NRL 2026 pre-season guide: When every club returns to training
Star Rabbitohs recruit David Fifita will have to learn the ropes at South Sydney without Wayne Bennett for a large chunk of the pre-season. See when every club returns for pre-season.
Fresh signing David Fifita will have to learn the ropes at South Sydney without coach Wayne Bennett for a big chunk of his first month at the Rabbitohs.
Assistant coaches at Souths such as Ben Hornby will be calling the shots when Fifita is expected to report for duty on November 17 after the club announced his signing on a two-year deal on Wednesday.
Bennett won’t kick off pre-season until December, which he also did last year at the club, while the earliest batch of Souths players start training November 3.
Meanwhile Newcastle will be forced to wait until December to put their new-look side together on the training paddock with multimillion-dollar signing Dylan Brown one of the highest profile new recruits tied up with representative duty.
The New Zealand star has started life in Newcastle with his young family but isn’t due at Knights headquarters to kick off a new era until just before Christmas.
It will give new coach Justin Holbrook precious little time over January and February to solve the halves puzzle with newcomers Sandon Smith, Brown and five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe before jetting to Las Vegas for the NRL season opener.
The Sydney Roosters are in a similar boat with the signing of Daly Cherry-Evans which is expected to be confirmed next week while new Parramatta playmaker Jonah Pezet will start training with the Eels in December.
Across the competition most clubs will kick off their pre-season preparations in the next fortnight with the next generation getting their first taste of NRL training from November 3.
BRONCOS
Return: Staggered from early to late November
The premiers’ less experienced and development players will start filtering through at Red Hill from the first week of November, including Tom Duffy who was recruited from the Cowboys. Senior and grand final players will start returning from December, while representative stars like Reece Walsh, Pat Carrigan, Kotoni Staggs and Payne Haas will begin Brisbane’s title defence later that month. Coach Michael Maguire will give his troops a 10-day break over the Christmas period. The list of rookies and development players who will take part in the NRL pre-season for the first time is yet to be confirmed.
BULLDOGS
Return: November 11
Cameron Ciraldo’s men will hit the ground running with the bulk of players to report at Belmore on November 11, including prized forward recruit Leo Thompson.
Kangaroos back rower Jacob Preston’s return will be delayed until after the Christmas break (December 20 – 3rd January) due to rep duties. Rookie Jethro Rinakama will begin rehabbing his shoulder over the summer after going under the knife this week.
Rookie forward Jed Reardon, the son of former Bulldog Steve Reardon, will train with the NRL squad this pre-season, alongside talented playmaker Aaymon Fitzgibbon, the son of Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon, who has signed a three-year deal at Belmore. While back rower Logan Spinks, 20, will get a second pre-season under his belt.
COWBOYS
Return: Staggered from November 3 to early January
After missing the finals this season, the Cowboys will kick off their 2026 preparations with a return to the pre-season on November 3 with a stack of development players the first to get moving.
Outside back Ethan King, who has moved from the Sydney Roosters is among the first starters, as well as Ronald Philitoga and Liam Sutton from the Broncos pathways.
Most senior players are due back on November 10, with international players in late December, early January.
Former Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney is the club’s biggest recruit for 2026 but after playing in the finals with Canterbury he isn’t due to front up for pre-season until mid-November.
DOLPHINS
Return: Staggered from November 3 to early January
Assistant coaches Ben Woolf and Rory Kostjasyn will steer the pre-season ship early while head coach Kristian Woolf is on international duties with Tonga.
Rookies and development players will begin training on November 6 but senior and representative players, including Englishman Herbie Farnworth, won’t be around until after the new year.
New signing Morgan Knowles, who is on England duties for the Ashes tour, will report for his first NRL pre-season in January but high-profile signing Broncos star Selwyn Cobbo is expected in Redcliffe in mid-December.
DRAGONS
Return: Staggered from November 3 to mid-November
The Dragons will welcome back the youngest players of the squad on November 3 as they begin plans for the Las Vegas season opener early next year.
New Zealand teen rugby sensation and Auckland Grammar First XV five-eighth Rokko Walker, who has signed a four-year deal with the club, will also spend some time training with the NRL squad over the summer.
New additions Dan Atkinson and Josh Kerr will join the club in mid November along with the rest of the experienced leaders not on representatives duties, including Clint Gutherson and Damien Cook.
EELS
Return: Staggered from November 3 to mid-November
Life after Dylan Brown will be ushered by a new era of rising halves on November 3, when rookie prospects with Lorenzo Talataina and Lincoln Fletcher join the NRL pre-season for the first time. They’ll be joined by young forwards Will Latu, Ryda Talagi and Jezaiah Funa-Iuta, who will all get a shot at impressing coach Ryles over the summer.
Dragons forward Jack de Belin will be among the new faces when he joins the group from mid-November.
The club has finalised Jonah Pezet’s deal. The former Storm playmaker has only just returned from an off-season Bali getaway and is expected to commence training in December.
He’ll have an extended break given he was part of Melbourne’s grand final campaign.
KNIGHTS
Return: Staggered from November 3 to late December
The benefit of finishing last for the Knights is that new coach Justin Holbrook will get his hands on his side sooner than others. In fact the first wave of young Knights are due back on Monday (November 3). Five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe, who suffered a lacerated kidney and ruptured spleen in June, has been cleared to commence training from Monday, and he’ll be joined by Sandon Smith a week later after the former Roosters playmaker agreed to a four-year deal.
The rest of the squad including big names Kalyn Ponga, Jacob Saifiti and Tyson Frizell are back into pre-season two weeks later. The Knights will have to wait though for their $10 million recruit in Dylan Brown who won’t be back until just before Christmas because of representative duty.
Holbrook will also get a glimpse of the club’s junior talent stocks when five-eighth Matthew Hunter, who has joined from the Eels, exciting wing prospect Aidan Gow, who scored 20 tries from nine SG Ball (under-19s) games this year. They’ll be joined by the club’s SG Ball player of the year fullback Toby Winter and hooker Diesel Hagan.
PANTHERS
Return: Staggered from November 20 to early January
Jack Cogger will headline the first crop of returning players at the foot of the mountains from November 20.
Non-representative players, like Liam Martin, who is not on the Ashes tour after opting to stay home for the birth of his first child, will start arriving at training from the last week of November.
While Pacific Championship stars like Isaiah Papali’i, Paul Alamoti and Moses Leota aren’t due back until mid-December.
The last to return in the new year will be Kangaroos stars Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Dylan Edwards.
Former Broncos Academy young gun Harry Armstrong and fellow highly-rated forward Zakauri Clarke will train with the NRL squad for the first time.
RABBITOHS
Return: Staggered from November 3 to December
Wayne Bennett won’t show up to pre-season until December but his players return to the training paddock on November 3 with their rookies and development players hitting the ground first. Livewire playmaker Latrell Siegwalt, who has joined from the Broncos, and prop John Radel will be part of the first group to lob at Heffron Park. A handful of pathways stars like halfback Matthew Humphries and prop Elijah Keung, both 19, will get a shot at impressing Wayne Bennett ahead of round one. While Kiwi rugby convert Saumaki Saumaki, a former Crusaders academy player, will get his first taste of an NRL pre-season over the summer.
Their major stars will return in staggered dates across November and December after a break from international duties.
Former Titans forward David Fifita is pencilled in to complete his first Rabbitohs training session on November 17.
Kangaroos star Keaon Koloamatangi will need knee surgery on his return from the Ashes tour in England and is expected to rehab the injury over three months, effectively ruling him out of the bulk of pre-season preparations.
RAIDERS
Return: Staggered from November 12 to early January
Eager to put aside the disappointment of crashing out of the finals, the Raiders will start filtering back to training from November 12 with a group that includes former Knights hooker Jayden Brailey. Prime Minister’s XIII representatives Ethan Strange, Tom Starling and Corey Horsburgh won’t return until December 3, while Pacific Championship players Joseph Tapine, Josh Papali’i, Ata Mariota, Simi Sasagi, Matt Timoko and Sebastian Kris won’t have clock back in until mid-December.
Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies, who are on the Ashes tour in England are expected at training until the new year.
The squad will break for Christmas on December 20 and report back for the rest of pre-season on January 5.
ROOSTERS
Return: Staggred from November 10 to early January
Trent Robinson won’t have a full squad at his disposal until the first week of January. A handful of representative players like Robert Toia, Benaiah Ioelu, Mark Nawaqanitawase will start pre-season preparations in late December, while more senior players like Daniel Tupou, Lindsay Collins and Naufahu Whyte will get an extended break.
Younger members of the squad, including Blake Steep and Salesi Foketi, will report for day one on November 10.
The Roosters are yet to confirm the signing of Manly veteran Daly Cherry-Evans, but it should made official next week and he is expected to be training by the end of November, alongside former Cowboys hooker Reece Robson.
SEA EAGLES
Return: Staggered from November 7-28
Anthony Seibold will get a glimpse of life after Daly Cherry-Evans when new halfback recruit Jamal Forgarty begins his Manly career on November 21, alongside Jake and Tom Trbojevic. Pre-season will, however, officially start on November 7 with the return of the squad to be staggered over the next month.
Rising pathways players Onitoni and Ashton Large will report for their first pre-season on November 7, so will halfback Lachlan Metcalf and former Eels centre Andes Johansson. All are still eligible for SG Ball (under 19s) in 2026.
Fresh off a premiership win with the Broncos, Kobe Hetherington clock in on the northern beach in the first week of December.
The handful of players on representative duties – Tolu Koula, Lehi Hopoate and Clayton Faulalo – are back from November 28.
SHARKS
Return: Staggered from November 21 to early January
Given how deep the Sharks went into the competition their first batch of players aren’t due back at Shark Park until Friday November 21. The likes of Nicho Hynes, Teig Wilton, Will Kenny and Braydon Trindall join the rest of the squad on December 5. Australian tour squad member Blayke Brailey isn’t due back until the new year while the likes of Addin Fonua-Blake and Briton Nikora also have a delayed start because of their representative commitments. Star winger Ronaldo Mulitalo will spend the summer in injury rehab after the Kiwis star suffered an ACL injury in the first week of the Pacific Championships.On the rookie front, exciting playmaker and Newington First XV fullback Callum Grantham will train with the NRL squad. So will fellow Australian Schoolboys representative and lock Tom Dellow, who was ranked as the no.1 Australian Schoolboy player on this masthead’s top 50 list.
STORM
Return: Staggered from November 20 to early January
The first intake will be mostly made up of squad and development players.
Next generation spine prospects hooker Gabriel Satrick and highly-rated fullback prospect Hugo Peel will begin training from November 20. Peel has the opportunity to press his case given the uncertainty around Ryan Papenhuyzen’s future. Winger Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown will also join them. All three where part of Melbourne’s grand final winning Jersey Flegg (under 21s) side.
They’ll be joined a week later but the likes of Joe Chan and Josiah Pahulu. Senior non-Test players, including Nick Meaney, Trent Loiero and Ryan Papenhuyzen aren’t expected back until December 11, given Melbourne’s grand final appearance.
Craig Bellamy’s gruelling pre-season will break for Christmas on December 21 until January 5, when representative stars Cameron Munster and Stefano Utoikamanu will be due back.
TITANS
Return: Staggered from November 10 to early January
Josh Hannay takes charge for the first time on November 10th with the club’s rookies, development and train and trial players the first to hit the field. Names are still being finalised but Viliame Fifita, the younger brother of Jojo Fifita, and rising Titans gun and former schoolboys star Sunny Kama is among the early returnees. The next group is due back on November 17, with the representative players then to trickle back into training over December and January.
WARRIORS
Return: Staggered from November 5 to early January
The first crop of players will report for training on November 5, and will include Jett Cleary, Motu Pasikala, Jason Salalilo and Makaia Tafua and Jake Thompson. Code converts Caelyse-Paul Putoko and Harry Inch will also join the group.
Senior players like Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will start pre-season on November 20, with the grand final winning NSW Cup players to arrive on November 26.
Representative stars, including James Fisher-Harris and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, aren’t due back late December. Players will break for Christmas on December 20 to January 5.
Star signing and former Titans flyer Alofiana Khan-Pereira will join the group mid-November.
WESTS TIGERS
Return: Staggered from November 3 to December
A stack of Tigers talent is still playing in the Pacific Championships, but the club returns to training on November 3 with the rookies, development players and train-and-trial players all kicking off on day one – including boom back Heamasi Makasini, who made his NRL debut last year, and NRL pre-season first-timers forwards Pheonix Godinet, Christian Tupou-Moors and hooker Jared Haywood.
Players like Jarome Luai, Terrell May and Taylan May (Samoa), Jahream Bula and Sunia Turuva (Fiji) and the incoming Kai Pearce-Paul (England) will return later in November and December.
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Originally published as NRL 2026 pre-season guide: When every club returns to training
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