On form and the first 13 rounds of 2026, it will be Mad Mondays and post-mortems for the Broncos, Raiders and Bulldogs when the finals kick off. Melbourne’s signs of life after seven straight losses, and Brisbane’s revival from a nigh-identical plight 12 months ago, offer hope yet. So too, columns like this, which beg to be shot down by the rugby league universe. Where the cowbell signalling another crack at the defence has made running dummy halves king, the Bulldogs don’t have one.