Will any of last year's top four play finals?

In every season, there is expected to be some turnover amongst the top eight from the previous year.

On average, it's usually three teams that drop out after featuring the year prior.

However, 2026 could be the first year that last year's top four will all miss, with Greg Alexander believing only one of them could still make finals.

Last year’s top four featured the Raiders, Storm, Bulldogs and Broncos, with fourth-placed Brisbane going on to win it all after defeating the Storm in the decider.

But with the competition passing the halfway mark of the 2026 season, all four sides find themselves out of the eight between 11th and 14th place, with each side suffering a losing streak of at least four games at some point.

As a result, there’s doubt as to whether any of the four will feature in finals, which has not happened before in the NRL’s history.

When asked the question by Corey Parker as to which of those could still feature in the pointy end of the season, Alexander thinks the Storm, who will have their first bye this week, can make their 16th straight finals appearance.

“Only the Storm,” Alexander said on SEN’s Kick Off.

“They're not guaranteed, but they've still got three byes, and they're sitting on six wins.

“I just think if you have a look at the run Cozza (Corey) for the Broncos, it's a tough run.

“They play all the sides that are sitting in the eight and they won 10 of 12 last year to make the top four (last year).

“Are they playing well enough to do that? No, not at the moment.”

Both the Storm and the Bulldogs have the bye for Round 15.

Brisbane will look to break their five-game losing streak against South Sydney to begin Round 15 on Thursday.

Canberra plays the Eels this Saturday night at CommBank Stadium.