The festive season is over and with the greatest game of all just four weeks away, a sobering reality is dawning on beloved partners across the country.
The 2025 NRL Preseason Challenge kicks off on the first weekend of February with NRL Round 1 following one month later on Sunday, 2nd March.
There’ll be plenty of content to analyse in the weeks leading into the regular season so this month is a perfect chance to look ahead at some 2025 NRL club previews.
Deciding factors, player movements, coaching changes & game styles; let’s pose a key question for each club heading into NRL season 2025.
1: Penrith Panthers
Can Penrith stay ahead of the curve?
It’s the question rugby league fans have been waiting on for four years in a row now, and the short answer for NRL season 2025 is ‘yes’.
In the modern age of rehabilitation and roster management, no club has performed better than the four-time champs. CEO Matt Cameron is clearly a shrewd operator (if you haven’t heard his interview on The Bye Round, do yourself a favour) who – alongside Ivan Cleary – has cultivated a winning environment at the Penrith based club.
Anybody reading this over the break is in for a treat.
Great insight into Ivan Cleary’s process as a coach and the foundations of the Penrith Panthers three-peat.
Highly recommend. pic.twitter.com/szhTt2xIIL
— Jason (@JasonNRL) December 26, 2024
They know what works for them and have consistently found new ways to stay ahead of the pack.
With every rule change – the six again era, the short drop out, even downtown offside calls – the Panthers are always the quickest to react to what is happening in front of them; their ability to shut-down Melbourne’s tap-back tactic on attacking kicks in the 2024 Grand Final is the latest example.
What changes come with Blaize Talagi in the No.6 jumper will be an interesting watch (look to see how Talagi’s on-field role develops as the season progresses) while Isaiah Papali’i is already a Buy of the Season candidate on an edge or in the middle.
At time of writing, the Penrith Panthers are still the team to beat.
2: Melbourne Storm
Who can put the Storm over the top?
Everybody is talking about Stefano Utoikamanu given he is the highest profile player the Melbourne Storm have acquired in recent memory.
He’s sure to be a key feature of their pack in NRL 2025, but I’m looking at a different area on the park for the Storm this season.
Cameron Munster is in the twilight of his career but you’d be a brave man to bet against him given the left edge he’ll play with in ‘25.
Jack Howarth is coming off a breakout year, Shawn Blore gets another Storm preseason under his belt and Xavier Coates (hopefully) returns to full fitness after an injury disrupted 2024 campaign.
Munster has always been most dangerous with genuine hole-runners around him and both Blore and Howarth profile nicely close to the line in those actions while Coates is an appealing aerial target out wide.
@playonsportshow The @Penrith Panthers have been running slight variations of the same play for 3 WHOLE WEEKS and no one can stop it… 😳❄️ #fyp #playonsportshow #shaunjohnson #nrl #nathancleary #penrithpanthers #rugbyleague
We saw this double lead shape become a mainstay of an NRL attack throughout the 2024 season (Shaun Johnson gave us this beauty while reviewing the Grand Final on his podcast) and it’s an action that Munster, Blore and Howarth can have some joy with next season.
Jahrome Hughes ran the show out of necessity last year but I’m looking at Munster to help the Storm go one better in NRL 2025.
3: Sydney Roosters
Will we see a change in ‘the Roosters way’?
NRL 2025 shapes as a very interesting season for Trent Robinson.
Incoming dummy-half Reece Robson won’t arrive until 2026 but is he evidence of a new era being ushered into Bondi?
The Robinson-coached Roosters have always chanced their arm in attack and backed themselves to defend errors they make along the way – they won back-to-back premierships with one of the worst completion rates in the NRL – but is that all about to change?
The numbers don’t lie; Easts high-risk, high-reward style hasn’t stood up against the high-percentage game styles of a Penrith or Melbourne in recent years.
There is more to those stats than just an unfavourable stylistic matchup but I think it may be enough to see Robinson tinker with ‘the Roosters way’ this year.
Injuries will presumably see Easts kickoff the 2025 regular season with a spine of James Tedesco, Chad Townsend, Sandon Smith and Connor Watson.
Their attacking ceiling isn’t as high without Luke Keary, Sam Walker or Brandon Smith in the side, but in Townsend and (Sandon) Smith, Easts can play out a more conservative style of football.
They can certainly do worse than play for field position and kick to Daniel Tupou or Mark Nawaqanitawase on the edges – an action guaranteed to show up on the Roosters highlight reels in 2025.
Many have tipped Easts to drop down the NRL premiership ladder this season but I won’t be surprised if they’re still in the mixer come September.
4: Cronulla Sharks
How does AFB change this football team?
A mainstay of finals football for three years running, the Cronulla Sharks have arguably been the best of the rest in recent seasons.
There has been criticism of Nicho Hynes in a primary playmaker role but we saw some evolution in that department last year as Braydon Trindall and Blayke Brailey took on an elevated role in the Sharks attack.
Despite what pro-Hynes SuperCoaches might’ve told you, Cronulla looked far better for it.
Now with Addin Fonua-Blake lurking around the ruck, I’m excited to see how he releases the rest of this Sharks attack around him.
Brailey isn’t a stats sheet hooker and has been criticized by talking heads on social media for not impacting games.
In reality, he’s played his role as distributor in an attack that was usually Hynes or nothing.
That will change in 2025 with AFB pushing off his hip in good-ball or generating second-phase play in yardage; expect to see Brailey mentioned as an Origin smokey by April or May this year.
On the edges, the extra half a yard that AFB can buy Trindall or Hynes will make a huge difference (shoutout to SJ and the Wahs right edge in 2023; look who plays the ball in the clip below…)
DWZ with the FINISH! 🤯#NRLTigersWarriors pic.twitter.com/qCZGEhj3np
— NRL (@NRL) August 12, 2023
Hynes in particular is one of the best in the game at identifying cues in the defence and constructing an action to expose it.
Now he’s got the most destructive forward in the game to generate those cues.
There will be plenty of lazy commentary around Fonua-Blake being the ‘alpha’ Cronulla were lacking in the pack when he first pulls on those Sharks colours.
That aside, it’s the impact AFB can have on the players around him – particularly in the spine and on the edges – that can see the Sharks go a few better in NRL 2025.
What is the burning question for your club in NRL season 2025? Let us know in the comments.
Written by Oscar Pannifex | RLWAPPAREL.COM