<p>The 2026 NRL season is less than a month away, with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/rugby-league/nrl/round-1">Round 1</a> officially beginning on Saturday, February 28 in Las Vegas.</p> <p>In preparation for the new season, here at the Huddle, we’re running the rule over all 17 teams as we look to separate the contenders from the pretenders.</p> <p>We’ll analyse squad depth, each side’s draw, where the odds have them painted in the premiership picture and more, before offering up a predicted finish for each club.</p> <p>Dethroned dominators the Penrith Panthers are being slid under the microscope here, as we see if they can return to the apex of the Rugby League world. This is our Penrith Panthers 2026 season preview.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>&nbsp;Penrith Panthers Players 2026</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Penrith Panthers have locked in 28 of the available 30 places in their top squad for the 2026 season.</p> <p>This includes new signings Tom Ale, Kalani Going and the returning Jack Cogger. Penrith can add a further two players to their top 30 before the deadline on June 30, should they wish to do so.</p> <p>The full Penrith Panthers squad for the upcoming NRL season is as follows:</p> <p><em>Tom Ale, Paul Alamoti, Nathan Cleary (c), Jack Cogger, Jack Cole, Dylan Edwards, Matt Eisenhuth, Jaxen Edgar, Sione Fonua, Luke Garner, Kalani Going, Liam Henry, Mitch Kenny, Moses Leota, Liam Martin, Casey McLean, Jesse McLean, Isaiah Papali’I, Luron Patea, Billy Scott, Lindsay Smith, Scott Sorensen, Blaize Talagi, Izack Tago, Trent Toelau, Brian To’o, Isaah Yeo (c), Tom Jenkins.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Penrith Panthers Main Man</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Nathan Cleary</h3> <p>Halfback, captain and the club’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/huddle/nrl/news/highest-paid-nrl-players">highest paid player.</a> Is there a single player in the NRL who is more intrinsic to their side’s success than Nathan Cleary?</p> <p>If there is, we haven’t seen them. Widely regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation, Cleary has played 194 games since debuting for the Panthers in 2016, scoring more than 67 tries and kicking 717 goals in that time.</p> <p>To say Cleary has been central to Penrith’s dominance is a harsh understatement. He has starred in five consecutive grand finals, co-captaining his boyhood club to four straight premierships between 2021 and 2024.</p> <p>He also won the Clive Churchill Medal as grand final MVP in two of those victories (2021 and 2023) and has been named Dally M Halfback of the Year multiple times.</p> <p>Last year he forever etched his name in the Penrith history books as he became the Panthers’ all-time leading point scorer.</p> <p>If Penrith want to kickstart dynasty number two in 2026, Cleary will have to be the man that gets the ball rolling at the foot of the mountains.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Penrith Panthers Draw Difficulty Rating</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>If Penrith do want to return to the summit of the NRL, they’re going to have to do it the hard way.</p> <p>Statistically, they have the toughest draw of any team in the competition. They are the only club in 2026 who have to face each of last season’s top four twice.</p> <p>They also have forfeited two of their home games to the rural locations of Bathurst and Mudgee as they look to grow the Greatest Game of All outside the main metro areas.</p> <p><strong>Difficulty rating:</strong>&nbsp;Extremely hard.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Penrith Panthers Season Prediction 2026</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>On paper we have only the Broncos, Storm and potentially the Bulldogs, as the biggest threats to any potential success the Panthers might have in 2026.</p> <p>When at full fitness and firing on all cylinders, there are few if any starting 13s that can hold a candle to Ivan Cleary’s set up.</p> <p>With names like Edwards, To’o, Cleary, Martin and Yeo occupying the killer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/huddle/nrl/news/rugby-league-positions-explained">positions</a>, anything less than a top four finish should be considered a failure for the greatest NRL side of the 21st century, so far.</p> <p><strong>Predicted finish:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/rugby-league/nrl-futures-multi-hub/nrl-top-4-finish-2026-9840354">3rd.</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Penrith Panthers Predicted Round 1 Team</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>1. Dylan Edwards</p> <p>2. Brian To'o</p> <p>3. Izack Tago</p> <p>4. Casey McLean</p> <p>5. Paul Alamoti</p> <p>6. Blaize Talagi</p> <p>7. Nathan Cleary</p> <p>8. Moses Leota</p> <p>9. Mitch Kenny</p> <p>10. Lindsay Smith</p> <p>11. Liam Martin</p> <p>12. Isaiah Papali'i</p> <p>13. Isaah Yeo</p> <p>14. Jack Cogger</p> <p>15. Scott Sorensen</p> <p>16. Luke Garner</p> <p>17. Liam Henry</p>