The Storm and Raiders were clinging to very slim mathematical chances of playing in the finals, but both were wiped out over the weekend, while the Bulldogs and Sea Eagles kept their hopes alive. The Tigers woke from their slumber to upset the Roosters in the biggest boilover of the season.
Here's whose stocks are up and down after Round 25.
Our footy experts cast their eye over the week's action to find out whose stocks are up -- whether it's a coaching masterstroke or a player having a blinder -- and whose are down.
Brisbane Broncos
Stocks up: Not the season they wanted, but that's the wooden spoon officially avoided. Payne Haas gave Broncos fans one last great moment, Hayze Perham played the game of his life and Billy Walters celebrated his contract extension with a try. There hasn't been much to smile about in 2026, but this was a fun night for Brisbane fans.
Stocks down: It's pretty puzzling that a team missing so many starters put together their best performance in months, but then again it was a pretty puzzling weekend in terms of results all around the place. Brisbane are at a crossroads in terms of their playing roster for next year with several positions up in the air, and it seems like a lot of those questions are going to go unanswered at least until next preseason.
-- Matt Bungard
Canberra Raiders
Stocks up: They lost a game they had no business throwing away, the season is officially over and their fans all feel terrible, so let's just pay tribute to Josh Papali'i, an absolute champion of the sport who played his last game at home on Friday night. It's a shame they weren't able to send him out a winner, but at least they'll have one more (away) game to do so in a fortnight.
Stocks down: They virtually had to do no defending in the entire game, had a mountain of field position and territory, had everything to play for -- and lost. Every time Brisbane got anywhere near the Raiders' try line, they scored. The biggest difference between 2025 and 2026 for the Green Machine hasn't been their attack (although that has regressed a bit) but the complete lack of defensive steel.
-- Matt Bungard
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
Stocks up: This was exactly the response Canterbury needed with their season hanging in the balance. They were ruthless in the first half, Matt Burton crossed twice, Jacob Preston produced another huge performance and they took a 24-0 lead into the sheds before eventually piling on seven tries. Stephen Crichton was flawless from the tee, and the 44-14 win keeps their finals push alive after back-to-back losses had left them under serious pressure.
Stocks down: There were still a few messy moments -- two sin bins and three tries conceded after halftime -= but this probably isn't the week to nitpick. The bigger challenge is backing this up when Penrith are waiting next round.
-- Isaac Issa
Cronulla Sharks
Stocks up: This showed some real maturity from Cronulla. Without Braydon Trindall, they went into halftime trailing 16-8 and could easily have become frustrated, but instead they came out and completely took control of the game. Cameron McInnes and returning Addin Fonua-Blake punched through before Sione Katoa and Ronaldo Mulitalo completed doubles, turning an eight-point deficit into a comfortable lead in the space of about 20 minutes. That's the sort of response you want to see from a side heading towards finals.
Stocks down: The first half will still bother them. Gold Coast found points far too easily and Cronulla needed a significant halftime reset to regain control. Against the top sides, they may not get the same opportunity to recover from that sort of start.
-- Isaac Issa
Dolphins
Stocks up: The Dolphins had to work for this one, which probably makes it more valuable. Parramatta jumped them early and led 10-0, but once the Dolphins settled, their strike power took over. Herbie Farnworth was almost impossible to contain, Jamayne Isaako finished opportunities on the edge and young Brian Pouniu looked completely at home in just his second NRL game. Five straight wins now has the Dolphins firmly entrenched in the top-four race, and the scary part is how many different ways they can hurt you.
Stocks down: They were sloppy enough early to give Parramatta genuine hope, and Farnworth himself had a few loose moments despite being brilliant overall. Against the very best sides, giving away a two-try head start isn't a habit they'll want to carry into September.
-- Isaac Issa
Gold Coast Titans
Stocks up: For 40 minutes, this looked like it might be one of Gold Coast's better wins of the year. Jojo Fifita, AJ Brimson and Phillip Sami all crossed as the Titans took a 16-8 lead into halftime, and there was real confidence in the way they attacked Cronulla's edges.
Stocks down: Then the Sharks completely flipped it. Gold Coast conceded four tries in less than 20 minutes after the break and suddenly a game they had under control was gone. Bodhi Sharpley's late try gave the scoreboard some respectability, but the 30-22 loss was another example of the Titans putting together genuinely good patches without sustaining them for 80 minutes.
-- Isaac Issa
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Stocks up: The Sea Eagles welcomed back Tom Trbojevic needing a win, as they desperately held onto a slim chance of sneaking into the finals. They started well with a try after two minutes to Clayton Faulalo, but weren't able to contain the slick Knight's backs after that, conceding the next three tries. Enter Josh Feledy, the young back-rower with a killer mullet. He scored the next three tries to turn the match completely on its head, from there it was all Sea Eagles.
Stocks down: The frustrating part of this victory for the Sea Eagles is that they are obviously more than capable of matching it with the Top 8 teams, but will more than likely still miss out on the finals.
-- Darren Arthur
Melbourne Storm
Stocks up: As the rain tumbled down in the first half, and the Panthers opened up a 22-0 lead, a piece of individual Harry Grant brilliance looked to have opened the home team's account. But the bunker found the smallest of knock-ons to deny them. After the break with all the ball and against 11 men at one point, they charged to 14 points, but just couldn't run down the visitors.
Stocks down: With their precarious mathematical hopes of scraping into the finals on the line, the Storm had no answers in the first half to the swarming Panthers. Not only did they struggle to stop the attacking raids, they could not find their way through the pink defensive wall, at least until that wall had some bricks removed.
-- Darren Arthur
Newcastle Knights
Stocks up: On Old Boys day, in beautiful weather, in front of a packed Newcastle crowd, the Knights started well, with their backs carving up the Sea Eagles defence. Conceding the first try after two minutes, they scored the next three and looked to be heading towards a comfortable victory.
Stocks down: Then they clearly nodded off before halftime, allowing the Sea Eagles to storm back into the game and take a 24-18 halftime lead. After the break it was more of the same with the visitors out-enthusing the Knights. Their defence was backpedalling deep in their own half and the Sea Eagles took full advantage scoring try after try after try to embarrass the finals bound Knights.
-- Darren Arthur
New Zealand Warriors
Stocks up: Into the box seat for the minor premiership after that upset Roosters loss, and a very well-drilled performance, as we've come to expect. They barely made an error, took every chance that came to them and especially late on when the game was in the balance were able to motor up the field in yardage and put up attacking kicks, which troubled the Rabbitohs all afternoon.
Stocks down: They'll get Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad back next week and not a moment too soon. The defending on their right edge was already quite bad (Souths made nine line breaks in the match and most of those were their deadly left) and will only get worse with that injury to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. Have they finally reached the limitations of their depth? It's just so many injuries at this point.
-- Matt Bungard
North Queensland Cowboys
BYE
Parramatta Eels
Stocks up: Parramatta's opening 20 minutes were excellent. Ronald Volkman darted over early, Brian Kelly finished a slick piece of work from Will Penisini, and the Eels genuinely had the Dolphins rattled at 10-0. Even after the game turned, they kept creating chances and Mitch Moses was still probing right until the finish.
Stocks down: The frustrating part is how many of those chances disappeared. Loose final passes and poor execution repeatedly killed promising sets, and once the Dolphins started winning the momentum battle, Parramatta couldn't slow them down. Herbie Farnworth's 85-metre try after another Eels error was a pretty brutal summary of the night -- competitive for long periods, but too many mistakes against a side that punishes them.
-- Isaac Issa
Penrith Panthers
Stocks up: It was all Penrith early as they looked to overcome a poor record against Melbourne and in Melbourne. They crossed first through Brian To'o after a clever kick and passing movement two minutes into the game. Liam Henry was the next to score, crashing over 17 minutes later, before To'o brought up his hat trick to see them lead 22-0 at halftime. Despite a run of players in the sin bin, and endless penalties to the Storm, they were able to hold on for the crucial victory.
Stocks down: With the minor premiership still within reach, the Panthers were out to improve on three wins from their past eight games. In the 45th minute, with the game in the bag at 22-0, the Panthers were reduced to 11 players after multiple ruck infringements saw Lindsay Smith join Liam Martin who was binned late in the first half for taking out fullback Sualauvi Faalogo in a kick chase situation. Fifteen minutes later, having just regained a full side, Jack Cogger was binned for a high shot. With a run of eight straight penalties against the Panthers, Melbourne stormed back into the game. Cogger was subsequently handed a three-match ban for the hit.
-- Darren Arthur
St George Illawarra Dragons
Stocks up: At least there was some fight after halftime. Valentine Holmes got them moving shortly after the break and Mat Feagai's second-half double gave the Dragons something to show for an otherwise difficult night.
Stocks down: Unfortunately, the game was essentially gone by then. After coming in on the back of consecutive wins, St George Illawarra were blown off the park early and went to halftime down 24-0, with Canterbury finding space far too easily. Three second-half tries softened the scoreboard, but a 44-14 loss was a sharp reality check after the momentum they'd finally started to build.
-- Isaac Issa
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Stocks up: Cody Walker is going to finish the season as the NRL try assists leader, which is incredible when you consider that there were parts of the season where people (not smart ones) were questioning if the veteran five-eighth should play on next year at age 37. Alex Johnston was superb, and despite the result they had nine line breaks against a very good team and could well have won this game if not for some bad mistakes.
Stocks down: And speaking of those mistakes - 18 points off bombs, another six off not packing a scrum quickly enough, and 12 off middle forwards running right through the middle of the defence. Souths did enough to win this game but continually gifted the Warriors get-out-of-jail-free cards. With Latrell Mitchell likely to return next week, it's now a must-win against the Titans.
-- Matt Bungard
Sydney Roosters
Stocks up: How do we stop Mark Nawaqanitawase from leaving? Even in a loss the winger was superb, producing a couple of highlight reel plays and almost scoring one of the most impressive solo finishes of all time. Billy Smith on the other flank is in career-best form after staying fit for most of the season, and finally looking like he's going to be a huge contributor for this team in massive games.
Stocks down: The Roosters, more so than any of the other heavyweights, have a tremendous ability to play down to opponents a couple of times a year in truly bizarre fashion - it's been a hallmark of the entire Trent Robinson era, but even the most-pessimistic of Tricolours fans couldn't have thought that they could drop the ball against a Tigers team which last won a game on the same day the Socceroos beat Turkey. A big wake-up call, and the minor premiership is now probably lost.
-- Matt Bungard
Wests Tigers
Stocks Up: Where on earth did that come from? Some brave defending early on and then some swashbuckling footy to take a deserved lead - then the feeling that it was all going to slip away, then Jock Madden becoming a hero. Footy, how good?! It was only last year that the Roosters were $10 outsiders in a game and won, now they're on the other end of it.
Stocks down: It still very nearly slipped away! The game looked absolutely beyond doubt, but once again they faded down the stretch. Benji Marshall's bench use bewilders me, especially after losing Alex Twal in the opening exchanges. Once again they only used three players and you could see how tired they were - but a huge shout out to Terrell May for that intercept when it felt inevitable that the Roosters were going to cruise into field goal range and then win.
-- Matt Bungard