Merry Christmas!

From everyone at LeagueUnlimited.com, to you and your family & friends - we wish you a very Merry Christmas, happy 2026, and a safe holiday season.

2025 just blazed on by incredibly quickly. Brisbane cracked the Penrith run of premierships, knocking the four-time champions out on prelim weekend before taking care of Melbourne in the decider. In England, Hull KR broke a long-running duck to claim their first Super League title in the competition's 30th year. Brisbane also picked up the NRLW title - their third - while in the UK Wigan were crowned Women's Super League champions with a gritty win over Saints.

Individual honours went to fullbacks James Tedesco (Roosters, NRL) and Tamika Upton (Brisbane, NRLW) in the Dally M Awards, with Leeds' Jake Connor and Wigan's Eva Hunter the respective Man and Woman of Steel over the UK.

State of Origin saw the spoils shared - NSW dominated the women's series 2-1 after winning the first two matches, while Queensland came from behind in the men's to win 2-1 after losing first up.

International rugby league saw the Australian side travel to England for the first Ashes series in decades, picking up a 3-0 series win (which at the time of writing, is also the ledger in the cricket Ashes...). New Zealand won the men's Pacific Cup in the Pacific Championships, while Australia were winners in the women's. 2026 RLWC berths were finalised as well, with Fiji taking the 8th and final spot in the women's tournament and France & Cook Islands completing the ten-nation men's. Full international results can be viewed here.

Winners across other competitions - congratulations: Warriors (NSW Cup), Cronulla (NSW Womens), Burleigh (QLD Cup), Brisbane Tigers (QRL Womens), Toulouse (RFL Championship), York Knights (1895 Cup), Hull KR (Challenge Cup), and Wigan (Women's Challenge Cup).

For results, team sheets and more for just about every game for all the competitions listed above, just click here. And if you're excited to see who plays who when in 2026 in any competiton, click here.

Incredibly, only days after the 2025 calendar of rugby league ended with a women's international in the Netherlands on 13 December, the 2026 calendar kicked off on Saturday 20 December, with the first pre-season friendlies in the UK already underway! Those matches will continue through the rest of the month and into January. Challenge Cup and Championship get started mid-January before the Super League season kicks off mid-February, while here in Australia the pre-season happens in February before the NRL proper kicks off in Las Vegas on the last weekend of the same month (March 1st Australian time!)

For those wanting to get amongst it and voice their own thoughts, LeagueUnlimited's 'The Front Row Forums' are still incredibly popular 24/7. The largest rugby league discussion forums online continue to grow, with the usual debate and frank exchange of views. You can also follow the latest news and match updates on social media with us, so make sure you hit follow along with nearly 25,000 other footy fans who follow us on Twitter (we're not calling it that other name).

We end on a huge huge huge thank you to the contributors, writers and updaters who give their own time for LU, as well as the moderators and administrators on the Front Row Forums. The website and discussion forums wouldn't continue to be such a success without you all - keep up the tireless and appreciated work you do! A special mention to the Rugby League Project crew who do incredible work and are part of the reason we've been able to produce the online program THE FRONT ROW for six seasons. You can read all 180+ back issues here. And keep an eye out for our combined 2025 Annual publication in the coming weeks!

If you're interested in joining our writing team, we are always on the lookout for anyone wanting to be part of LeagueUnlimited.com. If you have any offers, suggestions or think you have what it takes to be part of the team, please don't hesitate to email us at media@leagueunlimited.com.

A safe and enjoyable holidays to one and all.

- The LeagueUnlimited.com team
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