The National Rugby League (NRL) today released the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership schedule, as part of the biggest and boldest NRL calendar ever contemplated.
Round One will begin with the much-anticipated Las Vegas matches on March 1 (US), with Premiers Penrith Panthers facing Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, alongside the clash between the Canberra Raiders and the Warriors.
The round will then continue the following week, with matches in Australia launched at Allianz Stadium on Thursday, March 6, with the clash between Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos. The Dolphins face Wayne Bennett’s South Sydney Rabbitohs in a Suncorp Stadium blockbuster on Friday night, which follows the match between Wests Tigers and Newcastle Knights.
Round One continues with matches between St George Illawarra Dragons and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles against North Queensland Cowboys (Saturday). The huge opening round ends with the Sunday clash between 2024 Grand Finalists Melbourne Storm at home to Jason Ryles’s Parramatta Eels.
The rivalries and blockbusters continue over subsequent weeks. Round Three features Brisbane Broncos against North Queensland Cowboys, the Grand Final rematch between Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers, and Parramatta Eels v the Bulldogs.
Round Four includes the newest but now one of the biggest rivalries – the Dolphins against Brisbane Broncos – as well as one of Sydney’s biggest match-ups, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles against Parramatta Eels.
The competition will also traverse both Australia and New Zealand. Round 6 will feature a Perth double header at Optus Stadium, a match in Darwin between Parramatta Eels and Canberra Raiders, while the Warriors play in Christchurch in Round 8
The traditional Easter round (Round 7) will once again include the Bulldogs v South Sydney Rabbitohs (Friday) and Wests Tigers v Parramatta Eels (Monday), while ANZAC Round’s feature matches will be Sydney Roosters v St George Illawarra Dragons, Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Warriors up against Newcastle Knights on ANZAC Day.
Themed Rounds in 2025 will include:
- Multicultural Round (Round 5), highlighted by the Friday night blockbuster between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters;
- NRL Magic Round Brisbane (Round 9), supercharged with Sydney Roosters v the Dolphins (Friday) and Penrith Panthers v Brisbane Broncos (Sunday)
- Harvey Norman Women In League Round (Round 10)
- Beanie for Brain Cancer Round (Round 17)
- The first ever Indigenous Round across two rounds (Round 23 and Round 24), featuring three matches at Allianz Stadium and also integrating the NRLW competition.
- Telstra Footy Country Round (Round 25), a round dedicated to celebrating the passion, excitement, and community spirit that fuels footy, from the grassroots fields to the elite Premiership via the NRL’s major partner Telstra.
St George Illawarra Dragons’ new signing Clint Gutherson will face his old club Parramatta Eels at CommBank Stadium in Round Five, a match which will also feature Zac Lomax playing in Eels colours against his old club.
Wests Tigers, with new signing Jarome Luai in tow, faces Penrith Panthers in Round 14 at CommBank Stadium in a Sunday afternoon blockbuster, followed by the traditional King’s Birthday weekend match between the Bulldogs and Parramatta Eels at Accor Stadium on Monday.
The 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership schedule will feature the lowest number of five-day turnarounds ever delivered in an NRL draw (21). That constitutes a significant drop in five-day turnarounds from Season 2024 (26) and Season 2023 (30).
“This is an exciting time for fans as we unveil the season 2025 integrated NRL and NRLW schedules,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.
“The schedule is bigger and bolder than ever with thirty-two weeks of jaw-dropping action which will see rivalries, excitement and unparalleled skills at every turn.
“I’d like to thank our broadcast partners Channel Nine, Fox Sports, Sky Sports New Zealand and naming rights partner Telstra for their investment and support of the game.
For the first time ever, the NRL has released the schedule alongside an interactive hub designed to take fans closer than ever to their teams.
The draw hub features analysis of every team, including win-loss records against all opponents, and is available at https://draw-hub.nrl.com/
The full 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership schedule can be found at https://www.nrl.com/draw/
