo and Fish would be the ideal prop combo for mine.
 
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Owey said:
Lazarus was probably underated in the all star raiders side of 87-91, but proved how great he was when he went to a Broncos side that had been equally star studded but underperforming until 92 and took them to dual premierships. Lazzo and Fish would be the ideal prop combo for mine.
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Same for me.
Just to add a third prop forward whose record is comparable is Shane Webcke.



Shane Webcke - National Rugby League Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame

Shane Webcke won four first-grade premierships (including the 1997 Super League and 1998, 2000, and 2006 NRL/ARL titles) during his 254-game career with the Brisbane Broncos. He finished his career with a strong overall winning percentage of approximately 61.4% (156 wins from 254 games).
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Luai Hater Island real estate prices went gangbusters this year.

He was not one of Penrith's ten best players in even a single one of those premiership teams, and I'm being kind to him to not interrogate whether he was even top 15.
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He's closer to the top 15 than the top 10.

Even when he partnered with Burton in the halves, Burton stood out more.
 
Screenshot 2026-08-17 165832.png

The improvement from wooden spooners to a semifinal berth within the space of 12 months is probably more than most ardent Knights fans would have dreamed of. To add to that I believe we join the Warriors and the Dolphins as the only sides with a realistic chance of upsetting the Roosters or Panthers.

However, as the table shows we are still a position 5 - 10 side. While our attack has completely moved onwards and upwards from last year's debacle, our defense and general footy IQ are still outside top 4 standards. Making smarter decisions when offloading, working with the referee better (allow a faster play the ball on the 4th or 5th), selecting the right kick, keeping line speed intensity for longer periods and generally avoiding those boneheaded plays the Knights are renowned for is the next bastion we need to conquer in order to continue our upward trajectory.

Anyhow that's for next year. I still believe without any more key injuries, we have as good a chance as anyone else to string 4 wins together at the pointy end. Up the mighty Knights!
 
I reckon with every year of improvement in our young forwards the chancy/risky footy will mysteriously become less of a feature of our game. As it stands we chance our arm a bit to avoid getting bogged down our end for long periods. Throw it around and maybe give them a set on our line, maybe get a cheap & easy 40 metre break. Or just try to “tough it out” and end up giving even more good ball footy away to the opposition, but in a way more attritional way which empties the tank for attack and defence.

We were begging the AOB teams to play a bit braver, now they’re doing it and it’s working way more than it’s not. No complaints.

IMO the bigger issue is going for the home run *after* the break too often. In those great Storm teams their decision making about when to go for the try and when to take the tackle & then attack off a quick ruck was second to none. Though maybe they just got good at it because they got so much practice.
 
PTB said:
Same for me.
Just to add a third prop forward whose record is comparable is Shane Webcke.



View attachment 8266
Shane Webcke won four first-grade premierships (including the 1997 Super League and 1998, 2000, and 2006 NRL/ARL titles) during his 254-game career with the Brisbane Broncos. He finished his career with a strong overall winning percentage of approximately 61.4% (156 wins from 254 games).
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Bigpond Webcke!
 
Kind of crazy Wahs are now down to there 4th string half, they are still one of the favourites to win the competition.
Be interesting to see how they go with only CTH has there only recognised halve who is a 5/8.

They have lost Tanah Byod, Temarie Martin, Luke Metcalf, and now CNK for two weeks. There forward pack and outside backs are just so dominant.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
I reckon with every year of improvement in our young forwards the chancy/risky footy will mysteriously become less of a feature of our game. As it stands we chance our arm a bit to avoid getting bogged down our end for long periods. Throw it around and maybe give them a set on our line, maybe get a cheap & easy 40 metre break. Or just try to “tough it out” and end up giving even more good ball footy away to the opposition, but in a way more attritional way which empties the tank for attack and defence.

We were begging the AOB teams to play a bit braver, now they’re doing it and it’s working way more than it’s not. No complaints.

IMO the bigger issue is going for the home run *after* the break too often. In those great Storm teams their decision making about when to go for the try and when to take the tackle & then attack off a quick ruck was second to none. Though maybe they just got good at it because they got so much practice.
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This is pretty much where I’m at too.

In previous years, we’ve actually been pretty good defensively. But we lacked in attack, so we kind of just welcomed attack after attack on us. Even the best defensive teams would come undone if they were defending set after set.

We really needed this year. We’ve proven we can score points. I said it in the match thread, but our support play has been one of the biggest highlights for me. How often did we see Ponga or Young or Sharpe get through the line in previous years only to have nobody to pass to, get tackled and we can’t spread it quick enough. Now whenever there’s a break we have multiple players steaming through o give an option and I think it’s lead to us converting a lot more of these breaks into tries.

But, now we know we can attack, a bit more focus on defence and game management. I won’t complain about errors we make when we are trying to chance our arm and go for a try - because I know the dire, boring footy we have been subjected to recently. But it’s the dropping the ball coming out of our own end after defending 4-5 sets - that’s the set where you need somebody to say - boys, settle it down, safety, get to our kick, line speed and defend the next set really well, and then we can go back to playing footy. We will hopefully get even better with our execution once we get a spine that can string a few games together.

We aren’t far off the top teams imo. I actually don’t think any of them are unbeatable this season. Panthers without Yeo and/or Edwards have been a bit crumbly. We pushed the Roosters, who are firing - both teams missing some key players. It just really leaves the Warriors who I think are the hardest team for us to beat. If we had Brown and Lucas, and Saf returns to his pre injury/origin selection form, we’d be a real shot at it this year.

A bit of consistency over the next few years throughout the season, injury luck and the natural improvement of our younger players should see us hopefully enter a period where Top 8 is the bare minimum.

The group seems motivated and I can see them viewing this season as a bit of a “what if” - and hopefully drive them to a new level for 2027.
 
frankLauda said:
Kind of crazy Wahs are now down to there 4th string half, they are still one of the favourites to win the competition.
Be interesting to see how they go with only CTH has there only recognised halve who is a 5/8.

They have lost Tanah Byod, Temarie Martin, Luke Metcalf, and now CNK for two weeks. There forward pack and outside backs are just so dominant.
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Kudos to Webster too.

I definitely wouldn’t have had a combo of Boyd, Martin, Metcalf and Harris Tavita as the top 4 halves pairing.

Obviously I think Holbrook should be coach of the year but Woolf and Webster should be the only others in the conversation.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
This is pretty much where I’m at too.

In previous years, we’ve actually been pretty good defensively. But we lacked in attack, so we kind of just welcomed attack after attack on us. Even the best defensive teams would come undone if they were defending set after set.

We really needed this year. We’ve proven we can score points. I said it in the match thread, but our support play has been one of the biggest highlights for me. How often did we see Ponga or Young or Sharpe get through the line in previous years only to have nobody to pass to, get tackled and we can’t spread it quick enough. Now whenever there’s a break we have multiple players steaming through o give an option and I think it’s lead to us converting a lot more of these breaks into tries.

But, now we know we can attack, a bit more focus on defence and game management. I won’t complain about errors we make when we are trying to chance our arm and go for a try - because I know the dire, boring footy we have been subjected to recently. But it’s the dropping the ball coming out of our own end after defending 4-5 sets - that’s the set where you need somebody to say - boys, settle it down, safety, get to our kick, line speed and defend the next set really well, and then we can go back to playing footy. We will hopefully get even better with our execution once we get a spine that can string a few games together.

We aren’t far off the top teams imo. I actually don’t think any of them are unbeatable this season. Panthers without Yeo and/or Edwards have been a bit crumbly. We pushed the Roosters, who are firing - both teams missing some key players. It just really leaves the Warriors who I think are the hardest team for us to beat. If we had Brown and Lucas, and Saf returns to his pre injury/origin selection form, we’d be a real shot at it this year.

A bit of consistency over the next few years throughout the season, injury luck and the natural improvement of our younger players should see us hopefully enter a period where Top 8 is the bare minimum.

The group seems motivated and I can see them viewing this season as a bit of a “what if” - and hopefully drive them to a new level for 2027.
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Yeah and to your point, and this was reflected in something Justin said on SEN the other day, when a team transitions to this really attacking style you can’t just flip a switch and have them find the exact right balance between expansiveness, risk, grinding out the right 5-10 minute periods, etc. The team’s understanding of game state used to be dictated by this really rigid game model AOB hated to ever deviate from, an obsession with getting in the back and forth grind and generating unstoppable momentum (with a roster that could not consistently do this).

Now it’s one built on what I believe footy nerds call “disruptions”. Offloads, breaks from our own end, forced errors, etc. AOB’s theory was that if we were on the right end of errors and territory, and we did not give away “disruptions” to the other team (hence the obsession with not contesting kicks - if you hit the man the second he catches the ball and get a dominant tackle, it’s very unlikely that the other team will get very far by tackle 3 unless they really chance their arm), we would win, because in a game with few attacking chances for both teams, Kalyn is really good. I think Justin & his staff have gone the exact other way the more chaos and disruptions to one team building a lot of momentum, the better, because when crazy things happen in the game, it’s hard to see which team beats us for athleticism & speed in our strike players. Chaos benefiting the other team? We scramble. Chaos benefiting us? We take the ball all the way to the house. Dylan Lucas is faster than most fullbacks in the comp and he’s a back rower. Good luck stopping us.

Not hard to see who’s right.
 
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