The team that finishes top of the 2026 NRL Ladder will take out the Minor Premiership title!
The 2026 NRL Ladder displays the seventeen professional Rugby League teams in the annual Telstra Premiership in ranking order from 1 – 17 (as of 2023 with the addition of the Redcliffe Dolphins) based on competition points. NRL teams receive two competition points per win and also two points in the week they don’t play because of a scheduled bye.
When clubs have equal competition points their ladder position is decided by match points differential (for and against) and points percentage. The ladder, sometimes referred to as the table, decides the Top 8 and Top 4 teams that move onto the NRL finals after the regular season. The NRL Regular Season was cut from 26 weeks to 25 weeks for the first time in 2018. In 2020 there were just 20 rounds due to COVID-19 before a 25-round regular season played out in 2021 and 2022.
In 2023 the competition was expanded to a 27-round regular season accommodating for the addition of the new team in the tournament, the Redcliffe Dolphins.
Rugby League betting is open on where clubs will finish on the NRL ladder including markets on teams to ‘Make the Top 4’ or ‘Miss the Top 8’. The team that finishes first on the ladder win the Minor Premiership, odds for which are also offered at the start of the season.
The Sydney Roosters finished top of the NRL Ladder three years in a row from 2013 – 15, achieving the record for most number of NRL minor premierships (4).
Where teams sit on the NRL ladder also affects the round-by-round Rugby League betting odds on the competition as well as futures betting on the NRL Grand Final. Overall NRL Premiership markets are dominated throughout the season by teams higher up the ladder rankings.
2026 NRL LADDER
The Canberra Raiders secured the 2025 Minor Premiership.
It was their second Minor Premiership success and the first time they finished top of the table to take out the J. J. Giltinan Shield for finishing number one of the 17 NRL clubs ahead of the finals since 1990.
In the past 15 NRL seasons, the Minor Premiers have finished more than a single win clear of the rest of the clubs on only six occasions – including the Raiders in 2025 who finished with 19 wins to sit ahead of the Melbourne Storm (17 wins).
The Raiders were knocked out in the second week of the 2025 NRL Finals when going down 32-12 to the Sharks.
The Wooden Spoon for 2025 went to the Newcastle Knights who won just six games across the 27 round home and away season. The Gold Coast Titans also won only six times but finished ahead of the Knights on points differential.
What teams will finish on top this NRL Season? Stay up to date below!