He knows when they've been sleeping, he knows what they've been up to when they're awake. He knows if they've been bad or good, lets just hope they've been good for goodness sake.
Every NRL team has sent Santa a letter asking for something special this Christmas. What will be waiting under the tree for each of the 17 teams and how will it help them navigate the 2025 season? We take a look at this year's NRL Christmas wish list.
Brisbane Broncos
The Broncos will be running down the stairs on Christmas morning hoping that Santa Claus has left them a Michael Maguire game plan that can capitalise on the veteran halves paring of Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds. The Broncos recently won the race for Hunt's signature, and he is expected to play five-eighth while Ezra Mam serves his expected lengthy suspension. The Broncos will need a smooth transition to the new coach and the new halves pairing to get their season off to a good start.
Canberra Raiders
The Raiders will be hoping Santa brings them a complete season without a single refereeing issue to summon the ire of coach Ricky Stuart. Of course the cynical among us would suggest that a season free of Ricky Stuart referee rants would also be a very successful season for the Raiders, as Stuart rarely blows up after a victory. While the Raiders have been on the end of some stinkers (who hasn't?), Stuart is a master of deflecting from his team's own shortcomings.
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
When the Bulldogs clench their eyes and blink away the early morning haze, they hope the figure of a dominant middle forward will come into focus at the base of their Christmas tree. Having pieced together a squad capable of making the 2024 finals, the Bulldogs still lacked a player or two who could bend the line and win the play-the-ball. They are continuing their recruitment drive, but have missed out on several big name prop forwards. It could be a key missing link in their hopes of going further in 2025.
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
On Christmas morning the Sharks will be circling a box that they hope contains the very best of Nicho Hynes for the entire 2025 season. Hynes had a mixed 2024, interrupted by injuries and some relatively patchy form. He is so crucial to the Sharks' chances that he simply must be at his best if they are to have any hope of challenging the top teams in 2025.
Dolphins
The Dolphins were very disappointed last year when Santa failed to leave them a 2024 finals appearance under the tree. This year they have doubled down on the letter writing to make sure the old bloke dressed in red gets it right. With Kristian Woolf taking over the coaching from the Rabbitohs-bound Wayne Bennett and the team bristling with talent, a Top 8 finish is really not too much to ask.
Gold Coast Titans
Coach Des Hasler will stride sternly towards the Christmas tree in his second season at the Titans hoping to find a better start than he endured last year. The Titans were expected to make big moves towards the top half of the ladder under Hasler's coaching, but never really recovered after losing their first six games. They start 2025 with a bye before facing the Bulldogs, Knights, Roosters, Dolphins, Dragons and Raiders. Lose more than half of those and they could be in for another tough year on the Gold Coast.
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
The Sea Eagles will be hoping that Santa's elves somehow manage to cobble together a large box of consistency to be dropped off on the peninsula on Christmas morning. On their day last season Manly could beat anyone in the league, but they struggled to string together high quality performances. With Daly Cherry-Evans coming towards the end of a stellar career, it might be the opportune time for him to announce his representative retirement in order to focus completely on driving the club he so dearly loves towards premiership glory.
Melbourne Storm
After finishing a win away from the title last season, the Storm will be looking for a book titled "How to beat the Panthers When It Matters" under the Christmas tree this year. The highly successful club has only played the Panthers on four occasions in the post-season, but has lost three of those clashes. If the men in purple are going to add to their premiership collection they will more than likely have to beat the Panthers at the pointy end of the 2025 season.
Newcastle Knights
The Knights will be hoping to find an early decision on the playing future of Leo Thompson neatly wrapped and placed under their tree this Christmas. Thompson has a final year of his Knights contract remaining, but has become hot property since announcing he was willing to test the market for 2026 and beyond. It has been well documented how distracting a drawn out period of contract speculation can be for a club and the last thing the Knights need in 2025 is any form of distraction.
North Queensland Cowboys
The Cowboys will be hoping Santa brings them a much-improved defence for the 2025 season. Todd Payten's men made it to the finals in 2024 despite having the worst defensive record of the Top 8 teams, leaking 568 points. They beat the Knights in the first week before conceding 26 points in a season-ending loss to the Sharks. With plenty of attacking weapons across the park, a tighter defensive unit could help the Cowboys run deeper into the 2025 season finals.
Parramatta Eels
It is not a lot to ask, really, but the Eels will be desperate to unwrap any sign of positivity for the early days of their 2025 season. New coach Jason Ryles has made some unpopular decisions in running a broom through the club, most notably saying goodbye to Eels fan favourite Clint Gutherson. The fans are so desperate for premiership success they will accept anything from a new coach, so long as they see onfield improvements and fairly early on. Ryles will be given a scant grace period before the pitchforks and flaming torches make an appearance on Church Street.
Penrith Panthers
Nothing. What more could Santa possibly give them?
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Wayne Bennett will slowly shuffle towards the tree on Christmas morning hoping to see the formidable figure of a fit, focused and firing Latrell Mitchell. Bennett returns for his second stint at the proud club hoping to take them to premiership success. He'll need his super star fullback firing on all cylinders to raise them up from the horrors of last season's 16th place finish.
St George Illawarra Dragons
Shane Flanagan and the Dragons will be hoping Santa Claus delivers the very best of King Gutho for the 2025 season. The Eels discarded Clint Gutherson as part of Jason Ryles' roster clean-out and the Dragons were very quick in announcing his signing. At his very best Gutho can bring stability and flair to the fullback position for the Dragons. They'll need all of his experience, after losing Ben Hunt to the Broncos, if they are to avoid a wooden spoon they are favoured to win.
Sydney Roosters
The Roosters have one of the biggest requests for Santa of all the clubs, they need the gift of cohesion. With so many new pieces added to the Roosters puzzle following the departures of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Joseph Manu, Luke Keary, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, as well as injuries to Sam Walker and Brandon Smith they enter the 2025 season a complete mystery team. It will take a monumental coaching effort from Trent Robinson to bring them together as an effective unit.
New Zealand Warriors
After an awful 2024 season the Warriors really need Santa to bring them a winning mentality. They lost way too many games that they should have won last year, at times returning to the bad old days of dropping their shoulders. With James Fisher-Harris arriving from the Panthers they will have a new benchmark of commitment and hard-nosed determination leading the way. For the Warriors' sake, lets hope they follow.
Wests Tigers
The Tigers received an early Christmas present when they signed Jarome Luai last year. This year he will arrive under the tree ready to give the Tigers the greatest gift of all, a complete turn-around in fortunes. The Tigers have collected the past three wooden spoons as coach Benji Marshall has scrambled to assemble a competitive squad. On paper, the 2025 Tigers look like they should challenge for a Top 8 spot -- they just need everything to come together on the field.