2025 NRL Club Previews (Part 3) 

2025 NRL Club Previews (Part 3) 

With rugby league just weeks away from returning to our screens, we’re previewing each club with one key question for the 2025 NRL season (read Part 1 & Part 2 here).  

10. The Dolphins

Can Redcliffe continue trending upwards? 

Much of the rhetoric around The Dolphins to kick off the year will be focused around Kristian Woolf succeeding Wayne Bennett in the Head Coaching role.

It’s well trodden ground at this point; we know Bennett is a tough act to follow and only time will tell how Woolf handles the transition.  

How Woolf’s players handle the transition is more relevant right now.  

For two years running the Dolphins have dropped out of finals contention late in the season.

A skinny roster and a horror injury run compounded all the issues a new NRL club would expect to face – we can’t accurately profile this footy side while Tom Gilbert, Thomas Flegler and Jeremy Marshall-King sit on the sidelines – but Redcliffe have impressed to quickly forge a reputation as a hard-working, resilient outfit. 

If they can maintain that baseline, the framework is there for Isaiya Katoa and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to build one of the more productive offensive partnerships in the NRL.   

Given the attacking ceiling of this pair, Dolphins fans can’t be blamed for expecting highlight reel moments every other week.

The beauty of Katoa in particular though is in his simplicity and repeatability; he will consistently create scoring opportunities for The Hammer providing the Dolphins can get all the little things right in the lead up. 

Historically, Bennett-coached teams are excellent at doing all those little things each week. The challenge for Woolf is to maintain that identity, moving forward. 

11. St George-Illawarra Dragons 

Where do Flanagan’s Dragons really sit in the premiership race? 

The Dragons are one of the more difficult teams to place heading into the 2025 NRL regular season. 

A wooden spoon favourite for most last year, I loved the acquisition of Shane Flanagan and thought he’d at the very least get enough improvement out of St George’s existing roster to avoid the dreaded cutlery.

As we now know, the Dragons fell just short of playing finals in Flanagan’s first season in charge, and the polarising coach hasn’t been shy in declaring this 2025 roster is even better.  

By that logic, the Dragons either overachieved last year (perhaps a little, although I’m not so sure) or the Dragons are primed to go one better and play finals football in NRL season 2025 (again, unsure). 

To me, St George’s win/loss/win/loss record last year was evidence of a team learning heaps every week but perhaps struggling to apply all those learnings at once.

A void in the Dragons leadership department clearly compounded those issues on the field last year too.  

It’s no coincidence Flanagan has signed two of the most reliable and experienced players in the competition in key positions this season.

Clint Gutherson and Damien Cook are wonderful acquisitions for a Dragons side looking to re-establish themselves in the competition and at the very least this is profiling as a St George-Illawarra outfit that won’t beat themselves and won’t make it easy for their opposition.  

There are concerns around St George’s attacking ceiling with a halves combination of Lachlan Ilias and Kyle Flanagan – two fairly conventional playmakers – but I like the direction Shane Flanagan and the Dragons are headed.

They look a better team this time around but that doesn’t always necessarily translate into an improved ladder position… 

12. Brisbane Broncos

How quickly does ‘Madge’ improve this Broncos side?  

If there’s one club every NRL fan is looking over their shoulder for in season 2025, surely it’s the Brisbane Broncos.   

Michael Maguire arrives following a disaster season in Red Hill and most are expecting immediate improvements from the 2023 Grand Finalists.

Dubbed ‘lazy’ and ‘precious’ by even the local media, the common assumption is that a club with as much talent as the Broncos simply needs to work harder to get instant results.  

While I’m nervous about what ‘Madge’ might achieve with this Brisbane squad, the reality is it may take time.  

When we think of the Broncos, we first think of Reece Walsh, Selwyn Cobbo and Kotoni Staggs carving up edge defences and scoring highlight reel tries in the corner.

Their attacking ceiling as a club is higher than most and those moments will certainly come… but not before Brisbane fix up their defence.  

It’s players like Pat Carrigan, Payne Haas and Kobe Hetherington who I’m tipping to thrive under ‘Madge’ this season and have the most impact on the Broncos 2025 campaign.

A guy like Xavier Willison in an impact role is another who can have a breakout year if he can get his body right.  

All the ingredients are there for Maguire to cook up a premiership winning recipe but he’s in a new kitchen and we need to give him time to find the right mix. 

13. New Zealand Warriors

How do the Wahs handle the transition into a new era? 

Shaun Johnson, Tohu Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake. 

There isn’t another club in the competition who will oversee such a drastic changing of the guard this year as the New Zealand Warriors will in NRL season 2025.  

The Warriors fourth place finish of 2023 feels a long time ago after a ‘24 campaign riddled with injuries to key players and dud refereeing calls.

Having now farewelled three of the most influential figures on their roster, Head Coach Andrew Webster faces the tall task of guiding the Wahs into the post-SJ, Harris & AFB era.  

Luke Metcalf will shoulder the bulk of the playmaking duties while Taine Tuaupiki’s rapid development is another vote of confidence for the Warriors next-gen spine.

How New Zealand fill the void through the middle of the field is the biggest question for season 2025; Mitch Barnett’s breakout ‘24 campaign is a timely one but he and James Fisher-Harris can’t do it all on their own.  

It’s difficult to get a read on this current Warriors roster given the recent disruption, but the individual development of players under Webster is encouraging for Wahs fans.

Rocco Berry and Jackson Ford have progressed out of sight while the likes of Ali Leiataua, Leka Halasima, Demitric Vaimauga and Zyon Maiu’u aren’t far away from announcing themselves on the NRL stage.  

It’s a difficult period for the Wahs to navigate but they’ve got the right man in Webster to usher in a new era for the proud New Zealand based club. 

 

What is the burning question for your club in NRL season 2025? Let us know in the comments.

Written by Oscar Pannifex | RLWAPPAREL.COM