NRL 2025: The fresh faces, new combinations and old grudges that you don’t want to miss this season
Comebacks, new combinations and old rivalries renewed – our rugby league writers reveal the one thing they can’t wait to see from every NRL club this season.
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The 2025 NRL season began with a bang in Las Vegas last week and with the remainder of round one underway this Thursday our writers reveal the one thing they can’t wait to see from each club this year.
BRONCOS
‘Reece Lightning’ striking with ferocity again. There is no more breathtaking sight in the NRL than a fit and firing Walsh in full flight, scorching past defenders from the backfield and igniting Brisbane’s backline.
The 22-year-old could never find his groove in 2024 and he was targeted by NRL defenders, suffering a facial fracture and severe concussion as rivals raced up to bash Walsh into submission.
But there is no doubting Walsh’s class, speed and football IQ. His good looks also belies his toughness and if he stays fit, Walsh has the tools to rip teams apart in 2025
— Peter Badel
BULLDOGS
The hill at Jubilee Oval when the Dragons host the Bulldogs in Round 1.
Sure, I’m a fan of almost 50,000 fans inside of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
But you know what?
Put me on the hill at Kogarah with standing-room only when the Dragons open their 2025 account against Sydney rivals Canterbury on Saturday afternoon, March 8.
Get me inside the St George Leagues club for a beer before the game. Let me walk down the hill from Carlton train station after a quick bite at the Royal.
Make me line-up to walk through the turnstiles, let me grab a hot dog or look for old-mate selling peanuts under the scoreboard.
Let me read the signs held by fans made from bed sheets...”The Sloan Ranger”....”Dogs Of War.’’
Let me yell, “Get’m onside ref.”
And one more thing, please let me hear the Phantom Siren.
— David Riccio
COWBOYS
Tom Dearden is under enormous pressure to step up this season. The former Broncos young gun arrived in Townsville three years ago with his confidence in tatters but under coach Payten, Dearden has become one of the best emerging playmakers in the game.
Without Chad Townsend this season, this is Dearden’s team. Still only 23, Dearden is already the co-captain and now a bona fide Queensland Origin player who has shown he can deliver at the highest levels.
There is no greater competitor than Dearden. He will relish the extra responsibility of leading the Cowboys to their first premiership since 2015.
— Peter Badel
DRAGONS
One of the rising stars of the game, prop Loko Pasifiki Tonga, and the impact he will make on the NRL this season.
The club has huge raps on the teenager, who has already drawn comparisons in physicality to Payne Haas given his sheer size but also footwork and work rate.
Coach Shane Flanagan is cautious of burning talent by playing him too young, but he will feature at some stage in 2025.
— Pamela Whaley
DOLPHINS
Tom Gilbert hasn’t played in the NRL since round 12 of the 2023 season due to shoulder and knee injuries.
Make no mistake, the new skipper is the heart and soul of the Dolphins.
Gilbert plays at 100 miles an hour and takes his teammates with him. He is incredibly important to what the Dolphins are trying to achieve.
The Dolphins sorely missed Gilbert last year, particularly after big-name recruit Tom Flegler went down with a shoulder injury early in the season.
With Gilbert back on board, the Dolphins’ forward pack looks a lot more dangerous.
– Travis Meyn
EELS
It’s a combination which has been put on ice while Mitchell Moses recovers from a foot injury but how good will it be to see the halfback’s crossfield kicks to Zac Lomax when the dynamic duo hit the park together for the Eels. The NSW Origin teammates will give the Eels an added aerial threat to terrorise opposition defences after Parramatta produced their lowest attacking output of the last three seasons in 2024.
Lomax finally took a big step towards fulfilling his enormous potential last season after being switched to the wing at St George Illawarra, scoring a career-high 14 tries and earning himself an Origin call-up.
At 25, the marquee signing is heading into the prime of his career and gives Parramatta’s outside backs height, speed and class, as well as another top-shelf goalkicking option alongside Moses. The challenge is replicating his 2024 form.
– Adam Mobbs
KNIGHTS
Fletcher Sharpe came from the clouds last year and went on to star with 11 tries in 12 games in his debut NRL season.
His emergence into first grade as a local junior was one of the high points of the season for the Knights, who recently locked him down long term until the end of 2028.
He’s been tipped for a move to the halves this year, which could solve a huge puzzle within the Knights’ spine.
If Adam O’Brien can find a way to get him involved and in the best 17 every week, it could unlock some exciting attack.
– Pamela Whaley
PANTHERS
He missed out on a spot in the Las Vegas opener to Jack Cole but Blaize Talagi will get his chance to shine for the Panthers this season.
Former Parramatta prodigy brings a slick and diverse passing game to the foot of the mountains that should create plenty of space for teammates around him. And while he’ll be given plenty of time to develop his game, the competition with Cole can only be a good thing for the young playmaker. The 20-year-old will have to improve on his missed three tackles a game, and 30 total errors from last season.
– Matt Encarnacion
RABBITOHS
Jamie Humphreys make the most of the free hit given to him by English halfback Lewis Dodd who copped a one-game for a high tackle. Humphreys is a great pick up for the Rabbitohs and has impressed in the trials and while he was expected to make an impact at hooker for Wayne Bennett’s side, he gets a crack at No.7 against the Dolphins. While Humphreys has been one of the few shining lights in a difficult, injury-plagued pre-season for Souths, there are concerns Dodd might not be up to the rigours of the NRL. Dodd has been tasked with alleviating the halfback hangover the Rabbitohs have struggled with since letting Adam Reynolds slip through their fingers after the 2021 season, but it could be Humphreys who is the saviour and not the former St Helens Super League-winning playmaker. It’s way too early to write off Dodd, but Humphreys has a massive chance to make the No.7 his own against the Dolphins.
– Fatima Kdouh
RAIDERS
Watching young guns Ethan Strange, Savelio Tamale and Owen Pattie going to the next level together will be great viewing, especially for fans of the Green Machine. They started the season with a bang in Las Vegas and it’s exciting to think how good these guys will get. Fast, young and fearless, they ooze class. Hooker Pattie, who was Canberra’s Jersey Flegg player of the year, is a tenacious competitor who can pick apart lazy defenders and has already drawn comparisons with Melbourne and Queensland Origin star Harry Grant. While Tamale has the makings of a genuine powerhouse outside back and Strange’s quality is already widely known.
– Fatima Kdouh
ROOSTERS
Robert Toia in open space. While he struggled in the Roosters’ last trial against Newcastle’s Bradman Best, Toia has the world at his feet and will prove it this year. All his teammates and coaches hold him in such high regard. Set for a big debut season and part of the Roosters’ long game in backing players coming through the lower grades as Toia has. The young Queenslander is an explosive player, and with a bit of momentum could cause some real damage to defensive lines all around the competition. Toia has been a ticking time bomb over the last few years, but now with injuries behind him, he is ready to explode onto the scene.
– Tyson Jackson
SEA EAGLES
Tommy Turbo unleashed – Is there a better sight in rugby league than a fit and firing Tommy Turbo?
The Manly fullback is an out and out superstar, capable of winning games on his own.
Nathan Cleary may be the best player in the game, but Trbojevic is arguably more valuable.
When Tommy plays, Manly usually win.
Sadly, injuries have cruelled him in recent years but he will start the season ready to go and provided he can avoid any setbacks,he can carry the Sea Eagles deep into September.
– Brent Read
SHARKS
Addin Fonua-Blake rise to an incredible new level to stand alone as the best front-rower in the world.
With the greatest of respect to Fonua-Blake’s two previous clubs the Sea Eagles and Warriors, they sit just below the training standards, ruthless expectation and defensive mindset of the Craig Fitzgibbon-led Sharks.
In many ways, this is Fonua-Blake’s greatest individual test. He has no choice but to adapt to the Cronulla Way. Or, he simply won’t survive.
Further, alarm bells should be ringing across the NRL, when you consider how much more Fonua-Blake could get out of his game at the Sharks when you realise that not a single forward, in what is a largely underrated pack, has gone backwards under the tutelage of Fitzgibbon and his staff. Made a solid start against the Panthers in Las Vegas but the best is yet to come from Fonua-Blake.
– David Riccio
STORM
Craig Bellamy in the coaches box.
Is there a more passionate sight in rugby league than Bellamy in a coaches box.
Few coaches ride the wave like the Storm supercoach.
Bellamy wears his heart on his sleeve and he has no doubt carried last year’s grand final loss through the pre-season.
Bellamy is already one of the greatest coaches in the game’s history but the sense is that he is desperate to add another premiership or two to his resume before he calls it a day.
This might be his year.
– Brent Read
TIGERS
A cohesive Tigers team. For the first time in forever the club seems to have key positions sorted and knows how they want to play football.
For too long there have been question marks on who fills the Tigers best 17, mostly around the halves.
But now the club has clear stars in their squad, and good depth to back it up.
On the back of the hottest signing of the year in Jarome Luai, and most promising prospect in Lachie Galvin, the team can finally feel comfortable heading into Round 1.
It’s exciting times to be a Tigers fan.
– Tyson Jackson
TITANS
David Fifita had a season to forget in 2024 after he was overlooked by Queensland coach Billy Slater for the entire State of Origin series.
It was a bizarre snubbing given Fifita produced some hot form in the weeks leading up to the series but was still not picked.
His form afterwards for the Titans went off a cliff and Fifita limped to the back end of the year, failing to score a try in his last 10 games before undergoing ankle surgery.
The Titans have invested heavily in Fifita and need him to fire if they are to have any hope of being a force in 2025.
– Travis Meyn
WARRIORS
Demitric Vaimauga at full steam.
He’s a 183 centimetre, 104 kilogram behemoth full of pure power and force, so you can’t really miss him. But if you look a little closer, Vaimauga might remind you of another destructive Warriors forward from the 2000s by the name Ali Lauiti’iti.
He’s only played eight games off the bench, including the Las Vegas opening round loss to Canberra, since his debut a couple of years ago, but the sky’s the limit for a 20-year-old who can already skittle defenders off a long run.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster has a couple of professionals in the back row already in Kurt Capewell and Marata Niukore, but don’t be surprised if Vaimauga pushes them out of the way by the end of the season.
– Matt Encarnacion
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