Locker Room: NRL 2025 top eight predictions | Rabbitohs and Broncos to bounce back, Bulldogs and Dragons to improve

As the season ends for half the competition, the countdown begins for the also-rans with finals hopes in 2025. DAVID RICCIO looks into the crystal ball and predicts who will bounce back and who will flounder next season.

Wayne Bennett’s magic dust will catapult the Rabbitohs back into the finals in 2025.

The Panthers and Storm will continue to dominate the competition.

Canterbury will only get better and finish inside the top four, their highest position in 12 years.

The Broncos will scrape into eighth position only if – and it’s a big if – captain Adam Reynolds plays more than 15 games.

The arrival of Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake will give the Sharks the power and point of difference to their forward pack which they’ve been missing since Andrew Fifita retired.

The Roosters will slip down the ladder – and possibly out of the eight – with so much experience and class, including Luke Keary, Joey Manu and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, leaving this year’s roster.

Long-term injuries to Sam Walker and Brandon Smith are a major blow to the Roosters’ 2025 campaign. Pictures: NRL Photos

With a nine to 12 month recovery from torn ACLs, the Roosters will also have Sam Walker and Brandon Smith for only the latter stages of the season.

St George-Illawarra, having had 12 months to understand Shane Flanagan’s standards and demands, coupled with the addition of Valentine Holmes and Damien Cook, will win the one extra game that they needed this year to make the finals for the first time since 2018.

The Cowboys will drop out of the eight as the spotlight on Jason Taumalolo’s 10-year contract and his declining minutes intensify, in addition to the departures of Holmes and Kyle Feldt (St Helens), who ahead of the final round had combined to scored almost half (33) of North Queensland’s 72-tries.

The Sea Eagles, Knights and Dolphins will all miss the finals.

The season might be over for half the competition, but the countdown has already begun for the also-rans, led by the Broncos who starting Monday, will commence an all-encompassing review into their broken season.

Training standards, injuries to key players, style of coaching and recruitment decisions will all be part of the exhaustive audit.

However, the most significant factor towards the Broncos resurfacing for the finals next season is as much about coach Kevin Walters, as it is the fitness of Reynolds.

Keeping Adam Reynolds fit is crucial for the Broncos in 2025. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Turning 35 next season in what is the last year of his current contract at the Broncos, Reynolds needs an injury-free season with the ability to play more than the 13 games he managed this year for Brisbane to have any chance of bouncing back.

It’s a legacy season for Reynolds, that’s how important it is.

At Souths, Bennett’s reign can’t begin quick enough.

The sooner the supercoach gets his hands on a wayward Latrell Mitchell, the better the Rabbitohs will be.

In a make or break season for Mitchell, there is no more experienced man manager in the game that can get the best out of the Rabbitohs fullback.

We will know in that first 80 minutes of round two – yes, he’s suspended by the NRL in round one – just how serious Mitchell is.

With the hope of a focused Mitchell, the Rabbitohs can return to the finals in the optimism that their biggest guns will spend more time on the field than on the sidelines.

In 2024, Campbell Graham (zero games), Lachlan Ilias (two), Tevita Tatola (six), Isaiah Tass (eight), Jai Arrow (11) Mitchell (11) and Cameron Murray (14) were all inhibited.

Wayne Bennett can get the best out of Latrell Mitchell again. Picture: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

The Dogs purchase of Roosters forward Sitili Tupouniua will stiffen-up their forward pack, while Tom Amone from the English Super League will also bring extra punch through the middle.

The concern area is trying to get the final miles out of the legs of highly-paid winger Josh Addo-Carr, whose longest run without missing a game this season is his current streak of six matches.

The Sea Eagles are reliant on the fitness of Tom Trbojevic and with a healthy season are capable of remaining in the eight, most likely at the expense of the Roosters.

The Raiders are on a serious trajectory with a young and developing roster and are capable of cracking the final eight.

The Eels will improve under rookie coach Jason Ryles, but not enough for finals, so too the Warriors with the addition of James Fisher-Harris, while with the arrival of Jarome Luai, the Wests Tigers will finally pass the wooden spoon onto a rival.

Of course though, this is rugby league, where one week is a long time and six months is even longer.

Originally published as Locker Room: NRL 2025 top eight predictions | Rabbitohs and Broncos to bounce back, Bulldogs and Dragons to improve