NRL 2025: Broncos State of Play, analysis, roster breakdown, salary cap, Payne Haas, will he stay, Michael Maguire, Gehamat Shibasaki, rugby league news

The Broncos were the toast of the NRL in 2025, winning their first title in 19 years. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any question marks or uncertainty around the make-up of their roster though.

Brisbane are obviously well placed to go on a bit of a run now, given they’re well stocked at key positions and possess genuine game breakers all over the park.

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However, much like the Panthers had to constantly deal with during their four-year reign, the Broncos will be forced to let plenty of talent go in the next two to three years.

Winning a premiership naturally puts a strain on the salary cap as the value of several players rise.

In addition, the club is sweating on the decision of a star prop while 2026 could be the lasr dance for a veteran playmaker ahead of the arrival of a gun halfback.

Read on for the Broncos’ roster state of play!

RE-SIGNING PAYNE HAAS

Brisbane’s most important task this off-season is retaining Payne Haas.

We’ve known for a while just how good he is, but even though it didn’t seem possible, he took his game to another level in 2025.

Reece Walsh had one of the best finals series of all time, but Haas wasn’t far behind the fullback as the Broncos’ best during their magical finals run.

He’s such a force and given the amount of work he gets through, his stamina is unbelieveable

Unsurprisingly, Haas’ name was one of the first linked with R360.

Last week, reports suggested that R360 were leading the race to sign Haas and that the superstar middle would rebuff the Broncos to ink a life-changing $6 million contract ($3 million per season) with the breakaway rugby union league.

It led to Peter V’landys flying up to Brisbane to meet with Haas and discuss his future, and likely warn the prop of the risks associated with signing with an unsanctioned competition.

However, the announcement of a postponed start to R360 puts the Broncos in pole position to retain Haas even though there are other NRL teams interested.

WHO COULD BE FORCED TO EXIT?

The answer to this question will depend greatly on whether Haas leaves or signs a rich extension with the club.

If he does, it’s inevitable that Brisbane will have to let at least a handful of premiership stars exit at the end of next season.

CEO Dave Donaghy has admitted as much although there is no indication which players the club are preferencing to keep and which ones are already halfway out the door.

The Broncos have been dealing with a salary cap crunch for the past couple of seasons.

They’ve handed expensive deals to Pat Carrigan, Reece Walsh, Ezra Mam and Kotoni Staggs to name a few with Haas odds on to re-up with the club on a deal that could be worth north of $1.2 million a season.

That leaves players like Gehamat Shibasaki, Jesse Arthars, Billy Walters and Cory Paix unsigned beyond next season with a very real chance all three are wearing different colours in 2027.

Shibasaki and Arthars have already been linked to the Perth Bears.

The Broncos had the benefit of having Shibasaki on an incredibly cheap contract in 2025 after the centre took advantage of a pre-season train-and-trial deal and parlayed it into a Maroons jersey, a Kangaroos jersey and a premiership.

Shibasaki will no doubt feel like he owes Brisbane for reviving his career and is every chance of taking a little less money to stay, but given the salary cap pressures at the Broncos, a rival club’s offer will likely blow Brisbane’s out of the water.

It’s unfortunate for the Broncos, but it’s the reality of the salary cap and given his stellar 2025, Shibasaki deserves to be paid handsomely.

Arthars played the majority of the season on the wing but was dropped late in the year for powerhouse Josiah Karapani.

Due to the emergence of Karapani and the arrival of former Storm outside back Grant Anderson, Arthars will be up against it to play regular first grade minutes next year and in turn, will likely angle for an early release or play out his deal in reserve grade before heading elsewhere.

With Blake Mozer considered the club’s future No. 9, Paix and Walters may likely be forced out the door.

Unfortunately for Walters, he’ll only have a handful of games to play for a new contract, with a knee injury to keep him out for the majority of the 2026 season.

IS THERE A DUMMY-HALF DILEMMA?

Short answer to that question is no, but Maguire does have a crucial decision to make around his dummy-half stocks.

While there are several clubs who have issues around depth at hooker, the Broncos don’t fall into that category.

Even with Tyson Smoothy heading to the Super League and Billy Walters set to miss at least half of the season with a knee injury, the Broncos have options at No. 9.

With Ezra Mam set to start the season in the halves alongside Adam Reynolds, Ben Hunt will move into hooker with either Cory Paix or Blake Mozer to come off the bench.

Maguire is strong on loyalty, so given he was the team’s hooker for the majority of their 2025 premiership campaign, Paix is the favourite to start next year as the team’s No. 14.

Paix was on the outer before Maguire’s arrival, but impressed in the pre-season to emerge as a key piece of Brisbane’s premiership success.

Paix played in 23 games, most of those starting at rake (including the grand final) as the Broncos had to play Hunt in the halves with Mam injured or suspended for a huge chunk of the year.

With that said, there is a rising star who is waiting in the wings and bound to put plenty of pressure on Paix.

That’s Blake Mozer, who is highly regarded at Red Hill.

Mozer has a stack of upside and is too good to be playing reserve grade.

He flashed brilliance in eight games at NRL level in 2024 but didn’t feature in the top grade this year due to injury.

If Mozer’s form in reserve grade to start 2026 is too hard to ignore, he’s every chance of earning a promotion at the expense of Paix.

FAREWELLING TWO CHAMPIONS IN 2026?

Will 2026 be the last season in Adam Reynolds’ legendary career?

It looks that way, unless the veteran half wishes to continue his career at another club given Reynolds’ current Broncos deal runs until the end of next season and Jonah Pezet arrives at the club for 2027.

Reynolds doesn’t boast the representative appearances some of the big guns have had, only representing the Blues twice, but his longevity and consistency has to be marvelled at.

Winning the Dally M Rookie of the Year in 2012, Reynolds has been among the game’s best halfbacks since 2014, which was when he led the Bunnies to premiership glory.

11 years between drinks, Reynolds was a huge reason why the Broncos were able to hoist the trophy two months ago, giving the halfback his second premi

His game-winning kick to knock the Panthers out in the prelim and book Brisbane’s grand final ticket will be discussed among Broncos fans for quite some time.

While Reynolds played in 22 games this season, injuries are taking its toll.

He didn’t finish the decider after suffering a calf injury.

Reynolds is set to captain and lead the side out in Round 1 next year but there has to be some doubts internally over whether he’ll be able to play the full season.

Even at 35, when he’s on the park and unencumbered by injury niggles, Reynolds is a must start but given the Broncos have the versatile Ben Hunt and depth at hooker, the club could take a cautious approach and rest Reynolds sporadically throughout the year.

Speaking with Code Sports, Reynolds isn’t worried about his recent injury history and will approach 2026 with the same mindset he has in his previous 14 seasons.

“There’s no point holding back,” Reynolds said of his injury risk in 2026.“I am there for a reason – to try and get the job done.

“Touch wood I can have a good run, but if they (injuries) do come about, there’s plenty of quality players in our squad to fill the void.”

In addition to Reynolds, Ben Hunt is also under contract until the end of 2026.

For whatever reason, there hasn’t been as much buzz around a potential retirement for Hunt when next season ends.

It has been reported that the 35-year-old is leaning towards signing an extension for 2027, with Maguire open to Hunt returning for another year.

“A lot depends on ‘Reyno’s’ path next year, but it’s quite handy having a player like ‘Hunty’ around,” Maguire told Code Sports.