NRL Five-Eighth Power Rankings 2026: Joel’s Top 5 Heading Into the Season

Joel Johnston

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Last updated: Thu 26 Feb 2026 21:49

Joel Johnston 26 Feb 2026

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Dylan Brown (Newcastle Knights): Emerges due to impressive late-year international performance.
Matt Burton (Bulldogs): Potential game-changer, contingent on stable team setup.
Cameron Munster (Melbourne Storm): Leads with unmatched skills and adaptability.

Cameron Munster of the Storm. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

NRL Five-Eighth Power Rankings 2026: Joel’s Top 5 heading into the season

The five-eighth role has never been more fascinating than it is heading into 2026.

NRL Five-Eighth Power Rankings 2026: Joel’s Top 5 heading into the season
5. Dylan Brown (Newcastle Knights)
4. Matt Burton (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
3. Tom Dearden (North Queensland Cowboys)
2. Ethan Strange (Canberra Raiders)
1. Cameron Munster (Melbourne Storm)
Just missed the cut: Cody Nikorima

It used to be simple. Pick your runner, pick your ball-player, and hope the halves combination clicks. Now the best sixes can do a bit of everything. They can carry a team when the spine is broken. They can win you field position with a kick you did not see coming. They can play chaotic, off-the-cuff footy when a game needs to be flipped, then go right back to structure when the moment calls for it.

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After breaking this position down on the League of Inches podcast, one thing became pretty clear. The top end still has a king, but the next layer is closing in fast, and the context around each player matters more than ever.

These rankings are based on what I believe we are getting in 2026. Form, role, ceiling, and the situation each five-eighth is walking into.

5. Dylan Brown (Newcastle Knights)

A few months ago, I did not think Dylan Brown would be anywhere near this list.

Then the international window happened, and I could not ignore what he produced. The version of Brown we saw at the back end of last year was sharp, confident, and dangerous again, the kind of player who bends defensive lines without needing everything to be perfect around him.

The key for Newcastle is simple. Brown cannot be asked to organise like a halfback. He is at his best when someone else steers the ship and he plays run-first, eyes up, and strikes when the moment is there. If Sandon Smith can genuinely own the controlling role and feed Brown the way a true seven should, Brown’s upside is massive.

This is a ranking built on belief, but it is not blind belief. We have seen what Brown looks like as a pure five-eighth. If Newcastle let him play like one, he will climb quickly.

4. Matt Burton (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)

This pick comes with one big condition, and Bulldogs fans already know what it is.

Matt Burton is a top-tier footballer, but the Bulldogs are walking into a genuine halves headache. If Burton is the six, he belongs in this conversation. If the Bulldogs settle on a different combination and Burton shifts roles, then this ranking is really about whoever owns that Bulldogs five-eighth jersey in 2026.

Burton’s case is built on what he does well at his best. He is powerful, he can hurt teams with his running game, and he brings a kicking threat that changes how edges defend. He can also go quiet when Canterbury’s attack gets too conservative, which is why I have him here rather than higher.

If the Bulldogs open up a bit more and commit to a settled halves pairing, Burton becomes a much bigger weekly factor. If the role is unstable again, it caps everything.

3. Tom Dearden (North Queensland Cowboys)

Tom Dearden being third on a five-eighth list should not feel strange, but the Cowboys situation right now makes it feel weird anyway.

I am going off the talk coming out of North Queensland that suggests Dearden could spend more time at six while the club experiments with their halves setup. Personally, I still view Dearden as the controlling half in that team. I think the Cowboys are at their best when he has his hands on the wheel and Scott Drinkwater is playing off him.

But wherever he lines up on paper, Dearden’s value is the same. He competes like few others, he drags his team into games, and he has developed into the kind of playmaker who can win you big moments without needing the game to be perfect.

If the Cowboys finally settle on a spine that makes sense, Dearden’s influence grows again. If they keep tinkering, it becomes harder than it should be, because this is his team now.

2. Ethan Strange (Canberra Raiders)

Ethan Strange is the one I cannot stop thinking about for 2026.

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The confidence is obvious, the physicality is obvious, and the running threat is already elite. When Strange gets the chance to play direct, he makes defenders make decisions they do not want to make, and that is what opens up everything else for Canberra.

The big question is how the Raiders shape their halves around him, because Strange is not a classic organiser. He is a strike weapon. He needs the right balance beside him, someone who can steady the set and let Strange pick his moments.

If Canberra get that pairing right, Strange has the kind of season that forces him into the biggest conversations in the game. He is already knocking on the door. A consistent 2026 puts him through it.

1. Cameron Munster (Melbourne Storm)

Cameron Munster is still the benchmark, and it is not particularly complicated.

What separated Munster in 2025 was not just the highlights. It was the growth in the parts of his game that used to be seen as optional. His kicking improved. His ability to control tempo improved. And when Melbourne’s spine was not fully intact, he still found ways to keep the Storm dangerous.

NRL Winger Power Rankings 2026 (finishing and kick outcomes tied to halves play)

Munster at his best is chaos with purpose. He plays what he sees, he punishes hesitation, and he breaks games open in moments that do not even look like opportunities. When you add an improved kicking game and a more complete control layer, it becomes a brutal package for any defence.

The league has more talented five-eighths coming through than it has in years. Munster is still the one they are chasing.

Just missed the cut: Cody Nikorima

One of the biggest talking points from the episode was Cody Nikorima as a genuine top-five smoky.

The case is simple. When he is fit and on the park, he adds danger and connection to the Dolphins attack, and that matters when you are playing next to a dominant half. The hesitation is also simple. It always comes back to availability and how many games you get in a season.

If the Dolphins get a clean run with their spine and Nikorima stays healthy, this section could look very smart by mid-year.