2026 Newcastle Knights season

2026 Newcastle Knights season
Team information
CEOPhil Gardner
CoachJustin Holbrook
Captain
StadiumMcDonald Jones Stadium
← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 Newcastle Knights season is the club's 39th season in the professional National Rugby League (NRL) football competition in Australia.

Coached by Justin Holbrook and captained by Kalyn Ponga, the club will compete in the NRL's 2026 Telstra Premiership.

Squad

For the complete list of Newcastle Knights players, see List of Newcastle Knights players.
Newcastle Knights 2026 squad
Top 30 squad - 2026 NRL season Development list Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

  • Brett White - Defence
  • Steven Hales - Attack
  • Danny Buderus
  • Matt Lantry - Pathways
  • Michael Dobson - NSW Cup Coach
  • Alex Moore - Jersey Flegg coach
  • Will Markwick - NRL Head of Performance
  • Chris James - Director of Football
Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)

Updated: 3 March 2026
Source(s): Newcastle Knights Profiles,
Rugby League Project

Pre-season

Newcastle played the Parramatta Eels in Newcastle and the Sydney Roosters in Gosford as their pre-season fixtures. Both matches were part of the third edition of the NRL Pre-season Challenge.[1]

  Win   Draw   Loss

Saturday, 7 February St. George Illawarra Dragons 28–18 Newcastle Knights Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
18:30 AEST (UTC+10:00)
 Tries:
Reed  12'
Tu  23'
Kerr  49'
Feagai  69'
Buchanan  75'
Sloan  77'
Goals:
Reed  13', 25' (2/5)
O'Neill (0/0)
 Report
Tries:
McCarthy  16'
Jones  27'
Schiller  31'
Cant  64'
Goals:
Cant  66' (1/1)
Smith (0/3)
Attendance: 3,926
Referee: Peter Gough
Saturday, 14 February Newcastle Knights 0–28 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 AEST (UTC+10:00)
 1st: 0–16
2nd: 0–12
Report
Tries:
Sua  15'
Burton  19'
Salmon  33'
Kikau  64'
Toy  74'
Goals:
Crichton 2/3  21', 35'

O'Sullivan 2/2  65', 75'
Attendance: 8,358
Referee: Liam Kennedy

Regular season

Main article: 2026 NRL season

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Melbourne Storm 2 2 0 0 0 98 24 +74 4 Advance to finals series
2 New Zealand Warriors 2 2 0 0 0 82 24 +58 4
3 Penrith Panthers 2 2 0 0 0 52 6 +46 4
4 Newcastle Knights 2 2 0 0 0 64 34 +30 4
5 Wests Tigers 1 1 0 0 1 44 16 +28 4
6 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1 1 0 0 1 15 14 +1 4
7 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2 1 0 1 0 56 36 +20 2
8 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2 1 0 1 0 58 56 +2 2
9 Dolphins 2 1 0 1 0 48 54 −6 2
10 Sydney Roosters 2 1 0 1 0 44 60 −16 2
11 Canberra Raiders 2 1 0 1 0 35 68 −33 2
12 Parramatta Eels 2 1 0 1 0 44 84 −40 2
13 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2 0 0 2 0 44 65 −21 0
14 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2 0 0 2 0 34 61 −27 0
15 Brisbane Broncos 2 0 0 2 0 32 66 −34 0
16 North Queensland Cowboys 2 0 0 2 0 34 72 −38 0
17 Gold Coast Titans 2 0 0 2 0 24 68 −44 0
Updated to match(es) played on 15 March 2026. Source: National Rugby League

Results by round

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627
GroundHAHAHAAHHAA-HA-HHHAAHAAHHA-
ResultWBBB
Position
Points2
Source: [1]
A = Away; H = Home; N = Neutral; B = Bye; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Main article: 2026 NRL season results

The league fixtures were released on 14 November 2025.[2]

  Bye   Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

Round 1: 1 March 2026 Newcastle Knights 28–18 North Queensland Cowboys Las Vegas, Nevada
13:15 AEDT
 Tries:
Sharpe  6'

Marzhew  13'
Best  45'
Young  47'
Mooney  72'
Goals:
Ponga 4/5  7', 14', 46', 73'

 1st: 12–12
2nd: 16–6
Report
Tries:
Luki  25'

Taulagi  30', 51'
Goals:
Clifford 3/3  26', 31', 53'

 Stadium: Allegiant Stadium
Referee: Ashley Klein

References

  1. ^ "2025 NRL Pre-Season Challenge". National Rugby League. 14 November 2025.
  2. ^ "2026 NRL Telstra Premiership Schedule". National Rugby League. 14 November 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.