Round 1 of the 2025 NRL season is fast approaching with off-season preparations ramping up across the competition as players settle into new and old environments, all chasing the Provan-Summons Trophy.

For the head coaches, time is running out to get their rosters sorted, their game plans drilled into their players and have their team ready to hit the ground running in round 1.

Every coach is under the pump to some extent but from 17-1, here’s who is under the most pressure to deliver results in 2025.

17. Ivan Cleary

No prizes for guessing who bookends this list. Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has amassed plenty of credit in the bank after winning four straight premierships, an unprecedented feat in the modern game, cementing the kind of dynasty that’s unlikely to be matched or bettered anytime soon.

Cleary welcomes recruits Isiah Papali’i and Blaize Talagi into the fold but those two inclusions won’t be enough to offset the loss of Sunia Turuva, Isaiah Iongi and Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris. Penrith have lost a number of quality players throughout their premiership run but none as influential as Luai, the star five-eighth who partnered so well with Nathan Cleary and earned ten NSW Blues caps.

The Panthers will play home games out of the Eels’ CommBank Stadium while their own ground is renovated, adding another obstacle to their hopes of a fifth straight title, but it’s unlikely to play a major factor in their season. Cleary is as safe as an NRL coach could be.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

16. Craig Bellamy

Bellamy might not coach forever, but what’s certain is it would take some quite extraordinary circumstances for him to be sacked in 2025. After taking the Storm back to the grand final in 2024, Bellamy has probably earned at least a couple more years of announcing towards the end of the season that he’s penned another one-year extension at AAMI Park.

Melbourne are poised to compete again this season, boasting perhaps the best quality spine in the NRL following Luai’s departure from Penrith. Bellamy will need to find a way to keep both Ryan Papenhuyzen and potential long-term No.1 Sua Fa’alogo happy and hope that there’s no major injures to star players but there’s probably only one coach who wouldn’t trade places with the 65-year-old.

15. Craig Fitzgibbon

The biggest knock on Fitzgibbon and his Sharks side since he took over in 2022 has been their lack of finals success. Although they still fell a couple of steps short of their first premiership since 2016 last season, a preliminary finals berth was still progress for Cronulla.

Salary cap pressure led to rising star Daniel Atkinson signing for rivals St George Illawarra from 2026, but there will be competition between Atkinson and Braydon Trindall to partner Nicho Hynes in the halves.

With the Roosters losing plenty of star power there are not many better rosters around the league than in the Shire, so the pressure will be on Fitzgibbon to at least match his side’s 2024 output, if not return to the big dance. A poor 2025 season could turn the pressure right up on the former enforcer.

14. Cameron Ciraldo

After returning the Bulldogs to finals football last season, Ciraldo deserves his place towards the bottom of this list. Despite the agonising elimination final loss to Manly, Canterbury fans once again have a competitive side to call their own thanks to Ciraldo’s strong defensive foundation.

The only blight on the season was Josh Addo-Carr’s off-field incident that ultimately led to the club showing him the exit door. With that drama in the rearview mirror, the 40-year-old will be aiming for another top-eight finish for a squad boasting the likes of Matt Burton, Toby Sexton, Viliame Kikau and Jacob Kiraz.

13. Trent Robinson

There are a few factors that ensure Robinson still enjoys considerable job security: his excellent relationship with Nick Politis, the three premiership rings, and adjusted expectations after the great exodus of playing talent at the end of 2024.

To go along with the departures of Luke Keary, Joseph Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Joseph-Aukoso Suaalii, stars Sam Walker and Brandon Smith will both miss a considerable chunk of 2025 after suffering knee injuries.

It was a bit of a toss-up between Robinson, Ciraldo and Fitzgibbon, but the Roosters’ terrible record against heavyweights Penrith and Melbourne is one of the main reasons they have not reached the grand final since the 2019 premiership. If he’s unable to improve that record, his seat might just get warmer.

Trent Robinson with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

12. Todd Payten

Now we’re getting into the coaches who may just be starting to look over their shoulder. Payten led North Queensland to a meek semi-final exit at the hands of Cronulla in 2024, concluding an inconsistent season in Townsville.

Payten’s backline has taken a hit, with Valentine Holmes, Kyle Feldt and Chad Townsend all departing the club at the end of 2024, and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki making the move south but remaining in Queensland with the Dolphins. Jason Taumalolo is another year older, while key spine players Tom Dearden, Scott Drinkwater and Reece Robson are right in their prime years, although it is the latter’s final year at the club.

A less than encouraging start could spell trouble for Payten.

11. Anthony Seibold

Seibold could be lower down this list but gets some credit for winning a final in 2024, and making it there in the first place after losing talisman Tom Trbojevic for a considerable stretch due to injury, once again.

Manly brass believe he’s the man to give the Sea Eagles’ long-suffering fans a sniff at an elusive first premiership since 2011, inking Seibold to a two-year extension through to 2027 just before Christmas. But with Daly Cherry-Evans’ potential declining form and exit at the end of the season, and Trbojevic’s body unfortunately not up to the rigours of a full NRL season, there are plenty of question marks around this side.

The former Brisbane Broncos coach is likely safe for this season but the Sea Eagles need to be a finals side in 2025.

10. Jason Ryles

Expectations will be tempered in Parramatta after the sacking of Brad Arthur and a very disappointing 15th-placed finish in 2024.

To Ryles’ credit, he has identified problems with the squad and made immediate changes to make the Eels better in 2025 and going forward, including offloading club captain Clint Gutherson and Reagan Campbell-Gillard. The loss of Blaize Talagi will certainly not help the 45-year-old but he will have the services of Josh Addo-Carr, Isaiah Iongi and the mercurial Zac Lomax.

Clauses in stars Dylan Brown and Mitchell Moses’ contracts will be another headache for Ryles but not many pundits expect from this team in 2025.

(Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images)

9. Kristian Woolf

In his first head coaching role in the NRL, Woolf isn’t exactly entering a baptism of fire but expectations are reasonably high in Dolphins land for 2025. His ranking here is a combination of being one of two first-time NRL head coaches, as well as the challenge of stepping out of his predecessor’s lengthy shadow.

He’s not just stepping into any old NRL coach’s shoes but Wayne Bennett’s. Talk about a hard act to follow.

It’s hard to know exactly how much Bennett’s looming exit and return to the Rabbitohs affected the playing squad towards the back end of 2024 but from where they were, falling out of the top eight was certainly a disappointing way to end their second season. The roster at Woolf’s disposal is good enough to challenge for the finals, but can he have his new club competitive from the word go?

8. Adam O’Brien

O’Brien in Newcastle is a tough one to gauge. He’s made the finals in four out of five seasons at McDonald Jones Stadium but never finished higher than fifth, certainly never mounting a serious premiership challenge. Perhaps more than any other club, the Knights have an unhealthy reliance on one player, star fullback and captain Kalyn Ponga.

Considering that over-reliance, it seems O’Brien and Newcastle will go as far as Ponga takes them. If the No.1 fails to fire and the red and blue don’t finish inside the top eight, it could spell trouble for O’Brien.

7. Shane Flanagan

Still rebuilding the club after taking over from Anthony Griffin, Shane Flanagan’s side let a finals finish slip from their grasp in 2024. Flanagan has been active in the player market, signing Daniel Atkinson from 2026 and bringing in Valentine Holmes, Damien Cook, Lachlan Ilias and Clint Gutherson for immediate help in 2025.

Of course, the biggest off-season move was Ben Hunt’s protracted exit to his former club Brisbane. That means the Dragons’ halves are significantly weaker with Flanagan’s son Kyle and Ilias the new first-choice combination, but at least there won’t be anymore headlines about the Hunt saga.

The Dragons are a proud club and can’t afford to extend this malaise for much longer. Avoiding a seventh straight season without finals won’t be a walk in the park.

6. Andrew Webster

The Warriors followed up a top-four finish and run to the prelims in 2023 with a 2024 to forget, suffering 14 losses on the way to 13th-placed finish. The return of James Fisher-Harris to his homeland after spending his entire career to date with Penrith is a big boon but is offset by the retirement of Shaun Johnson and departures of Addin Fonua-Blake, Marcelo Montoya and Jazz Tevaga.

While top four might be a bridge too far in 2025, a return to the finals should be the goal for Webster’s side. There’s plenty of quality at his disposal and the quickly growing popularity of rugby league in Auckland – and around the nation – gives the Warriors a significant home ground advantage.

Webster is locked in at Mount Smart Stadium until the end of the 2028 season but nothing is guaranteed in rugby league, especially if the Warriors don’t make a quick start to the new campaign.

Wayne Bennett. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

5. Wayne Bennett

Bennett is a genius, the super coach. There is simply no denying his credentials. But there’s also no denying the tough task Bennett has ahead of him, starting with getting the enigmatic Latrell Mitchell firing on all cylinders.

There were many issues behind ex-coach Jason Demetriou protracted sacking midway through 2024 but the inability to extract the most out of his star No.1 was right up there. Demetriou once hailed Lachlan Ilias as the club’s future superstar halfback but Souths cut bait with the 24-year-old who will instead wear the Red V, and unproven at NRL level Lewis Dodd is the new playmaker in town. He will partner 36-year-old Cody Walker, entering the final year of his deal.

Campbell Graham was a big out in 2024 and will return to the centres.

If there’s anyone who can get this particular job done, it is Bennett. He took the club to the grand final back in 2021 and will look to provide stability as he ostensibly bridges the gap between the Demetriou and Sam Burgess eras.

4. Ricky Stuart

While Stuart appears to have plenty of job security after penning a monster new contract that runs until the end of 2029, his tenure in the nation’s capital hasn’t exactly been overly successful with no top-four finishes since 2019, the year of the six-again controversy in the grand final.

After missing the finals last season the pressure has ramped up that little bit more on the Canberra legend as fan discontent grows. His new contract seemed disproportionate to his recent record, with not even four-peat-winning Ivan Cleary signed for that long. It’ll be up to Stuart to shut up the critics in the new season.

3. Des Hasler

Hasler’s time at the Sea Eagles ended in acrimony and he did not fare any better in his first season on the sunny Gold Coast, a miserable start to the season ending their finals chances early. The 63-year-old is also weighed down by the Titans’ long-running dearth of success dating back to their NRL inception.

Owners Rebecca and Brett Frizelle probably waited too long to sack Justin Holbrook and may pull the pin quicker this time around if Hasler cannot produce the elusive success the club has been craving.

On the plus side, there is quality in the roster, boasting the likes of Keano Kini, Carter Gordon, AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell. That means expectations should be raised for 2025 and Hasler cannot afford another opening to the season like 2024.

Benji Marshall. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

2. Benji Marshall

It is surely make or break for Benji Marshall in 2025. Given the funds to sign a bonafide star in Jarome Luai, Marshall has a squad at his disposal that needs to be in the finals conversation at a minimum. The Lachie Galvin-Laui combination is instantly one of the eighth best in the NRL.

Club culture isn’t necessarily set by the head coach alone but nevertheless he is the public figurehead, the face of the club to fans, sponsors and media. Everyone deserves a break but jetting off to Fiji mid-season while mired in a poor run of form is not a good way to build culture.

Raised standards at Concord and more accountability of his players are what’s needed from the 2005 premiership winner if Wests are to return to relevance in the new season.

1. Michael Maguire

Following a disastrous 2024 season in which the club failed to make the finals, leading to the sacking of Brisbane legend Kevin Walters, no head coach is under more pressure going into 2025 than new Broncos mentor Michael Maguire.

With a year left on his NSW Blues deal after reclaiming the State of Origin shield with a comeback 2-1 series victory, Maguire took a risk in returning to club land and arguably the most scrutinised head coaching role in the NRL.

He’s quickly had to deal with the fallout from Ezra Mama’s off-field incident in a rude welcome back to club coaching, on top of the challenge of replacing Walters. Mam has been banned for the first two months of 2025, meaning a Ben Hunt-Adam Reynolds combo to start the season.

Time will tell if Madge made the right choice by walking away from a lucrative gig at Origin level.