Last year, the Panthers and Raiders made the choice to leave their key players on the sidelines in the final rounds of the NRL's regular season, which led to both teams not achieving their championship goals.
This year, however, it's the Roosters and Sharks who have opted to rest several healthy stars as they aim for the 2026 NRL Finals Series starting on September 11, both teams entering the finals during troubling form slumps.
The Roosters will sit nine regular starting players this weekend against the Rabbitohs, including an entirely revamped spine, while the Sharks will allow four of their key players, including vital spine members Blayke Brailey and Nicho Hynes, to take the weekend off.
The effectiveness of such daring and possibly disruptive selection strategies is still up for debate, and, as with every season, only time will reveal if it was the right approach for Trent Robinson and Craig Fitzgibbon.
On the positive side, giving stars a break provides an opportunity for tired bodies to recuperate ahead of a demanding month of finals matches.
Conversely, there's the danger of jeopardizing established team dynamics and diminishing confidence by deploying significantly weakened line-ups at such a crucial time.
One can simply look at the 62-24 defeat the Dolphins handed to 2025 minor premiers Canberra in Round 27 last year as a clear example. Following that game in Redcliffe, the Raiders did not win again and were eliminated from the 2025 finals without a victory.
Additionally, the trend of resting multiple players has raised concerns regarding NRL betting and the integrity of the competition, especially when final standings are still unclear.
In a twist of irony, Ivan Cleary, a coach known for resting players, has named a largely intact Panthers squad for their Round 27 matchup with the Wests Tigers.
Meanwhile, New Zealand Warriors coach Andrew Webster has chosen not to rest numerous healthy players, choosing to focus on maintaining momentum, just like Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf ahead of their inaugural NRL finals campaign.
Rest, or play? What would you do if you were an NRL coach?