2026 Draw: All you need to know
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 80th Anniversary season will feature several blockbusters at 4 Pines Park, including the season-opener against last year’s minor premiers, the Canberra Raiders.
The 2026 NRL Season will provide plenty of other expected sellouts at Brookie as well, with home games against the Roosters, Broncos, Storm, and Eels.
The Round 8 game at 4 Pines Park against the Eels will be of extra significance given it falls in ANZAC Round.
Our twelve home games are spread evenly in terms of broadcast timeslots, with four games on Sunday afternoon, four on Saturday night, two Friday night 6pm games, and two games on a Thursday.
So, how does Manly’s Draw stack up against other teams?
In terms of factors impacting performance, we can look at a few things including days between games, travel, and of course the fixtures themselves.
Turnarounds
Unlike last season, the Sea Eagles have no five-day turnarounds. That’s a big plus.
Last season ten of Manly’s 24 games had a short turnaround of six days or less. In 2026, that number drops to six games. In fact, Manly will have seven or more days between games on 17 occasions in 2026.
Travel
While the team will certainly clock up some airmiles next season with games in Brisbane, Townsville, Perth and Auckland, on average, the Sea Eagles will be doing less travel than other teams.
The NRL has calculated that Manly will travel 19,091km across the season, with the NRL average sitting at 24,776km.
Including home games, 16 of Manly's 24 games are in Sydney, with another two in Wollongong and Newcastle. Five games are interstate, and one will be played in Auckland.
Once or Twice
With a 17-team competition and 24 games in the regular season, each team must play eight teams twice, and eight teams once.
The teams the Sea Eagles play once are the Raiders, Roosters, Broncos, Panthers, Rabbitohs, Warriors, Tigers and Bulldogs.
The teams we play twice in 2026 are the Cowboys, Dolphins, Dragons, Eels, Knights, Sharks, Storm and Titans.
Sea Eagles 2026 Home Games
SEA EAGLES NRL DRAW SNAPSHOT
- Four home games on a Sunday afternoon and four on a Saturday night
- Blockbusters at home against the Raiders, Broncos, Roosters and Storm
- Sunday afternoon ANZAC Round home game against the Eels
- Only six of 24 games have a short turnaround of less than seven days
- Zero five-day turnarounds
- Eighteen of 24 games are in Sydney (incl. Wollongong & Newcastle).
- Sea Eagles play Dolphins at 4 Pines Park in Indigenous Round (Round 24)
Let’s take a quick stroll through the 2026 season.
First up the Raiders. The green machine was thoroughly dismantled at 4 Pines Park in Round 3 last season before going on to finish top of the ladder. This time round, they’ll be up against their former half, Jamal Fogarty.
We then welcome the Knights to Brookie the following weekend, before the team takes an early bye in Round 3.
Manly’s third home game is a Thursday night blockbuster against the Roosters on March 26. There is sure to be plenty of hype around this game so get in early to secure your tickets.
The team is then on the road for the next few weeks with away games against the Dolphins, Dragons and Cowboys.
Manly’s next game will be an extra special day for the Club when we come together at 4 Pines Park to commemorate ANZAC Day. The team will line up against the Parramatta Eels on Sunday 26 April, the first of two games against the Blue and Golds in 2026.
The following Sunday we’re at CommBank Stadium to play the Panthers before another belter at Brookie when we face the defending premiers, Brisbane Broncos.
In a seven-week sequence of home and away games we then head to Magic Round in Brisbane to face the Wests Tigers.
Manly are then at home against the Titans while teams are in camp for Origin 1 with a six-day turnaround before a Friday night clash against the Bunnies at Brookie.
After 13 games it’s time for a well-earned bye, our second of the season.
Refreshed and recharged the team tackles the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium in Round 16, and then it’s on again, The Battle of Brookie.
The Storm, who we also play in Perth in Round 23, make their way to 4 Pines Park mid-winter in Beanies for Brain Cancer Round.
The Sea Eagles then play the Eels for a second time while teams are in camp for Origin 3, and then it’s back to The Fortress for a Sunday arvo shootout with the Cowboys.
Manly’s month of Sunday afternoon footy continues with a game against the Titans on the Gold Coast followed by a match against the Sharks at Brookvale in Round 21.
With five rounds remaining the Sea Eagles have their third bye as they prepare for a trip to Perth for a second match against Melbourne.
It’s then a six-day turnaround from the Perth trip into a home game against the Dolphins.
While a short backup after a long trip is not ideal, it’s a vast improvement on last season when our game in Perth against the Sharks was one of three games in 12 days.
The run into the finals includes an away game in Newcastle, a home game against the Dragons, and a trip across the Tasman to play the Warriors in Round 27.
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