We’ve spent the last few weeks ticking off our list of 25 rugby league wishes for the 2025 NRL season.
For those just tuning in, here’s what we’ve touched on so far (in no particular order):
- Part 1 (1 – 5) : Breaking the Bennett curse, Munster magic, Redemption for Ilias, Burton to kick on, a Bunnies bounce back.
- Part 2 (6 – 10) : Less Bunker howlers, Parra back on track, Titans to find first-choice spine, Tohu Harris comeback, Willison breakout season.
- Part 3 (11 – 15) : A Panthers decline, Broncos redemption (NRL), Broncos redemption (NRLW), Brailey & AFB, Robinson rebound
- Part 4 (16 – 20) : Fast start for NRLW Bulldogs, Koloamatangi Szn, signs of life for NRLW Tigers, a ‘fair’ injury toll, 20 games for Turbo
Let’s wrap things up with Part 5 of our 25 Wishes for NRL 2025.
21. Trell Fit
Anyone with a phone over the past few weeks will have seen a photo or clickbait article highlighting Latrell Mitchell’s current physical condition.
The Bunnies star fullback looks fit and happy with Uncle Wayne back in Redfern and a completely new-look Rabbitohs squad assembling around him.
South Sydney’s preseason will be more competitive than most given how few playing positions are locked in for next year and despite being burned before, I’m prepared to be all in on Trell Mit one more time in NRL ‘25.
While speculation continues around his best playing position, Mitchell’s all but guaranteed to be playing fullback for the Rabbitohs next year.
He’s the best ballplaying #1 in the NRL but we haven’t seen his consistent running best for a few years now…
I’m ready to have my heart broken one more time.
22. Tigers spine cohesion
The Hype Train has left the station early for the 2025 NRL Wests Tigers.
A host of exciting new signings is being billed as the circuit breaker in Balmain but the reality is this Tigers side will be starting from a lower base than any other side in the competition.
Round 1, 2025 will be the first time Jaream Bula, Lachlan Galvin, Jarome Luai & Api Koroisau share a rugby league field together.
It will also be the first time Royce Hunt and Terrell May roll out as first-choice props and alpha’s of an NRL pack, or the first time we see a guy like Sunia Turuva playing outside Penrith’s elite systems.
There’s a lot of new territory for Benji Marshall and the Tigers to cover next year and we need to give them time to find their own way.
Results are one thing but how this new-look spine develops and combines is far more important than jagging a few early wins.
23. Knights to find a spine
Keeping with the playmaking rhetoric, the Newcastle Knights are a wonderful case study in what not to do once you get your marquee man.
Kalyn Ponga arrived in the Hunter for the 2018 NRL season and has spent seven years in the top grade for a 45% win rate.
For a player of KP’s calibre, that is criminal.
There are a myriad of factors – including KP himself – contributing to that number but let’s start with the spine.
We’re fresh off the back of another season where the Knights trialled any number of players in the halfback, five-eighth and dummy-half position while leaving Ponga to carry the team from fullback.
Injuries have sometimes forced his hand, but the pressure surely is now on Adam O’Brien to find (and stick with) a first-choice spine that complements one of the best attacking players in rugby league.
If not, I’m hoping KP finds himself in a different shade of red and blue (and white) sooner rather than later, so we can enjoy a few elite years before he’s done.
24. A new-look Gutherino
One of the best try celebrations in the NRL will hopefully get a run in its new colours sooner rather than later, with Clint Gutherson expected to wear the #1 jumper for St George-Illawarra in 2025.
The ‘Gutherino’ is a personal favourite of mine and I’m backing the veteran fullback to perfectly complement the new game style Shane Flanagan is introducing at the Dragons.
Playing outside Kyle Flanagan and Lachlan Ilias – two conventional, system halves – the onus will be on Gutherson to provide a point of difference in the second layer of a shift.
It’s easy to picture Flanagan and Ilias interchanging on either side of the ruck, engaging the defence at first receiver before playing to Gutho on the tram lines.
Parramatta made an educated decision to let ‘The King’ go early but one man’s trash is another’s treasure and I’m tipping Gutherson to be a Buy of the Season candidate for St George next year.
25. NRLW Dragons bounce back
I mentioned the NRLW Wests Tigers in Part 4 of our Christmas Wishlist so it’s only right I wrap things up with St George-Illawarra’s women’s program.
The NRLW Dragons are the sleeping giant of the women’s game.
Underwhelming across the last few seasons, there are a host of players coming through the Illawarra juniors system that will be household names by the time their NRLW careers come to an end.
We saw some of that talent trickle into first-grade last year but 2025 feels like the year it can all start to come together.
Raecene McGregor is still the best ballplayer in the women’s game while 22-year old fullback Teagan Berry will one day retire as the most prolific try scorer in the NRLW.
https://twitter.com/NRLWomens/status/1810873911078191138
The stage is set for new Head Coach Nathan Cross (and Samantha Bremner in a football manager role) to usher in the next-generation at the Dragons and 2025 may be the year they leave the blocks.
What’s on your NRL wish list for season 2025? Let us know in the comments
Written by Oscar Pannifex | RLWAPPAREL.COM