Ben Hunt, Latrell Mitchell, Reece Walsh and Api Koroisau are among the stars on mad Monday after their teams missed the finals.Credit: Graphic: Aresna Villanueva
Sacked coaches, broken bones and off-field dramas – whatever the reason, nine teams are on some form of Mad Monday - the season-ending celebrations/commiserations for teams that weren’t good enough to play finals.
For some teams, not playing in the finals has seemed inevitable since March, but for others, it was a shock to see them slip into the bottom half.
Here’s why your team is watching finals from the couch, and whether they can make the eight next year.
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Latrell Mitchell celebrates scoring a try during the 2024 season.Credit: NRL Images
The Rabbitohs were hit hard by injury and suspension in 2024.
Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Murray, Campbell Graham, Jai Arrow, Lachlan Ilias and Tyrone Munro are some of the long list of stars who’ve had injury woes this year. Add Mitchell’s three-week ban to that for an elbow to Shaun Johnson’s face and the off-field drama with the white substance incident, and it’s fair to say South Sydney’s season was derailed.
Wayne Bennett will wave his magic wand and attempt to find a way to fix many of the cultural and performance problems at South Sydney. The veteran coach returns to the Rabbitohs on a three-year deal and has a knack for getting the best out of polarising players.
Don’t be surprised to see the Rabbitohs playing finals next year.
Parramatta Eels
Zac Lomax and Jason Ryles join Mitch Moses at the Eels next year.Credit: Getty/NRL Images
Parramatta have been on a sharp decline since their grand final appearance in 2022.
Injuries to Mitchell Moses and Clint Gutherson didn’t help their season, but the team shouldn’t have fallen so dramatically without them. The sacking of former coach Brad Arthur mid-season was disruptive, and interim coach Trent Barrett wasn’t able to turn things around.
The Eels get a fresh start under new coach Jason Ryles in 2025, a coach who’s benefited from working with Craig Bellamy in Melbourne. There’s plenty of talent in Parramatta next year with Zac Lomax joining the likes of Moses, Dylan Brown, and J’maine Hopgood, but they’ve got to find consistency.
Wests Tigers
Api Koroisau, Jarome Luai and Jahream Bula have a big task in 2025.Credit: Getty/NRL Images
It’s gone from bad to worse for the Wests Tigers, who have just taken home a third consecutive wooden spoon.
Benji Marshall struggled in his first year as head coach. The on-field misery has been compounded by the off-field drama with talks Balmain are considering exiting the joint venture.
Enter Jarome Luai. The success of the Tigers can’t just fall on the shoulders of one man, but Luai will definitely boost morale, and also hopefully performance. One of the silver linings for the Tigers this year has been young playmaker Lachlan Galvin.
The Tigers will have a sharp spine in 2025, with Luai, Galvin, Jahream Bula and Api Koroisau. Now, the real test is if Marshall can turn them into a top-eight side.
Brisbane Broncos
The Broncos need Reece Walsh to be playing well to be successful in 2025.Credit: Getty
The Broncos have had one of the most stunning implosions of the year.
They’ve gone from grand final to twelfth in 12 months – a stunning fall from grace for a club that had one hand on the trophy last year before Nathan Cleary snatched it back.
Fullback Reece Walsh has been a mixed bag, and the team’s success this year reflects his own overall performance – poor. Walsh hasn’t been the same since that infamous hit in Origin.
The Broncos have a top-eight team with veteran Adam Reynolds steering the ship alongside Ezra Mam, Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas, but Kevin Walters needs a massive makeover in 2025. His job could well depend on it.
St George Illawarra Dragons
Ben Hunt after the Dragons’ loss to the Raiders on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
The Dragons improved this year, but when they had a chance to play finals they threw it away.
Consistency has been their biggest issue in 2024, with impressive wins over teams like Manly, Melbourne and Penrith contrasted by losses to the Dolphins, Knights Raiders and Eels.
If they’re going to play finals next year, it has to start with Ben Hunt. His team-leading abilities disappeared in the final few rounds.
The upside is they get a massive experience boost next year with Valentine Holmes and Damien Cook joining the club. Reagan Campbell-Gillard may yet join them.
New Zealand Warriors
Shaun Johnson is carried off the field after playing his final NRL match.Credit: Getty Images
The Warriors couldn’t turn the “Up the Wahs” momentum from 2023 into another trip to the finals.
With much of the same team as the one that took them into the finals last year, Andrew Webster’s Warriors were one of the disappointments in 2024.
A couple of big losses for the Warriors in 2025 - Shaun Johnson retiring and Addin Fonua-Blake off to Cronulla - makes Webster’s task of getting them into the finals next year even trickier. James Fisher-Harris’ arrival from Penrith will be a massive win for the club. Throw in Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Mitch Barnett and Wayde Egan, and the club have a strong core group.
Canberra Raiders
Ethan Strange, Jamal Fogarty and Kaeo Weekes have been three of the Raiders best in 2024.Credit: NRL Images
So close, yet so far.
Canberra’s points differential came back to bite them in the end, with Ricky Stuart’s team on the same number of wins as the eighth-placed Knights.
Defence cost them their season. Stuart’s team has shown some of the best defensive efforts all year (at times), including victories over Penrith and the Roosters. But those are negated by big losses to the Sharks, Tigers and Cowboys.
With veterans Elliott Whitehead and Jordan Rapana leaving for England’s Super League, Stuart’s team will be full of young blood again. It makes a 27-week season and the chance to play finals much harder.
Gold Coast Titans
Des Hasler’s Titans need to find consistency in 2025.Credit: Getty
It’s been a struggle for the Titans, but there are positive signs.
It was a rough start to 2024 with a season-ending ACL injury for enforcer Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, six straight losses to start the year, and David Fifita’s contract saga. But, once the team found their feet they had some impressive performances.
New coach Des Hasler managed to find gold among the coal. When AJ Brimson, Jayden Campbell and Keano Kini get rolling, they’re impressive, but it’s not the attack that will be Hasler’s problem in 2025, it’s the defence.
Dolphins
Wayne Bennett and Sean O’Sullivan celebrate the Dolphins’ big win against the Broncos.Credit: NRL Photos
It came down to the wire, but it wasn’t to be.
Wayne Bennett’s team were nine points away from finals, but in the end, only eight teams can make the post-season.
The Dolphins have had an impressive run this year, building from their first season in the NRL. They again showed they have plenty of talent, with the likes of Hamiso Taduia-Fidow, Trai Fuller and Herbie Farnworth all legitimate game-breakers.
The greatest challenge for the Dolphins is to take another step forward in the absence of foundation coach Wayne Bennett. Kristian Woolf takes the reins next year with Bennett back at the Rabbitohs.
The record of clubs in the years after Bennett leaves makes for sobering reading for the ’Phins Up brigade.
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