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The Live Sport Bible is here!NRL on track for highest scoring season in history
Jasper Bruce & Scott Bailey, AAP •  May 11th, 2026 3:00 pm
The Warriors have roared home to down the Dolphins in Wellington | Photo: Marty Melville/AAP
The NRL has officially entered uncharted points territory, with high-scoring shootouts and lopsided results now even more common than in the final year of the old under-20s competition.
Headed into this weekend's Magic Round, the NRL has eclipsed an average of 50 points per match over the opening 10 rounds of a season for the first time in the game's 118-year premiership history.
Last Friday night's golden-point clash between North Queensland and Parramatta also marked the seventh game this year to have both teams top 30 points in a match.
The situation has drawn comparisons to the old Holden Cup, which was cut in 2017 for a myriad of reasons, including welfare concerns and pathways issues.
One constant criticism of the under-20s was the lack of defensive resolve, with several games either becoming high-scoring shootouts or lopsided blowouts.
But this NRL season is now exceeding it.
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Through the first 10 rounds of the last Holden Cup season in 2017 there were six games where both teams scored 30 or more, and the average margin was 16.5 points.
This NRL season has topped that, while the average margin in games has reached 17.9 points.
"The scorelines ... reflect that (it's similar to under-20s) at the moment," said Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo, who coached Penrith in Holden Cup.
"But I think if you look at the top teams, they're not having games like that.
"They're working really hard defensively and not giving up too many points and getting the rewards out of that.
"There are some blowout scorelines, but I think the teams that are doing it well are definitely controlling that.
"That's something that we want to work towards as well."
Of the 80 games played this year, 32 have been decided by 20 points or more.
The average margin in games also currently stands beyond what it was in the opening 10 rounds of the high-scoring 2021 season.
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That year ended up being the most lopsided since 1935, with blowouts becoming more common as the season went on.
The increase in points-scoring and blowouts in recent years has coincided with the introduction of the set-restart rule, with the NRL expanding its use in 2026.
"I think the whole landscape of the game has changed," said Manly mentor Kieran Foran, the only under-20s graduate to now coach in the NRL.
"I remember being a young guy coming into the NRL where the wrestle was very prominent and the grind of the game was what it was all about.
"You were really trying to win some games 6-4, or 8-6.
"But the game decided that it needed more points, more entertainment, which sped up the ruck to open up the game."
Regardless, Foran insisted that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"I think the game's in a great space, I really do," he said.
"I think we've made the right decisions. You've got to go with the times and we've done that. We've made the game exciting.
"It's as fast as it's ever been and you don't know what the scoreline's going to be. Sometimes that's a good thing."
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