With only six rounds remaining before the finals in the 2026 Harrigan Cup, the top five teams are separated by just two points on the ladder, highlighting the intense competition heading into the final stretch.
During the bye round, Harrison Mellare caught up with Johnny Pett, Illawarra Rugby League Caller for BarTV, to get his expert insights on the competition’s most improved teams, standout players, and his predictions for who will emerge on top by season’s end.
“I reckon the absolute standout story is how the Corrimal Cougars are going this season,” Pett said.
“They’ve been building for a big season probably for about the last two or three years.
“They’ve been a bit of the ‘easy beats’ in the past ten years of the competition, but without the Cougars in the competition, it could’ve gone down to four or five teams for numerous years, so it’s really good to see Corrimal emerge as now a real premiership contender.
“They’re probably the team that everyone thought they could go and get two points from the last few years, but underneath Sean Tabet [Corrimal head coach] the last two seasons, they’ve just come on in leaps and bounds, and they’ve recruited really well in the off-season.
“They’ve got their big three players there: Ben Murdoch-Masila, Reuben Porter, and then Ray Faitala-Mariner, and then you add Brad Morkos into the mix, and they’ve got the absolute strike power all over the paddock.”
Pett also noted that, in recent seasons, this is the closest the teams have been on the ladder heading into the finals series.
“Previous years gone by, you’ve usually had two, possibly three standout teams that are going to get down to the pointy end of the season, but we’ve just completed Round 9, we’re going into Round 10 next weekend, and all five teams can still be there on the big stage there in September.”
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In addition to Corrimal’s comeback story from previous seasons, Pett also credited Thirroul’s progress this season.
“Thirroul are probably the other improvers there. Last year, you forget about it, but they took the wooden spoon last season.
“You go back two years ago, they won the Grand Final in 2023, they got beaten by Wests in 2024 in the grand final, and then in 2025, they’re wooden spooners,” Pett explained.
“Eight rounds in, they were clear on the competition table; now I think they’re equal first points there at the top with Wests, so the turnaround of Thirroul this season has been enormous.
“Jarrod Costello [Thirroul head coach] has done another great job in the off-season recruiting. He recruited Brent Naden there who’s been absolutely outstanding, got Corey Allen there at fullback; he’s been absolutely outstanding for them, and then you throw in Luke Maddaford there in the centres, and he’s been really, really good this season.
Freebairn The Standout: Pett
As for individual players, Pett highlighted his key performers so far this season includes both local talent and former NRL veterans.
“The biggest impact on a side and the player, and he’s been my standout, is Tommy Freebairn there at Dapto, the captain-coach for the Dapto Canaries.
“He leads by example, he’s in everything, he’d be up there on stats with hit-ups and tackle counts and touches of the ball in every 80 minutes that he’s played this season. He’s the absolute key to Dapto being successful for the remainder of the season,” Pett said.
“You look at the Corrimal side and the big one there is Brad Morkos. The work he does out of his own end with the ball and the yardage sets is absolutely phenomenal. He’s so, so strong, he’s very physical, but he’s also a really good down that good ball end and can produce absolute magic.
“Brent Naden, I think he’s been absolutely exceptional. A little bit slow the first couple of rounds to get used to coming from the NRL back to a bit of local park footy, but he’s really excelled the last few weeks, and I think we’ve seen him score some amazing tries off the back of that.”
Pett also gave praise to Nic Hall from Collegians, George Jennings from Wests, and Harrison Geraghty from Sutherland Loftus.
Devils Still The Benchmark
As for who will win the premiership this season, Pett said despite the intense competition, the two-time defending premiers are still the front-runners.
“That’s the million-dollar question, and it’s the hardest one, Pett said.
“I think if you follow a team in this competition and they get knocked out, I think every person’s going to be wanting to see Corrimal do well. I think it’s an absolute fairytale story, and I believe that if you’re a Wests supporter or a Thirroul supporter and you’re going for another team, it’ll be Corrimal, but you can’t knock back Wests at the moment.
“They’re going for three in a row. I know they’ve been a little bit hit-and-miss and they’ve been beaten up with injuries at the moment, but they’re probably still the benchmark of the competition, in my opinion.”
Words: Harrison Mellar
Photo credit: Denis Ivaneza