Want more NRL information than just the draw, results or the current ladder? Then you are in the right place and the right time with the home of the right NRL Stats and Stuff via our 2025 NRL Round 23 Results Stats Summary for the weekend that was.
Each week we compile and keep up to date a wide range of stats from the latest weekend of NRL action plus the best 2025 NRL Season Stats to help you to the top of the tipping competition, land a few responsible winners or even make your Supercoach team better. And now with a match by match summary full of all the stats you need and/or want.
It’s all stats, and never Slats. Never.
2025 NRL Round 23 Results and Match Summaries
Want or need a quick summary of every game from last weekend? Well here they all are in all their summary glory.
It’s easy to throw around a few stats post matches in a Monday’s experts, and we certainly do that, but our Monday’s Experts Key Learning tries to guide you into considering some key stats from the weekend to remember for your next tipping adventure.
NO ONE BEATS MELBOURNE ON A THURSDAY…AT HOME…BUT NOT REALLTY AWAY EITHER
Melbourne’s win over Brisbane on Thursday was more routine than some rugby league fans would realise, as it was their 20th win from 20 games at home on a Thursday. That is some record. Overall the Storm are at 84% for winning on a Thursday overall, with the Dolphins the next best team. Penrith are third with 64%. The Dolphins (75% win rate) actually have the best away record on a Thursday, with Melbourne not far behind on 71%. The rest start at 58%.
One thing to come from our look into Thursdays is the Warriors have never won a Thursday game. They have only played three, so blame Channel Nein for that stat.
We even have some fancy visuals to go with this stat for Round 23 NRL Results.
STATS v FORM THIS TIME
South Sydney were as close to as busted arse of an NRL club we have seen in a while coming into Round 23. Last on the ladder, increasing injury list, and a grumpier Wayne Bennett in charge. Thankfully for them they faced the Gold Coast Titans a team they had beaten 9 times in a row before heading into Sunday’s game. It’s now ten. It’s now also ten wins in a row at home. So historical stats, plus Latrell Mitchell’s return and having to soon-to-be leading tryscorer ever helps a bit, but stats won out this time.
BUT NOT ALWAYS…..
Cronulla had won ten in a row v St George Illawarra and Cronulla had won five in a row v St George Illawarra at Kogarah. But lost.
Manly have won their last two visits to Canberra and five of the last six. But lost.
Warriors are W12 L3 v Bulldogs on a Saturday but lost.
So maybe stats only beats form when the teams are second last and last.
THE 2025 ZERO LINE BREAK CLUB DOUBLES
Both the Warriors and Broncos ended Round 23 with no line breaks according to NRL.com data, and needless to say they were both comfortably beaten. The other two were the Bulldogs in Round 12 v Dolphins and Souths in Round 7 which was coincidentally against the Bulldogs.
HOME SH!T HOME
Newcastle’s loss v Penrith was expected, for many reasons, one of them is they are terrible at home in 2025. It five losses in a row at home now, and their only win in their last ten home games was the infamous booing game. So in effect the crowd won that game, and the coach bugger all either side of it.
But is Newcastle’s 2025 home form historically bad? Well, no. And let’s not forget the Gold Coast Titans are on the same number of wins, they just have played one game fewer at home. So Newcastle’s home record in 2025 isn’t the worst, but is in the bottom ten, and there’s still home games left to driver that win % lower.
But here are some quick home games stats to enjoy.
2025 NRL Round 23 Performance Ratings
Aside from winners and losers, we have decided to see which teams performed the best according to key stats, as some losers do pay better than some winners.
We took all the key stats from the most recent round, worked out the % of the best/worst stat, and applied a calculation out of 100% for every team from this weekend.
After the ratings are the stats used in the calculation, with some stats higher and lower value based on importance.
All Run Metres
Post Contact Metres
Line Breaks
Tackle Breaks
Errors
Penalties Total
Missed Tackles Combined
Completion %
Points
PointsAgainst
Average of All Run Metres
Offloads
2025 NRL Season Stats Summary
Do you need NRL 2025 Season stats, or just want 2025 NRL Season stats?
Either way, here’s more than you could probably ever need, or want.
Time to separate the rugby league Wheat/Chaff or the NRL Mutton/Lamb and present the 2025 NRL Round 23 Team of the Week & Player Stats.
First we have our Team of the Week, which takes some of the key player stats from the weekend and using various scoring methods come up with the best players in their positions from the latest round of the NRL.
Then there’s additional player stats from this weekend that was and the season that is.
2025 NRL Round 23 Team of the Week
We’ve used the stats for each position and picked the best starting 13 players from the most recent round, the stats and points assigned are explained at the end.
On top of the best starting 13, we also include the best four interchange players of the week. Seeing who has provided maximum impact from the bench.
2025 NRL Round 23 Player Stats Summary
Want to see which players topped the key stats for the latest round of the NRL this weekend?
2025 NRL Team of the Season….So Far
Here’s our stats rolled up into the team of the season so far.
Another glorious season of English Football may already have started, with thousands of games from the Championship, League One and League Two ahead, but that hasn’t stopped us doing our annual dive into the numbers with our EFL 2025-26 Season Predictions.
Our yearly We Told You So attempt features as many stats as we could arrange from last season and beyond, with various calculations to allow for promotion and relegation, using on and off field stats.
There’s last season’s stats for the whole season, and more recent time periods to allow for teams that were improving or not towards the end of the season, overall season performance for the last three seasons, team stats (All from Who Scored) , transfer market values and changes from TransferMarkt, xG, and not much more.
All of the stats are rolled up into order, with that shared below for each division. With a brief explanation accompanying each tier.
EFL 2025-26 Season Predictions – Championship
UP
After scoring 111 points the previous season in League One it probably no surprise that our stats show Birmingham will do a double promotion in as many seasons, as one of the famously owned clubs goes up.
Coventry going up automatically is probably a big surprise, but they did finish 5th last season in the Championship, had the third best form behind the two promoted sides from Christmas and fourth best from February. It’s a good season for the midlands then.
The playoff places feature two big rivals, that we could only hope meet in the playoff final, and as an Ipswich fan will have to declare that they take the final promotion place, with hopes they aren’t as hopeless in the Premier League as last time around.
Fans of football via streaming might be disappointed that Wrexham aren’t going up with Birmingham. So are we, Wrexham are great. Leicester are solid midfield after receiving a points penalty for EFL bookkeeping reasons.
DOWN
Sheffield Wednesday will be lucky to finish (or start) the season, so relegation looks nailed on at this point. Ownership might and should change. Hopefully in time for the Owls to only get relegated and not liquidated. Our stats might shock a few with sending Southampton down for second successive relegation, which seems harsh, but we can only blame the numbers. Finally, Watford, who have threatened to let everything unravel in previous seasons with constant manager changes finally fall off the cliff and go down to League One.
EFL 2025-26 Season Predictions – League One
UP
Stockport Country and Leyton Orient, will make up for just missing out last season with promotion in 2025-26 to the Championship. Not only because their form was great throughout the season – they finished top six for all four time periods – Whole Season, from Christmas, from February and from April. For Leyton Orient if will be over 40 years since being in the second tier, and for Stockport a little less, but they have also been down to the second tier of Non League football since.
The top six is a mix of relegated Championship clubs, good old divisional yo-yo clubs, and Blackpooil. Out of those teams, we like Plymouth the most, and they did sore 100 points last time they were in this division, and they beat Ipswich that season too.
DOWN
A trio of midfield teams from League One feel our stats computer’s wrath this season, with only AFC Wimbledon joining the party after being promoted just last season.
EFL 2025-26 Season Predictions – League Two
UP
Crawly Town are the team our stats computer likes best to go up from the fourth tier, and they will do so a season after dropping down. They are the only relegated team to do so according to us, with the other three ending up mid table at best. Chesterfield go one better than playoffs this season with a promotion and the other automatic qualifier being Swindon, who made a late charge in 2024-25 but finishing mid table-ish. Notts County are the biggest name team of the 4th to 7th group, and we pick them to be the promoted side and are the only team of that lot to make the playoffs.
DOWN
Newport only just survived League Two last season, but that won’t help them this season as they head to the National League. Which is where Oldham came from, with Oldham finishing 5th in the National League table.
Been too distracted by an NRL trainer cutting you off at the supermarket? Do you need some last-minute NRL tipping advice? Or simply want something else to blame when the tips go wrong? Either way, saddle up for The Gurgler’s NRL Round 23 Ratings and Late Mail.
In a new additional to our stable of NRL stats and tipping products, we have used all the stats we have, smashed them against each other like atoms, and come up with a H2H rating.
It includes this year’s form with a bias because it is this year, but we don’t forget historic stats of the H2H against this week’s opponents, and the ground and day the teams are playing on.
We’ve also applied an adjustment for each team’s increase or decrease in win % over the Origin period.
Then slice up the scores out of 100% between the two sides. The bigger the percentage, the more likely to win.
2025 NRL Round 23 Ratings
Here are the H2H ratings and winners for the first of the Origin affected rounds.
Our ratings picked just 5/8 last weekend, but improvement coming this week.
2025 NRL Round 23 Late Mail
THU – MELBOURNE v BRISBANE
Melbourne have some record on a Thursday. We mean, really good. Melbourne have won all 19 home games on a Thursday. What more do you need? How about Four of those Thursday home games have been against the Broncos. Or Home or away, Melbourne are undefeated against Brisbane on a Thursday (eight games). Or Melbourne have won eight games straight at AAMI Park v Brisbane. Or Melbourne have won 16 in a row at AAMI Park v Qld sides with a last loss in 2016.
It’s not all about Melbourne, Brisbane have won both of their Thursday clashes this season and scored over 40 points both times. But Brisbane have a dreadful record away to non-Sydney teams on a Thursday – W4 L12.
The Broncos welcome back Payne Haas, but lose our favourite Xavier “Whatcha Talkin’ About” Willison. Origin player Trent Loiero is included for the Storm while future Origin star Jack Howarth is out.
FRI – NEWCASTLE v PENRITH
With Penrith now in ominous form, any opponent will struggle against the four-peating Premiers. Newcastle’s upset over Penrith earlier in the season broke a run of ten straight losses to the Panthers. So there’s hope for the Knights.
Games at home and on Fridays won’t help the Knights’ cause, as Newcastle have lost seven in a row at home to Penrith, with a last win in 2015. Newcastle have lost their last five Friday games and the last four Friday home games. Plus Newcastle have the worst home record this season. They share two home wins with the Titans, but they have lost one fewer game. Penrith are unbeaten in six away games now W5 D1.
Bradman Best is big in for the Knights, and Isiah Yeo a big loss for Penrith. But Best isn’t that good to stop the Penrith juggernaut.
FRI – CANBERRA v MANLY
Hard to figure, as Manly usually hate road trips but Manly have won their last two visits to Canberra and five of the last six. Although, the game being on a Friday hurts – Manly have won only one of their last 12 away games on a Friday. Canberra have won both of their Friday games this season, but both were away.
No real team news to share, but we will see if Canberra’s loss last weekend was the one they needed before finals or the start of a dip.
SAT – ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA v CRONULLA (Kogarah)
This local rivalry looks plenty one-sided – Cronulla have won ten in a row v St George Illawarra and Cronulla have won five in a row v St George Illawarra at Kogarah. Dragons are at least W5 L3 at home to Cronulla on a Saturday, but only one of those games was at Kogarah. But St George Illawarra have won two of their last 15 v Sydney teams on any day. A neat rearrangement of top v bottom stats too, as Cronulla are W9 L2 v bottom half sides (at time of fixture). Dragons are W2 L9 v top half sides.
No real team news for this game. Lachlan Ilias is named among the reserves but is unlikely to be blamed for the Dragons losing this weekend.
SAT – DOLPHINS v ROOSTERS (Suncorp Stadium)
A quality clash between the two sides most likely to fighting for the last finals spot. If the Dolphins win it’s advantage them. Luckily their Suncorp Stadium record on a Saturday and against Sydney teams is good. Dolphins are W5 L2 on a Saturday at Suncorp Stadium. Dolphins are W8 L2 v Sydney teams at Suncorp Stadium. But the Roosters won there earlier in the season and have a good record there. Roosters have won their last three games v Qld sides and the Roosters have won seven of the last nine v Qld sides at Suncorp Stadium.
The Dolphins could have done without losing Herbie Farnworth, but have just enough cover for now, but will miss arguably the most in-form centre in the NRL. No changes for the Roosters, who needs them after winning well last weekend.
SAT – BULLDOGS v WARRIORS (Olympic Stadium)
Warriors have some decent stats heading into this game, if not their recent form. On the stats front the Warriors are W12 L3 v Bulldogs on a Saturday. Six of those games have been in Australia. Four at the Olympic Stadium where the Warriors record is W3 L1. Plus the Warriors have won five of their last six away and have won five in a row away to Sydney teams and all four in 2025.
Neither side is in great form, the Warriors have won only two of their last six. If the ladder was re-calculated on form since Winter started in June, the Warriors would be outside the top eight on points difference. Bulldogs would be 6th. The Bulldogs are W6 L2 at the Olympic Stadium this season, but 0/2 in the wet.
As ever the main talking point on the player front is Lachlan Galvin and whether he will play because of an injury. If not, whether Toby Sexton will replace him or not. One wonders if all of that is helpful. What helps the Warriors is the return of Chanel Harris-Tavita and James Fisher-Harris among other.
An 85% chance of rain in Sydney on Saturday certainly does not help the Bulldogs.
SUN – GOLD COAST v SOUTH SYDNEY
This one is a real form v historic stats. For South Sydney anyway. South Sydney have won nine on a row v Gold Coast with a last loss in 2016 in Perth. South Sydney have won ten in a row v Titans at CBUS Stadium with a last loss in 2009. But……..the Rabbitohs have lost nine in a row coming into this game and Souths have won just one of their last nine games on a Sunday.
Gold Coast may have been dudded last round, but can’t excuse their Sunday form – Gold Coast have lost 11 games in a row on a Sunday. Given South Sydney’s injury list they get some relief with Brandon Smith, Jamie Humphreys and Latrell Mitchell all named. The Titans big in is Alofiana Khan-Pereira who replaces Philllip Sami
SUN – PARRAMATTA v NORTH QUEENSLAND
Parramatta have played four of the top six in their last four games, with one win to show for it against Brisbane. Which in fairness is probably one more win than most would have expected. While Parramatta’s form this season and at CommBank Stadium isn’t great, and on Sundays – Parramatta have won only one of their last nine on a Sunday, their form against the Cowboys is. Parramatta have won five of their last six home games v North Queensland. At CommBank, Parramatta are unbeaten in three games there v Cowboys.
Two million dollar players return this weekend with Dylan Brown and Jason Taumalolo named. At least the Cowboys player get to play as he is named at prop to start this weekend. Dylan Brown is a back up for now on the reserves list.
2025 NRL Round 22 Review + Round 23 Preview
Here’s the best of our wrap ups of last weekend and look forward to this weekend.
Here are The Gurgler’s 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Ratings – our way of rating the performances on the track without injuring our wrist or running up the back of our team mate’s car.
Our G-Power Rankings goes a little bit deeper than just points scored on the Sunday and has a slightly cooler name than most. We take on board Free Practice, Qualifying, performance in relation to teammate, fastest lap, and a few more stats that are attempting to highlight a driver outperforming the car and/or thrashing their teammate.
Normally we have a season long bunch of stats, but we’re saving that for the end of season review that will be way too long for anyone to want to read. Regardless, here is our shortened version for contractual obligations.
2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Race Result Summary
2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Ratings – Drivers
Here are the current overall standings for our Driver of the Year winner – the Martini Medal. Named in honour of one of F1’s most unsung heroes – Pierluigi Martini of Minardi fame.
We have the overall scores as they stand, plus a visual which shows the flow of each driver’s position throughout the season, plus a few points of interest below.
Here is the breakdown of the Driver of the Year points from the most recent race and the season so far. Remembering our ratings go across a whole weekend, so the race winner who may not have had a great qualifying or sprint race may not come out on top.
LATEST RACE RATINGS & DRIVER OF THE YEAR UPDATE
2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Ratings – Teams
This is essentially using the same drivers stats but in reverse for the worst score, but taking out anything that is a H2H between the drivers.
And our annual award focuses on the other end of the grid, highlighting the worst team of the season.
Of course, the worst team of the season award needs to be named after the worst F1 team of all time. And if you want to fund out more about Andrea Moda, follow this link.
LATEST RACE & SEASON RATINGS
Here is the best of the stats from the 2025 F1 season so far. Which we admit isn’t much, but stay tuned throughout the year for more.
H2H
Here is the ultimate H2H comparison, with the overall qualifying and race measures, plus one that calculates all official sessions across the weekend.
QUALIFYING – DRIVERS
With qualifying becoming all important, here are some key stats from the season that is.
QUALIFYING – TEAM
And some Teams trends too.
FASTEST LAP
It may be a token win, so here is a token bunch of stats.
1ST LAP PROGRESS
The movers and shakers of 2025 F1 Season.
FREE PRACTICE
Some say Free Practice is a giant waste of time, and they are probably right. Regardless here is the average position for each drivers in Free Practice this season. Each round an average of all the sessions.
OTHER STATS
A few bits and pieces too good not to share.
2025 F1 Season Power Rankings – Points Explanation
Here’s how the points work this season. Essentially the perfect race (Win from Pole, Fastest Lap, thrash team mate, best in race etc) should amount to the perfect 100 points.
FIRST LAP GAINS +0.5pts per position gained -0.5pts per position lost.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS – 25pts to 1pt as per World Championship – Sprint Race Points added.
BEAT TEAM MATE (RACE) – 10pts (if both finish or other driver got self inflicted DNF)
FASTEST LAP – 5pts – 1pt for top five drivers.
GRID POSITION TO RACE POSITION – formula +/- relative finish to grid
BEST OF THE REST (RACE) – 5pts to 1pt – top five non Mercedes-Red Bull drivers
QUALIFYING – 20pts to 1pt – Grid Position 1 to 20.
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) – 5pts
BEST OF THE REST (QUALIFYING) – 5pts to 1pt – top five non Mercedes-Red Bull drivers
GREAT/GRAPE – 5pts Great 2pts Honourable Mention -2Pts Dishonourable Mention -5Pts Grape
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) Time Gap – Formula for % beaten team mate by
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) Position – 0.5 Pts for every position team mate is beaten by. 0 points for second car.
FREE PRACTICE HERO – 10Pts to 1Pt – Average Position across all three practice sessions.
WIN FROM POLE – Bonus 5 Points
WIN FROM POLE WITH FASTEST LAP – Bonus 10 Points
DNF Not Driver or Team Fault Minus 2 Points
DNF CAUSED BY DRIVER/TEAM INCOMPETENCE Minus 5 Points
SPRINT RACE POINTS – Points 8 to 1 as handed out in the sprint race.
SPRINT RACE CHANGE – 0.5 Points per change in end position to starting position.
SPRINT RACE QUAL – Points 8 to 1 as handed out in the order of qualifying 1st to 8th.
Angrier than a room full of Fox League writers, more of an obstruction than a Penrith trainer, fluent in 10 different languages for giving opposition fans the finger and ducking for cover like a Melbourne Storm Assistant Coach, it’s time for the weekly Rugby League rant of The Gurgler’s NRL Donkey, who provides his NRL Donkey’s 2025 NRL Round 23 Expert Tips as well as offers an alternative, slightly unhinged view full of sass of the world of rugby league and beyond for another week.
The NRL Donkey’s 2025 NRL Round 23 Weekly Rant
Who’d think that such a furore would break out about the Gold Coast Titans kicking a conversion. Or indeed the Gold Coast Titans getting close enough to winning that a conversion for them was important. The 34 Titans fans at CBUS Stadium were outraged, and they probably should be outraged, as outraged as last drinks being called on Cavill Avenue, or running out of bronze sunscreen before a Saturday morning beach strut, hoping to be interviewed by a roving Sunrise reported who has nothing better to do than ask an inane question that shouldn’t matter and doesn’t in the real world. That’s probably harsh on Gold Coast people, not Sunrise, because Sunrise is dross.
OK, so the Penrith trainer looked about as sorry as Lachlan Galvin did leaving the Wests Tigers, or the referees boss every week when he has to explain the plethora of Refereeing and Bunker stuff ups, but maybe it was a pure accident that instead of running on a potential 150 different routes to the sideline he chose the one that runs directly in the way of the Titans kicker. But did it really make a difference? Except for thin-skinned Penrith fans who aren’t used to people not worshipping them for everything all the time.
Kicking for conversions is a necessary evil in rugby league, but certainly an area that could be improved. Conversions take way too long, and we certainly don’t want rugby league to go down the rugby union route where most of the 80 minutes is spent waiting for penalty kicks or conversions, checking stock market options, ensuring the fancy beer you’re drinking at the ground is labels out so everyone know you’re drinking the fancy stuff, your collar is set to up, and the RM Williams boots are looking their best.
More than 10 seconds of looking up at the posts is too long, and more than 30 seconds after the try is awarded is too long. Of course that doesn’t include when The Bunker wait until most of the crowd are on the last train home to tell the referee it isn’t a try for some pedantic and pathetic reason. No one spoils rugby league joy like The Bunker. Or Channel Nein.
Previously, and under a different writing name, this website suggested that rugby league balls be fitted with a small explosive that is fitted to the ball after scoring a try. If the ball hasn’t crossed the try line within a minute of scoring a try the ball simply explodes. Which would make for wonderful TV, and action at the ground. Will the kicker do it in time? What kind of explosive did they use this time? Etc. Although we’d have to consult the rule book to see if the ball is kicked hard enough that the carcass of the ball still goes through the posts after explosion whether it remains a goal or not. Or even more complex is that if some of the ball shrapnel makes it through the posts and some of it doesn’t then do we have to measure which percentage of ball carcass went through the posts or not. I guess then we’d have to ask The Bunker, who would take forever and f–k it up anyway. So then we really haven’t solved anything at all. Except it would be funny.
Maybe the NRL could use the Penrith trainer as an example. Once the kicker is in position he has 20 seconds to kick the ball. After the 20 seconds shot clock goes off, the opposition are free to allow anyone to do anything to get in the way. I guess without touching the kicker themselves.
You would have to have some rules I guess, and better to limit it to people who are allowed on the field. It would be dangerous although fun if we opened up the goal kicking distraction to anyone in the ground. Perhaps clubs could do a charity raffle to obtain those spots. But this could lead to an element of people who only come to NRL games to get on the field for their own promotion. Which could lead to more influencers involved with rugby league., which is bad thing. Influencers being among the worst group of people on earth.
So players, and trainers and even coaches if they are up for a bit of fun. Ricky Stuart I reckon would be the best, closely followed by Kevin Walters who could provide a light hearted distraction. Much like most of the 2024 Broncos season. We of course quickly rule out Craig Bellamy. Although, Bellamy would be kind of good at yelling at goal kickers. Except he appears to be much better at yelling at his own goal kickers.
But if we are including on field personnel, then that opens it up to various other activities who regularly are on the ground. Like cheerleaders, mascots, bands, and in the Broncos case, a horse.
How funny would it be if at Suncorp Stadium the Broncos nominate Buck the Horse, or whatever it’s called these days, to do laps of the goal kicker after the thirty second warning. If the rider also lassoes that would be even funnier. As would whip cracking. Now you’re getting somewhere with making goal kicking more entertaining.
Those teams without a horse, and with mascots that aren’t housed by 80+ year old legends who like most of us, hate Sharks fans’ children, they could use cheer leaders or bands.
Imagine what a boon for the local arts around rugby league clubs when they decide that having a 100 person marching band with loads of brass instruments is the best way of distracting the goal kicker. And of course they can modify the song depending on the opposition. Jaws theme song for Cronulla players. When the Saints Go Marching in for Dragons players. Or anything by Helb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass for Melbourne Storm. Unless Craig Bellamy doesn’t like it. Which he wouldn’t.
Or even better if you have seen the movie BASEketball, and there’s no reason why anyone reading this have not seen it, go on do it now I’ll wait, you could allow one player to stand within two metres of the goal kicker and try for a Psyche Out. Imagine the theatre of the goal kicking dealing with a person from the opposition whose sole job is to put them off. And think about who would be really great at it.
Of course former player and urine connoisseur Todd Carney would be good, as the goal kicker would not know what kind of behaviour would be coming. Or lack of behaviours more to the point. Going into history John Hopoate would also probably be very good at it. Same with Cooper Cronk, who could put the goal kicker to sleep with his constant droll.
Of the modern playing era, I’m sure someone like Cameron Munster would be good at the Psyche Out. Someone with a bit of cheek would excel, and for Munster be just another thing he’d be good at. Spencer Leniu would also work but down the other end of the scale with a stare that would unnerve any goal kicker except for Nathan Cleary one would presume.
Every club would have one that would be up for it. Reed Mahoney from the Bulldogs, Alex Seyfarth from the Tigers. Kurt Capewell from the Warriors. You can picture them all being successful at the Psyche Out.
As would any player from the PNG team coming soon. If they can survive playing in the PNG national competition, then psyching out an NRL player is easy work.
But no one would be better at the Psyche Out than Ray Stone. The Dolphins hard man, and secret action film consultant would not have to do anything. His presence and stare would be enough to have any goal kicker crumbling at the knees and checking their duds for Nutella. Worse still, if they do kick the goal, that would make Ray Stone even madder, which then the goal kicker would then presume, rightly, that Ray Stone would take it out on them next tree-felling tackle. So the goal kicker would work out it is in their best interest for their mental and physical health to never convert a goal when Ray Stone is nearby. Talk about impact for a team if the opposition are too scared to kick goals. It would claw back ten and more points each week. Which covers the lack of try scoring from Ray Stone. But don’t tell him I said that. I’m only covered for dental, optics and physio. Not Ray Stone inflicted pain and trauma.
That may lead to teams needing to rethink interchange strategy to include the best psychers. Adding a great element to the game.
But don’t let all the psyching out scare you away from this week’s expert tips for Round 23.
The NRL Donkey’s 2025 NRL Round 23 Expert Tips
THU – MELBOURNE v BRISBANE
Melbourne have never lost a Thursday home game. Ever. Which will make the camera pans into the coaches box even more funny if they do lose. That said, the Storm’s record v Brisbane, Qld and Thursday is amazing.
Melbourne by 26
FRI – NEWCASTLE v PENRITH
Penrith are the NRL’s hottest team again, restoring everything except ladder position to business as usual. It was fun for a while. Not fun is Newcastle’s home form. One of the only games they have won is where the crowd booed them at half time. So Panthers fans be wary not to boo Newcastle as they might think that it’s the Newcastle home fans trying to cheers them on. And probably also avoid giving the finger in any language.
Penrith by 20
FRI – CANBERRA v MANLY
One does have to check the NRL draw a few times to see Canberra playing on a Friday at 8pm at home on Channel Nein. The Raiders fans will tell you they’ve had the loss they had to have or the loss to get out of the way before the finals after losing last weekend. Now they need to avoid the loss they don’t really want. Lucky they’re playing Manly who are usually terrible away from home. And who could blame them this week swapping city comforts, proximity to Home and Away and beach for Antarctic Canberra.
Canberra by 12
SAT – ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA v CRONULLA (Kogarah)
Next.
Sharks by 30
SAT – DOLPHINS v ROOSTERS (Suncorp Stadium)
A proper finals battle clash where the Dolphins can sniff finals football if they beat the Roosters. This donkey will be hoping for some cooked chooks this weekend.
Dolphins by 20
SAT – BULLDOGS v WARRIORS (Olympic Stadium)
Two top four teams that are slowly choking their way to 2025 disappointment meet to make one feel worse than the other. Two things on the Warriors side – excellent away form in Sydney and rain. Bulldogs appear to hate it.
Warriors by 6
SUN – GOLD COAST v SOUTH SYDNEY
An early Spoon Bowl. Which does beg the question, why can’t we have a Spoon Bowl every season. As a punishment for being the two worst teams in the competition they have to play on the Monday night after the final Sunday game for our entertainment and to determine who was the worst team in 2025. This will really test Souths’ current form. The Rabbitohs streak over the Titans is as long as their injury list and current losing streak in 2025.
Souths by 2
SUN – PARRAMATTA v NORTH QUEENSLAND
The NRL certainly haven’t saved the best until last.
Five rounds to go and so much to play for, especially the Spoon Bowl clash on the Gold Coast on Sunday. Talking of a cutlery, our 2025 NRL Round 23 Tips Predictions & Stats Preview is here and will carve up any opposition tipping weekly.
Each week this season we offer up a quick preview glance for each match, throw in a bunch of barely interesting stats, and mix in a pinch of opinion, some spicy tips and you have a rugby league soup with probably more flavour than one could ever need or want. It’s all you can eat NRL stats.
2025 NRL Round 23 Tips
Here are our tips for the week ahead. How did we get to here? By going through all the visuals and stats below.
MELBOURNE by 20
PENRITH by 24
MANLY by 2
CRONULLA by 12
DOLPHINS by 6
BULLDOGS by 12
GOLD COAST by 4
PARRAMATTA by 2
Our famed barely interesting stats all in the one place for you convenience and arguments.
THU – MELBOURNE v BRISBANE
Melbourne have won all 19 home games on a Thursday.
Four of those Thursday home games have been against the Broncos.
Home or away, Melbourne are undefeated against Brisbane on a Thursday (eight games).
Melbourne have won eight games straight at AAMI Park v Brisbane.
Melbourne have won 16 in a row at AAMI Park v Qld sides with a last loss in 2016.
It’s not all about Melbourne, Brisbane have won both of their Thursday clashes this season and scored over 40 points both times.
Brisbane have a dreadful record away to non-Sydney teams on a Thursday – W4 L12.
FRI – NEWCASTLE v PENRITH
Newcastle’s upset over Penrith earlier in the season broke a run of ten straight losses to the Panthers.
Newcastle have still lost seven in a row at home to Penrith, with a last win in 2015.
Obscure stat of the week – Penrith have won the only two games v Newcastle in Newcastle on a Friday and have scored 29 points on both occasions.
Newcastle have lost their last five Friday games and the last four Friday home games.
Newcastle have the worst home record this season. They share two home wins with the Titans, but they have lost one fewer game.
Penrith are unbeaten in six away games now W5 D1.
FRI – CANBERRA v MANLY
Manly have won their last two visits to Canberra and five of the last saix.
Canberra have won both of their Friday games this season, but both were away. And not on Channel Nein.
Manly are W1 L3 on a Friday this season.
Manly have won only one of their last 12 away games on a Friday.
Manly have conceded on average the fewest points of any team in the first half this season at 7.7.
SAT – ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA v CRONULLA (Kogarah)
Cronulla have won ten in a row v St George Illawarra.
Cronulla have won five in a row v St George Illawarra at Kogarah.
Dragons are at least W5 L3 at home to Cronulla on a Saturday, but only one of those games was at Kogarah.
The Dragons have played the second most games on a Saturday this season (11) but the problem is they have only won three of them. Plus just one of seven v Sydney teams.
St George Illawarra have won two of their last 15 v Sydney teams on any day.
Cronulla are W9 L2 v bottom half sides (at time of fixture). Draogns are W2 L9 v top half sides in a nice rearrangement of their respective stats.
SAT – DOLPHINS v ROOSTERS (Suncorp Stadium)
Dolphins have scored 149 points in their last three games at Suncorp Stadium.
Dolphins are W5 L2 on a Saturday at Suncorp Stadium.
Dolphins are W8 L2 v Sydney teams at Suncorp Stadium.
Their first win at Suncorp Stadium v Sydney sides was their first ever game in the NRL against the Roosters.
Roosters have won their last three games v Qld sides.
Roosters have won seven of the last nine v Qld sides at Suncorp Stadium and the only games played on a Saturday.
SAT – BULLDOGS v WARRIORS (Olympic Stadium)
Bulldogs are W6 L2 at the Olympic Stadium this season.
Warriors are W12 L3 v Bulldogs on a Saturday. Six of those games have been in Australia. Four at the Olympic Stadium where the Warriors record is W3 L1.
Warriors have won only two of their last six. If the ladder was re-calculated on form since Winter started in June, the Warriors would be outside the top eight on points difference. Bulldogs would be 6th.
Warriors have won five of their last six away.
Warriors have won five in a row to Sydney teams and all four in 2025.
SUN – GOLD COAST v SOUTH SYDNEY
South Sydney have won nine on a row v Gold Coast with a last loss in 2016 in Perth.
South Sydney have won ten in a row v Titans at CBUS Stadium with a last loss in 2009.
Souths have won the only game at CBUS Stadium on a Sunday.
Gold Coast have beaten Souths twice in five Sunday games since 1998. One in Perth in 2016, and the other in 1998 when they were called the Chargers.
Souths have won just one of their last nine games on a Sunday.
Gold Coast have lost 11 games in a row on a Sunday.
But at least those 11 loses have seen 54 points per game being scored.
Titans have lost all three Sunday home games this season.
SUN – PARRAMATTA v NORTH QUEENSLAND
Parramatta have won five of their last six home games v North Queensland.
At CommBank, Parramatta are unbeaten in three games there v Cowboys.
Parramatta are W4 L6 at CommBank Stadium this season.
Parramatta are W1 L3 at CommBank Stadium this season on a Sunday. The only win was against the Gold Coast.
Parramatta have won only one of their last nine on a Sunday.
Cowboys have lost both of their away games on a Sunday this season v Sydney teams.
2025 NRL Season Stats Extra – The Winter Cup
Given the past few months and a bit have seemed like the competition has turned a little upside down, with top teams starting to lose a lot more frequently, Penrith’s run from last to who knows where that will end up, and everything in between.
So for fun, and we do love fund, we revised the ladder based on results from games in June, July and August, and calling it the Winter Cup. It doubles as a good indicator to how some of the teams are going heading into the business end of the season.
2025 NRL Season Stats
The best of the stats from the season that has been.
Lando Norris took McLaren’s 200th Grand Prix win holding off his team mate and Championship rival in a mouth watering battle. Talking of hungry our 2025 Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Result Summary should leave you as full and satisfied as after an eating competition.
This 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Result, Laps that Matter summary, Review & Ratings gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – A boilover in qualifying as Charles Leclerc takes pole position. McLaren had dominated everything up until Q3 and it looked just a matter of which Championship contender would be first and which one second. Conditions including temperature and win changed in Q3, handing an opportunity that Leclerc took. Meanwhile the Aston Martin are having a rare good weekend with 5th and 6th on the grid, and equally impressive is Gabriel Bortoleto 7th who outqualified the two most recent World Champions. At least Max Verstappen made Q3 (8th). Lewis Hamilton (13th) did not.
Conditions are colder, which may suit the Mercedes of George Russell. It’s a tight track which should suit the pole sitter Leclerc. It’s windy with a head wind down the main straight which should boost overtaking. Plus there could be rain on the way. Plenty of box tickers.
GRID (Starting Order) – LEC PIA NOR RUS ALO STR BOR VER LAW HAD
Lap 1 – Leclerc makes a good start, as does Oscar Piastri and it’s Ferrari-McLaren 1-2 into turn one. Lando Norris makes a less good start and is beaten by George Russell and then Fernando Alonso by turn five. Bortoleto gains one spot to sixth, Max Verstappen loses one. Lewis Hamilton two places, compounding their underwhelming qualifying. The Alpines lose three and four places. Advantage Piastri for Championship right now.
ORDER – LEC PIA RUS ALO NOR BOR STR LAW VER BEA
Lap 3 – Lando Norris overtakes Fernando Alonso in turn one at the beginning of lap three. Further back Max Verstappen gains a place or two over Stroll into the chicane this lap and Liam Lawson a lap ago. Meanwhile Charles Leclerc is doing it easy in front, leading by over a second and setting a few fastest laps in a row.
ORDER – LEC PIA RUS NOR ALO BOR VER STR LAW BEA
Lap 5 – Poor Gabriel Bortoleto, he is under investigation for a jumped start, which is usually black and white and means he’ll cop a penalty. Shame, he’s strong in sixth and annoying Fernando Alonso in fifth. The Hulk is under investigation too. Maybe it’s a flaw with the car or coincidence. Or the FIA don’t like Sauber. Which seems petty. But the FIA can be petty. People like The Hulk. FIA rule out punishing Bortoleto. That may be a case of missing identity with the other Sauber. Which is pretty hopeless if you think about it.
Lap 6 – Lando Norris sets fastest lap. We hope the Sky F1 commentary team don’t need fresh linen. He is fourth and just over a second behind George Russell. Meanwhile at the front Leclerc is over 2.5 seconds in front of Piastri and looking the goods.
Lap 9 – Tactics time – Oscar Piastri’s team radio suggest that the weather conditions means that some drivers are considering just one stop. Piastri says wait and see, so we will. No change in the top ten order except for Norris closing in on Russell. Leclerc is over five seconds in front of Norris.
Lap 10 – Checking in with Lewis Hamilton and after dropping from 12th to 14th on the first lap he remains 14th and behind his replacement Kimi Antonelli. A sad weekend for Lewis Hamilton.
Lap 11 – Charles Leclerc on the radio about cuts, so hopefully for his sake there isn’t a gremlin waiting in the Ferrari to ruin his day.
Lap 16 – Top five update – the gap between Leclerc at Piastri is maintaining at around 2.5 seconds like Piastri knows what he’s doing the whole time. George Russell is four seconds-ish behind Piastri and Norris can smell which oil Russell’s Mercedes uses. He’s getting as frustrated as the Sky F1 commentary team that he’s being stuck behind Russell. Despite Russell also being British. Alonso is 12 seconds behind Norris, but is going faster than the leaders apparently. More tactics talk with undercuts and overcuts of tyre stops.
ORDER – LEC PIA RUS NOR ALO BOR VER STR LAW BEA
Lap 18 – Max Verstappen pits for new tyres, the first major runner to do so.
Lap 19 – Oscar Piastri dives into the pits for new tyres, just as McLaren discuss the same for Lando Norris. Piastri, who comes out behind Alonso is trying to undercut Charles Leclerc.
Lap 20 – Leclerc and Russell pit. Can Leclerc hold his lead? The answer is yes. But the gap has closed to around a second. Meanwhile, Lando Norris is out in the lead, but did say two laps ago his tyres were finished. Replay of Leclerc locking up on those new tyres won’t help. But he does overtake Alonso a lap later. Piastri also gets past Alonso a couple of laps later, but is now two seconds behind Leclerc.
Lap 21 – George Russell setting fast sectors times, so Lando Norris is losing time out in front, which is good news for Oscar Piastri. Unless Norris and McLaren are secretly working on a one stop strategy. That’s tough going, but Norris is capable.
Lap 23 – Lando Norris still leads and looks like he could be hanging on for a one stop strategy, which will make it rather interesting later. Alonso and Bortoleto have yet to stop in the top six, but they won’t win. Unless it rains.
Lap 25 – Oscar Piastri asks whether the one stop strategy will work. His team say difficult. Meanwhile, Norris’ lead over Leclerc is reducing as is the gap from the Ferrari to Piastri
Lap 27 – Blast from the past in the midfield as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fight for 11th. Now they aren’t fighting for a championship maybe they can avoid running into each other now. The answer is not really as a few laps later it looks like one pushes the other wide off the road.
Lap 28 – McLaren ask Lando Norris if he can do 40 laps on a hard tyre for a one-stop strategy, and Norris replies with “why not”. Why not indeed, gives a point of difference.
ORDER – NOR LEC PIA RUS ALO BOR STR LAW BEA HAD
Lap 31 – Lando Norris’ lead is down to under three seconds as he dives into the pits for his one pit stop. He rejoins in front of Fernando Alonso which is helpful and fourth. About nine second behind George Russell.
ORDER – LEC PIA RUS NOR ALO BOR STR LAW VER HAD
Lap 37 – Top ten has settled down a bit now, and Charles Leclerc has edged further ahead Oscar Piastri from 1.5 seconds to over two seconds. Replays show Lando Norris running wide, and we await the excuse from Sky F1 to why that’s all good. Norris is going quickly to be fair but has a long time to go on those tyres.
Lap 40 – Fernando Alonso finally pits for tyres. He rejoins in 8th position. Bortoleto does his first pit stop and rejoins in 8th too. Alonso is 6th
Lap 41 – McLaren pit crew come out into the pitlane, but only Charles Leclerc pits for tyres, He rejoins in 4th. Perhaps a nice piece of mind games from McLaren. Can Piastri build a big enough gap?
Lap 43 – Lando Norris is right on George Russell’s tail as they battle for second on track. If Norris gets past it will give him a good chance to make the most of the one stop. The longer he stays behind the Mercedes the worse his finishing position will be. Doing Norris a favour, George Russell pits at the end of the lap. Norris is just under ten seconds behind Piastri, with Piastri surely due to pit soon.
Lap 46 – Oscar Piastri pits for new tyres. He rejoins behind Charles Leclerc. So to win this race the Australian needs to overtake both Leclerc and Norris. Lando Norris is looking rather strong out in the front right now, but those tyres have another 20+ laps to go. Tough gig, but Norris is capable. Should be an exciting finish.
Lap 50 – Oscar Piastri is catching Leclerc quickly but he needs to do so if he wants to win this race. The gap between the Ferrari and the Mclaren is close enough for DRS as they head into Lap 51 and Piastri takes his first chance. Around the outside of turn one no less. Lando Norris is 8.5 seconds ahead. The race is on for the lead.
ORDER – NOR PIA LEC RUS ALO BOR STR LAW VER ANT
Lap 53 – All of a sudden Leclerc’s Ferrari is undriveable, and the driver is pissed at his team. He has every right given his form. He recently lost a place to Piastri and looks like Russell is now a threat too.
Lap 54 – Oscar Piastri is just over five seconds behind Lando Norris and should be battling within three laps.
Lap 57 – The Mclaren drivers trade fast times, and the gap between them is 4.6 seconds after being less not long ago. Norris is holding on well for now, and Piastri have now find it as easy as it first seemed after passing Leclerc not long ago.
Lap 59 – The gap is 3.6 seconds between Norris and Piastri as the McLarens hit backmarkers to lap them. Adding an extra element to the already tense battle.
Lap 61 – The gap is down to 2.4 seconds, but it must be said that Piastri isn’t catching him with any authority. Meanwhile George Russell overtakes Charles Leclerc a lap after being grumpy at Leclerc’s attempts to stop him from doing so. It didn’t stop Leclerc doing exactly the same for this overtake too.
ORDER – NOR PIA RUS LEC ALO BOR STR LAW VER ANT
Lap 63 – The gap is now down to 1.2 seconds but the McLarens are approaching cars fighting for 10th, which won’t be easy. Just seven laps to go and it’s getting tight for Piastri to make the move.
Lap 65 – The gap is under a second now, so DRS is available for Piastri. Will Norris make it easy? You’d think not. But backmarkers might also decide the fate of this race. They are just in front of Norris.
Lap 66 – Six tenths covers the McLarens now, and Piastri had the DRS down the straight this time. Piastri doesn’t quite seems as fast as you’d think he’d be at this stage.
Lap 67 – Piastri isn’t quite close enough as they dive into the first corner. The gap is half a second but there’s no backmarkers in the way now. A straight fight, which will play down the pit straight the next few laps. Four left in fact.
Lap 68 – Piastri wobbles out of the last corner and gets almost close enough in to turn one. Norris doing so well on older tyres. Piastri is closer throughout the rest of the lap this time around, but he needs to be. There’s just two more chances left to win this race.
Lap 69 – Piastri lunges and locks up and Norris keeps the lead. Piastri is not close enough it seems as they approach the final lap. It’s going to take a huge dive for Piastri which hopefully doesn’t end in tears.
FINAL LAP – Piastri is not close enough down the pit straight and doesn’t make a move into turn one. Norris is doing enough, and there’s nowhere left really to pass. Norris is almost home and does win as Piastri can’t get close enough or pass around the tight remainder of the lap.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – NOR PIAS RUS LEC ALO BOR STR LAW VER ANT
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. 5 points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – LANDO NORRIS
It looked like a Lando Norris kind of weekend through most of the early days, but he qualified third and lost two places at the start. That disappointment was put aside, and he was put on a different one stop strategy and it worked a treat. His drive to the slower one stop strategy was quite impressive and hung on for a deserved win.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CHARLES LECLERC – Took a pole position that looked unlikely given the McLarens pace up to that point in the weekend. Led the race convincingly too early, but his race died in the arse in the last stint. Disappointing not to make the podium, but his continued success piles on more misery to his World Champion team mate.
OSCAR PIASTRI – Probably should have taken pole position and won by a mile, probably should have won the race. Second will do, but there will be regrets.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Continues in his fight to be best of the rest, qualifying fourth and running third after a great start. Extracting maximum out of his Mercedes while extracting minimal contract movement with his Mercedes team. Takes the final podium after a robust fight with Charles Leclerc.
GABRIEL BORTOLETO – Qualified 7th, outqualifying Max Verstappen. Gained a spot at the start and stayed in 6th for most of the race. Impressive stuff from the rookie as the Sauber keeps getting better.
FERNANDO ALONSO – Took advantage of a decent Aston Martin for a change and qualified fifth. Made a good start and overtook Lando Norris and stayed in front for a lap or two. Ran in the top six for most of the race. Finished 5th is some result.
LANCE STROLL – This website is traditionally harsh of Lance Stroll and we should acknowledge when he is isn’t hopeless.
THE GRAPE-EST – LEWIS HAMILTON
Another missed Q1 session, and your team mate takes a surprise pole position. Not great. Then drops two places at the start to fall to 14th, making point scoring difficult. He seemed pretty down after qualifying, and presume he’ll add to that after the race. 12th place is ordinary.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
RED BULL – If Max Verstappen is outqualified by a Sauber and two Aston Martins, then there’s something wrong. Not even a Horner-sacking can help it seems. The ultimate benchmark on car Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out in Q1, started from pitlane and ran towards the back to the whole race.
CARLOS SAINZ – It isn’t if Sainz regrets his WIlliams move, but how much. And looking at Red Bull, they really did drop the ball but now signing Sainz.
ALPINE – Second last and last at the end. Cemented to bottom of Championship.
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
PRE RACE ACTION (FP, QUAL, SPRINT, OFF TRACK etc) – 3 / 5
When you hear changes and massive spend at the Hungaroring you get excited. Then it’s only a grandstand and F1 paddock. Qualifying was super interesting when the Ferrari all of a sudden went quicker than the dominant McLarens to that point.
ON TRACK ACTION (RACE) – 5/ 10
Enough action during the race with an interesting start and a few cars out of regular order. Extra strategies than usual added an extra element for the race as well.
ANY SURPRISES? – 4 / 5
Leclerc taking pole position was quite the surprise. As was Aston Martin qualifying 5th and 6th. Lewis Hamilton’s decline is still surprising. Same with the depth of Red Bull’s fall.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 5 / 5
Every race is important right now with the McLarens one-two and fighting for the Championship. Going into the Summer Break, you’d say that is a slight advantage to Norris for momentum despite the Championship deficit.
ENDING – 5/ 5
A tense finish as Piastri hunted Lando Norris and Norris hangs on with the one stop strategy. Norris hung on, but how good to have racing between Championship chasing team mates without incident.
OVERALL RATING – 22 / 30
A decent race at a track which usually provides not much in terms of dry racing. Championship defining, tense, surprise results. Worth the late night.
Want more NRL information than just the draw, results or the current ladder? Then you are in the right place and the right time with the home of the right NRL Stats and Stuff via our 2025 NRL Round 22 Results Stats Summary for the weekend that was.
Each week we compile and keep up to date a wide range of stats from the latest weekend of NRL action plus the best 2025 NRL Season Stats to help you to the top of the tipping competition, land a few responsible winners or even make your Supercoach team better. And now with a match by match summary full of all the stats you need and/or want.
It’s all stats, and never Slats. Never.
2025 NRL Round 22 Results and Match Summaries
Want or need a quick summary of every game from last weekend? Well here they all are in all their summary glory.
It’s easy to throw around a few stats post matches in a Monday’s experts, and we certainly do that, but our Monday’s Experts Key Learning tries to guide you into considering some key stats from the weekend to remember for your next tipping adventure.
MELBOURNE ARE GOOD ON THURSDAYS
Melbourne have won eight of their last nine away games on a Thursday plus Melbourne have won their last six Thursday matches away to Sydney clubs. As good as those stats are, it doesn’t beat their Thursday home record – they have won all 19 games. Good luck Broncos in Round 23.
PENRITH’S RECORD V QLD SIDES IS SLIGHTLY UNDERWHLEMING
The Panthers got away with one against the Gold Coast on Saturday, the win was only their second v Qld teams this season. The worry for Penrith, if it is a worry, is that it looks like there could be two Qld teams in the finals this season. The record is W2 D1 L2 for the record.
BULLDOGS DON’T APPEAR TO LIKE THE RAIN
The upside of climate change for NRL fans appears to be that the extra rain through the rugby league months appears to have slowed down the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have lost five games this season only, but three of those losses have been in wet conditions.
NO WIN STADIUM FOR RAIDERS
The Dragons broke a five game losing streak against Canberra on Saturday night, but it was actually their third win over Canberra in four games at Wollongong’s Win Stadium. It’s W3 L2 for the Dragons there v all sides this season.
QUICK HITS
No team in Dolphins v Warriors games have won consecutive games in the past three seasons.
Cronulla have won 14 of their last 16 v North Qld.
2025 NRL Season Stats Summary
Do you need NRL 2025 Season stats, or just want 2025 NRL Season stats?
Either way, here’s more than you could probably ever need, or want.
2025 NRL Round 22 Performance Ratings
Aside from winners and losers, we have decided to see which teams performed the best according to key stats, as some losers do pay better than some winners.
We took all the key stats from the most recent round, worked out the % of the best/worst stat, and applied a calculation out of 100% for every team from this weekend.
After the ratings are the stats used in the calculation, with some stats higher and lower value based on importance.
Time to separate the rugby league Wheat/Chaff or the NRL Mutton/Lamb and present the 2025 NRL Round 22 Team of the Week & Player Stats.
First we have our Team of the Week, which takes some of the key player stats from the weekend and using various scoring methods come up with the best players in their positions from the latest round of the NRL.
Then there’s additional player stats from this weekend that was and the season that is.
2025 NRL Round 22 Team of the Week
We’ve used the stats for each position and picked the best starting 13 players from the most recent round, the stats and points assigned are explained at the end.
On top of the best starting 13, we also include the best four interchange players of the week. Seeing who has provided maximum impact from the bench.
2025 NRL Round 22 Player Stats Summary
Want to see which players topped the key stats for the latest round of the NRL this weekend?
2025 NRL Team of the Season….So Far
Here’s our stats rolled up into the team of the season so far.
