The first domino fell on Monday when the Titans made their decision to part ways with Des Hasler at the end of the 2025 season public.
Josh Hannay, who has long been touted as an NRL coach in-waiting, was then unveiled as the club’s new coach, signing a three-year deal.
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Hannay sat atop a list of mentors all hopeful of securing one of 17 coveted jobs, while Mal Meninga has already been named to lead the Perth Bears for their inaugural season.
The next came on Tuesday night, with the SMH breaking the news a crunch meeting would decide Adam O’Brien’s future, with his fate all but sealed. Assistant Blake Green looks set to take over as head coach.
Meanwhile, Todd Payten’s job is reportedly safe but as we know in rugby league, everything can change in an instant. The Cowboys are running 12th and out of finals contention in a season where they were expected to mount a genuine charge.
So, who are the next contenders to become NRL head coaches?
SAM BURGESS
Sam Burgess has long been touted as an NRL coach in-waiting and he was considered to take over at the Rabbitohs ahead of the 2025 season.
The former premiership winner was relieved from his position as South Sydney assistant at the end of 2023 and took a job as Warrington Wolves head coach.
In his debut season, he led the Wolves to the Challenge Cup final and a regular season semi-final before another Cup final loss came in 2025.
Many do expect Burgess to return to the NRL, perhaps as Wayne Bennett’s successor once his tenure at the club ends.
Burgess is contracted until the end of the 2026 season and currently has a 60.78 per cent win rate in the Super League to go with a 77.78 per cent strike rate in the Challenge Cup.
Yet with Bennett’s contract expiring in 2027 and Burgess’s stock likely to rise further next year, there’s every possibility a club other than South Sydney may pursue him.
DEAN YOUNG
Dean Young appears destined for a full-time first grade gig sooner rather than later.
Young served as an assistant under Laurie Daley in this year’s Origin series, while he’s also Shane Flanagan’s right-hand man at the Dragons.
He returned to the Dragons ahead of the 2024 season, having also spent three years with Todd Payten at the Cowboys.
He has also previously been an interim coach of the Red V, taking over in 2020 after the sacking of Paul McGregor.
All of this is to say he’s served an impressive apprenticeship so far, and as such he’s been linked with several vacant head coaching roles including the Eels top job.
In the words of Flanagan, Young is “on the pathway” to take control of an NRL side and imprint his philosophy on the game he’s served so well.
“He’ll get his time,” Flanagan added. “But you have to make sure you’re ready for it.”
BILLY SLATER
As each Origin season rolls by, Billy Slater’s coaching credentials only strengthen.
It looked like a near impossible task, but Queensland pulled off a mind-boggling comeback series victory in 2025, winning a decider on Blues’ home soil.
Slater has consistently been floated as an candidate to make the transition to clubland and there’s an argument has can name his price should he want to make the switch.
The champion fullback coached the Maroons to series victories in his first two attempts, was beaten by Michael Maguire in 2024 before returning to the winner’s circle this year.
Thurs far he has held the line that he is content in the three-games-per-year Origin gig, alongside his media commitments.
However, there’s been a common train if thought that Slater will take over from Craig Bellamy at the Storm whenever he decides to walk away from the Melbourne club.
So far any other NRL rivals, it’s going to be a tough ask to recruit one of the legends of the game, who is also contracted with Queensland rugby league until the end of 2026.
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WILLIE PETERS
Willie Peters is reportedly among a quartet of Super League coaches being eyed to join Kevin Walters’ Kangaroos coaching staff for the 2025 Ashes series.
But beyond that, Peters could be one of the next coaches to make the switch from the Super League to the NRL.
Matty Johns has long sung Peters’ praises, while Braith Anasta told Code Sports: “I really do believe Willie (Peters) is ready to coach in the NRL. Just watching what he has done with Hull KR is extraordinary.”
The 46-year-old has also previously been linked with taking over from Benji Marshall at the Tigers, despite having a contract until the end of 2028 with Hull KR.
Peters won this season’s Challenge Cup and also sit atop the Super League ladder, with a League Leader’s Shield within their grasp.
And with many shouting his praises, it looks like only a matter of time before Peters is given a chance to return to Australia.
Interestingly, he was previously an assistant coach at the Knights, working under O’Brien, but could now come into the frame to take his position three years after departing.
KEVIN WALTERS
Kevin Walters has been handed a three-game contract with the Kangaroos ahead of this year’s Ashes series.
But beyond that, Walters has already explained he has a desire to return to clubland and he was previously linked with taking over at the Titans.
Walters coached 99 games at the Broncos, for 50 wins and 49 losses. His Maroons record was 6-6, while he also coached Super League club Catalans in 2009-10.
His axing from the Broncos came only a season after he came desperately close to winning a premiership, if it wasn’t for 20 minutes of Nathan Cleary brilliance in the 2023 grand final.
Walters also learnt from the best serving as an assistant under Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy.
For now, Walters focus will be firmly fixed on the upcoming Kangaroos tour and his performances as a national head coach could prove crucial in his name coming up for future roles.
JOHN MORRIS
John Morris is another on this list that has past experience as an NRL head coach.
The 45-year-old was sacked by the Sharks in 2021, with Craig Fitzgibbon hired to take over in the Shire after having the final year of his deal cut short.
It was a bold decision at the time and one that saw them miss out on the top eight, with Josh Hannay stepping in as caretaker coach for majority of the season.
Morris has since been an assistant at the Rabbitohs before joining Benji Marshall at the Tigers, and he is widely considered a potential head coaching candidate.
What’s more is his sacking was also considered to be a brutal move only five weeks into the season, after back-to-back finals appearances.
He also achieved that top eight finish after the Sharks had $353,000 stripped from their cap, having to blood a host of new players a rebuild the squad.
JASON DEMETRIOU
Jason Demetriou was sacked by the Rabbitohs in April 2024 and is one of many victims of the ‘Wayne Bennett curse’.
In his first season in charge in South Sydney, the Rabbitohs made it all the way to the preliminary finals in 2022, losing to the eventual premiers.
But everything began to unravel in mid-2023, with Demetriou’s side flying high atop the NRL ladder after Round 11, only to drop out of the finals.
Seven games into 2024 he was sacked and has since had several roles, including PNG head coach and has been linked with a Super League switch.
It’s unlikely Demetriou is handed another head coaching job before he once again proves himself potentially in England, but he’s yet another with NRL experience.
BEN HORNBY
Following Demetriou’s sacking, Ben Hornby took over as interim Rabbitohs coach, giving him his first taste of life in the NRL baptism of fire.
He showed glimmers of promise, including a five-game winning streak, but eventually South Sydney finished second last in 2024.
Hornby is another in the same crop as Ryles and Ciraldo, who had successful NRL careers before transitioning to coaching.
The 45-year-old spent a long time as a mentor at the Dragons, where he played 273 games, in their junior development system before graduating to be an assistant coach.
Hornby’s name was floated to take over St Helens earlier this year, but for now he remains at the Rabbitohs and could well be considered to take over from Bennett when his tenure comes to an end.
JUSTIN HOLBROOK
Justin Holbrook’s axing from the Titans in 2023 came as a shock to many.
The Gold Coast were in the midst of a solid season, but he was knifed and Des Hasler was installed as head coach ahead of the 2024 season.
While it may have seemed an improvement at the time, Holbrook’s statistics at the Titans prove he was doing a solid job, considering what has followed in 2024 and 2025.
Holbrook had a 37.8 win percentage, the second best of any Gold Coast coach, while Des Hasler struck at only 28.3 per cent to date.
The 49-year-old is considered one of the sharpest rugby league minds in the NRL, and as such was snapped up by Trent Robinson to become an assistant at the Roosters.
Prior to his NRL stint, he also enjoyed a successful period with St Helens in the Super League and won the League Leaders Sheild and Super League title in 2019.
It looks like it’s only a matter of time before Holbrook’s name finds its way into calculations when an NRL job comes up.
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BRAD ARTHUR
Brad Arthur signed an extension with the Leeds Rhinos in August, with his stay in the Super League now ending at the end of the 2026 season.
He originally signed midway through the 2024 season, and he now has a rolling contract that could see his time continue beyond next year.
Arthur was sacked by the Eels after 10 rounds last season, following 137 wins from 264 games in charge of Parramatta from 2012 to 2024, including the 2022 Grand Final loss to the Panthers.
And while he’s currently plying his trade abroad, Arthur has made no secret of his desire to return to Australia.
“It’s hard to not be there with the boys … they want me to stay but I’m holding them off a bit,” Arthur said earlier this year.
“I’m enjoying it, I really am. But I want to coach in the NRL again and I’d like to come home.”
He was also linked with the vacant Perth Bears role, proving Arthur is one of the closest currently outside the NRL to returning to Australia’s premier competition.
MATT KING
Matt King has long served as an assistant at the Roosters under Trent Robinson.
Craig Fitzgibbon has been a recent and successful graduate from the Tricolours’ coaching ranks to make the head coaching transition.
Many expect King to do the same in the future, spending nine invaluable years under Robinson after an impressive playing career.
King was one of the leading candidates to take over the NSW Blues role this season and was reportedly willing to leave his post to take the job.
The 44-year-old was also an assistant under Michael Maguire for the Blues in 2024, and if his name is being floated for the top job at Origin level, he will almost certainly come into NRL calculations in the future.
