The Wrap: Mitch's Eels in six-way fight for Pre-Season Challenge glory
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The Eels will roll out gun playmaker Mitch Moses for the first time this season in a bid to secure the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge title for the first time.
On the back of an impressive win over the Sharks in which they scooped the full 15 points on offer, the Eels go into their Round 3 clash with the star-studded Roosters with a real shot at the 100K prizemoney.
Moses teams with Jonah Pezet in a mouth-watering halves showdown with Daly Cherry-Evans and Sam Walker at Polytec Stadium on Saturday night.
With ladder leaders the Cowboys (27 pts) and second-placed Bulldogs (16 pts) already Vegas-bound, the door opens for the Eels, Titans, Wests Tigers and Raiders, all of whom sit on 15 points heading into an enthralling final round.
The Tigers get their chance to shoot to the top of the table when they clash with the Panthers on Friday night at Leichhardt Oval, both sides stacked with internationals stepping out for their first run of 2026.
Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi will lead the Tigers around Leichhardt Oval with star recruit Kai Pearce-Paul lining up in the second row and former Warrior Bunty Afoa at prop.
They confront a powerful Panthers side that contains premiership heroes Dylan Edwards, Brian To'o, Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Moses Leota as well as young guns Jesse McLean, Keahn Skipps and Jaxen Edgar.
The Raiders also head into Round 3 on 15 points and kick off our Saturday footy feast when they tackle the Sharks, who went down to the Eels last Sunday in a nostalgic trip back to Henson Park.
First Take: Roosters v Eels
With Nicho Hynes, Braydon Trindall, Addin Fonua-Blake and Will Kennedy all back on deck, the Sharks go in as hot favourites but there's enough class in the Green Machine squad to push Fitzy's men all the way.
The Titans get their chance when they meet the Storm at the Sunshine Coast Stadium, chasing a win and three bonus points with Jayden Campbell and AJ Brimson teaming in the halves and skipper Tino Fa'asuamaleaui showing the way in his first game of 2026.
With the Storm unleashing Cameron Munster, Harry Grant, Sua Faalogo and new recruit Davvy Moale, this promises to be a high-octane clash full of highlight reel moments.
The final match of the 2026 Witzer Pre-Season Challenge takes us to the picturesque Glen Willow Oval in Mudgee where Souths and Manly bring their Ferraris out of the garage for a final tune-up before Round 1.
First Take: Storm v Titans
Both sides enter the weekend on 13 points and would need to scoop the pool with a win and three bonus points to have any chance of storming home to take the title depending on other results earlier in the round.
Regardless of whether they are still in the hunt there will be huge interest in the club debuts of David Fifita at Souths and Jamal Fogarty at Manly, while Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Tolu Koula and Reuben Garrick are sure to put on a show.
- Check the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge LADDER Here
Bonus points
The addition of bonus points to go alongside points earned by winning or drawing a match ensures teams have something to play for in every contest, no matter what's happening on the scoreboard.
Alongside points accumulated through results, the number of bonus points a team can snare each game could make all the difference on what is sure to be a congested ladder.
The club with the most points at the conclusion of the two rounds will be declared the winner of the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge and claim the $100,000 in prizemoney.
Tiebreaker process
Given the short duration of the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge, there is a good chance the winner will have to be decided via a countback, and the NRL has devised a system to find a winner should teams finish tied on points at the top of the ladder.
Defending champs
The Broncos piled on 80 points in two games in 2025 to make it back-to-back Witzer Pre-Season Challenge titles. They kicked off with a 50-12 win over the Titans in Toowoomba before downing the Bulldogs 30-12 at Redcliffe. The Dragons were the only other team to win both their matches in last year's Pre-Season Challenge but the Broncos had a superior points differential and pocketed the $100,000. With the NRL premiers in England for the World Club Challenge, a new champion will be crowned in the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge.
