The race for finals footy is officially over, with a thrilling final round sorting things out.
While the Sydney Roosters, Cronulla, Penrith and Canterbury were all jostling for spots inside the top four, the final game of the season carried the potential to see three different squads take eighth place, depending on the result.
In the end, it was Kalyn Ponga and the men from the steel city that will move further on in September, in what is shaping up to be an intensely competitive finals series.
NRL LATEST NEWS: NRL live ladder | Every NRL club's updated injury list | Every NRL fixture and result for each club
Which NRL teams cannot make the NRL Finals?
Canberra Raiders - 9th (30 points)
The Raiders' finals hopes were fairly unlikely come round 27 - they needed to take down the Dragons, and then hope for a golden point draw in the game between the Dolphins and the Knights.
Canberra held up their end of the deal, coming back from an early deficit to officially end St. George Illawarra's season, but the script-writers decided it wasn't time for a Cinderella story, with the Knights rolling over the Dolphins and into eighth place.
The Dolphins - 10th (28 points)
It was win-and-you're-in for the Dolphins in their final game of the season, but they were unable to outlast the Knights, led by a dazzling Kalyn Ponga performance.
Denied what looked to be an early try for Trai Fuller due to a controversial obstruction call, the team was never able to recover.
Despite a late score from Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, the team didn't have what it took to make the first finals appearance of their young NRL lives.
St George Illawarra Dragons - 11th (28 points)
The Dragons had their fate in their own hands heading into the final two matches of the season but suffered a terrible slump as they lost to the Eels in the penultimate game of the regular season.
That high-scoring loss meant they no longer had control over their finals hopes.
They needed to beat the Raiders in the last round of the season to have any chance of making the finals, but this opportunity was also passed up as they slipped to another defeat to officially end their year.
Brisbane Broncos - 12th (26 points)
After surging into last year's grand final and going within 15 minutes of lifting the trophy, Brisbane came back to earth with a bump in 2024.
Kevin Walters side never really managed to find their rhythm throughout the campaign and will now face a thorough post-season review to identify their failings.
The Broncos were still within a chance of making the top eight in Round 26 but fell to a horrific loss to the Dolphins, with Newcastle's win the following day then eliminating them from the finals picture.
New Zealand Warriors - 13th (25 points)
There was hope the Warriors could build on last year's stellar effort, but unfortunately for them, quite the opposite happened.
Ultimately, too many tight losses stacked up, and left them without a mathematical chance of making the finals.
A 24-10 defeat to the Sea Eagles in Round 24 sealed their fate.
Although in their last match of the campaign they managed to send the retiring Shaun Johnson out a winner with a brilliant comeback victory over Cronulla, while climbing out of the bottom four.
Gold Coast Titans - 14th (22 points)
After overcoming a horror start to life under new coach Des Hasler, the Titans showed signs of life towards the end of the season as their attack finally clicked.
However, their surge proved to be too little, too late as they were eliminated from the finals picture with just under a month remaining of the regular season.
Parramatta Eels - 15th (20 points)
Brad Arthur entered into the campaign knowing he needed to summon a reaction from his Parramatta side after they missed out on the finals last year.
It was a major disappointment after previously working their way to the grand final in 2022, only to fall to Penrith.
However, a slow start snowballed into a nightmare stretch of form which ultimately culminated in Arthur receiving the axe.
Trent Barrett took over on an interim basis but could do nothing to revive the Eels as they quickly slipped out of contention for the finals for the second straight year amidst a mounting injury list.
South Sydney Rabbitohs - 16th (20 points)
The Rabbitohs enjoyed a late-season resurgence after the dismissal of Jason Demetriou, winning six of nine matches.
Although, given their dismal run in the first half of the season, they ran out of road.
After losing to the Storm in Round 23, the Bunnies were mathematically ruled out of the finals race.
Wests Tigers - 17th (18 points)
The Wests Tigers’ wait for a finals appearance will drag into a 14th year after their maiden campaign under Benji Marshall’s watch grinds to a disappointing end.
The Tigers have managed to win just six of their 23 matches to be anchored to the bottom of the ladder.
Instead of aiming to play finals footy, Marshall’s side have made a late play to avoid the club’s third consecutive wooden spoon, knocking off Manly at Leichhardt in Round 25.
They will now face the Eels in the last round of the regular season with the winner of the clash avoiding a last-placed finish.
