Back in February, before a ball had been kicked in the 2026 NRL season, we made a bold call.
Our predicted Grand Final?
Brisbane Broncos v Sydney Roosters.
Fast forward seven months and, well… we got one half of it right!
The Sydney Roosters are through to the 2026 NRL Grand Final after defeating the Dolphins 36-20 in Friday night's preliminary final. Then, in one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 season, the Newcastle Knights stunned the minor premiers Penrith Panthers 22-14 on Sunday afternoon to book their place in the decider.
So, with the Grand Final now locked in as Sydney Roosters v Newcastle Knights, it's time for a little preseason prediction audit.
And let's just say… there were some hits, some misses and one or two predictions we'd probably like to quietly hide in the bottom drawer.
We tipped the Roosters… and they delivered
Let's start with the good news.
Our preseason prediction had the Sydney Roosters finishing second and reaching the Grand Final.
They didn't quite finish where we expected, ending the regular season in fourth, but they have certainly delivered when it matters.
The Roosters lost their opening finals clash against the Panthers 19-12 before responding in emphatic fashion. They smashed the Cronulla Sharks 46-10 in their semi-final and then produced another impressive performance to defeat the Dolphins 36-20 and book their place in the Grand Final.
So while our prediction of a second-place finish wasn't perfect, the bigger call that the Chooks would be a genuine premiership contender has aged pretty well.
One Grand Finalist: tick.
And then there's Brisbane…
This is where things get interesting.
Our original prediction didn't just have Brisbane making the Grand Final.
We had them finishing first.
We described the Broncos as the "most complete team" in the competition and predicted they would be playing the Roosters for the premiership.
Instead, Brisbane finished 14th.
Yep. Fourteenth.
That makes the Broncos our biggest preseason miss by some distance, finishing 13 places lower than our prediction.
Meanwhile, the team we tipped to finish 14th the Dolphins finished third and came within one game of the Grand Final.
We'll happily take the Roosters prediction. The Broncos and Dolphins predictions? Let's never speak of them again.
The ladder was full of surprises
Our preseason top eight featured Brisbane, the Roosters, Panthers, Bulldogs, Storm, Eels, Rabbitohs and Raiders.
The actual top eight was:
Panthers, Warriors, Dolphins, Roosters, Sharks, Rabbitohs, Knights and Cowboys.
We correctly picked just three of those eight teams: Penrith, Sydney and South Sydney.
But perhaps the craziest statistic from the 2026 season is what happened to last year's top four.
Every single team that finished in the top four in 2025 missed the finals in 2026.
The Canberra Raiders, Melbourne Storm, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Brisbane Broncos all finished in the top four last season, only to fall outside the eight this year.
That's an extraordinary turnaround - and a pretty good reminder of just how quickly the NRL ladder can change.
There were plenty of other surprises too.
We had the Warriors ninth. They finished second.
We had the Dolphins 14th. They finished third.
We had Cronulla 12th. They finished fifth.
We had North Queensland 15th. They finished eighth.
And then there's Newcastle.
We tipped the Knights to finish 10th, describing 2026 as another transition year for the club.
Instead, they finished seventh, knocked out South Sydney and the Warriors on their way to the preliminary final, and then produced an incredible 22-14 comeback victory over Penrith - despite playing the second half with 12 men to reach their first Grand Final since 2001.
That's one prediction we definitely didn't see coming.
Roosters v Knights: The Grand Final nobody predicted
And so, after all of that, we have arrived at a Grand Final that looks nothing like our preseason prediction.
Sydney Roosters v Newcastle Knights.
The Roosters were there in our original tip.
The Knights weren't even in our top eight.
The Broncos were supposed to be on the other side.
And the Panthers, who we had tipped to finish third and reach the Grand Final, have just been knocked out by the Knights in one of the most dramatic games of the season.
That's the beauty of the NRL.
Preseason predictions are fun, but once the footy starts, anything can happen.
The Knights' run is particularly remarkable. After finishing with the wooden spoon in 2025, they have now gone all the way to the 2026 Grand Final becoming only the second team in 90 years to reach the decider after finishing last the previous season.
Now, 25 years after their last Grand Final appearance, Newcastle are back on the biggest stage.
Get behind your team with the NRL Knock-Out Sale
While we're looking back at our preseason predictions, there's one thing we definitely got right at Jerseys Megastore: there's no better time to grab your team's gear than during our NRL Knock-Out Sale.
As teams have been eliminated from the 2026 premiership race, we've knocked 20% off their NRL stock.
That means if your team has already been knocked out, there's never been a better time to grab a jersey, training tee or other official NRL gear before the season comes to an end.
And if you're backing the Roosters or Knights, the Grand Final is almost here — so now is the time to get your colours sorted.
Who will be premiers?
There's one more reason to keep an eye on Jerseys Megastore after the final siren.
The 2026 Premiers Range will be available for pre-order immediately following the Grand Final, featuring the official premiership merchandise for whichever team lifts the trophy.
Whether it's the Roosters or Knights who walk away victorious, you'll be able to get your hands on the 2026 NRL Premiers Range as soon as the champions are crowned.
The 2026 NRL season has delivered plenty of surprises. Our preseason predictions delivered a few surprises of their own.
But hey, we did say the Roosters would be there on Grand Final night.
We'll take that one.
Shop the NRL Knock-Out Sale at Jerseys Megastore and get ready for the 2026 NRL Grand Final!
