Can money buy NRL success? No. There’s a much more important ingredient |
Can money buy NRL success? No. There’s a much more important ingredient
April 9, 2026 — 11:45am
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In a casual discussion with a long-time former NRL club chief executive and chair, he talked about sustained success.
“Do you know what those clubs consistently at the top have in common?” the ex-club boss asked. “Money.”
It’s an interesting point, considering every club spends the same amount on players under the salary cap, just under $12 million per year.
What the former CEO was referring to is the set-up of these clubs: the centres of excellence, the sports science and access to medical experts, facilities in general, support staff overseeing the salary cap and junior development, coaching staff, etc.
And while each club is structured very differently, there are definitely haves and have-nots.
I put the CEO’s theory to the test and crunched the numbers over the past 10 seasons to see how often teams made the finals. Making the finals consistently is a definite KPI for clubs.
At the top of the list is Melbourne – who made all 10– followed by the Panthers, Roosters and Sharks with nine appearances. They were the four stand-outs.
The Raiders and Broncos are next with six appearances each, then the Rabbitohs on five, Manly, Parramatta, Cowboys and Newcastle on four, Canterbury and the Warriors on three, the Titans on two, Dragons with one and the Wests Tigers on zero.
For the purpose of this exercise the Dolphins, being new, are........