With November 1 deadlines passing, it is good to have something else to focus on, so the NRL unleashed their draw for next season and we turned it into this 2026 NRL Draw Analysis.
As per usual we’ve dived deeper than most would bother and readers would care about, but that hasn’t stopped us from going through as many different cuts of the 2026 NRL Draw Analysis as possible. We didn’t ask AI to help either, we’d rather keep our jobs.
So to fill that NRL off season time, and avoid the clickbait on Facebook, here’s our best effort.
2026 NRL Draw Analysis
2026 NRL DRAW – Home & Away
Note: M = Magic Round…NH = Neutral Home Game…B = Bye
2026 NRL DRAW – Opposition Strength Top/Low (based on 2025)
Based on 2025 finishing position. This shows how each team has fared with their draw against the top/bottom half of last season’s competition.
2026 NRL DRAW – Opposition Strength Ladder Position (based on 2025)
Same as top and bottom half as above, except using the ladder position for the opposition from 2025. Although it changes so much this all might be a waste of time.
2026 NRL DRAW – Distance Travelled
A Las Vegas adventure doesn’t help, as the Cowboys top the travel for 2026.
Some teams have a laughably short distance to travel in 2026, especially during Origin.
2026 NRL DRAW – Geographic Analysis
1st Visual – WHERE TEAMS PLAY IN 2026 WHEN NOT AT HOME
2nd Visual – WHERE TEAMS PLAY IN 2026 – All Games
2026 NRL DRAW – Turnarounds
A hot topic every season when the draw comes, and like every season when the draw comes out, it looks like the Wests Tigers get a bum deal.
2026 NRL DRAW – Days
The Broncos remain the vampires of the NRL with most of their games at night. Which usually is a good thing as they have a poor daytime record. Mostly.
2026 NRL DRAW – Channel Nein
Some say Channel Nein are biased and hate the Warriors, and we certainly are one of those.
The only surprise is that the Broncos aren’t first for Nein games. And once again the Warriors don’t get a FTA home game.
