2026 NRL Trading Cards Explained: Every Set, Every Insert
Select Australia is back making NRL cards, and 2026 League Heroes is their first mainstream rugby league release in years. Every card is printed on thick 400gsm artboard, and the product is packed with more insert sets than most collectors will have seen in an NRL release. If you’re new to the hobby, or trying to understand what your mates are chasing, this is everything that’s in the set, from the base cards up to the rarest hits.
The Base Set
The base set is 269 cards covering all 17 NRL clubs and all 12 NRLW clubs. These are the most common pull and the foundation of any collection. Building a complete base set is a genuine achievement and exactly what a lot of collectors set out to do.
Every card has a number printed on the back that matches the official checklist, so you always know exactly what you have and what you’re still missing.
Retail vs Hobby
2026 League Heroes comes in two different products: Retail and Hobby.
Retail is the mainstream release you’ll find in stores. Packs contain 9 cards at an RRP of $3.99, with 36 packs per box. Select also sells Starter Packs, Blaster Boxes and Card Lockers if you want a bigger configuration.
Hobby is the premium release. Select’s first NRL hobby product since 2012, with only 9,000 boxes made. Hobby packs are also 9 cards but at $13.99 a pack, with 18 packs per box (around $250). The base cards in hobby are printed on metal, and the inserts are rarer, numbered, and in some cases exclusive to hobby. More on that below. Whichever way you buy in, every single pack contains a Luminous card.
The Inserts: From Common to Rare
This is where 2026 League Heroes gets deep. Rather than a simple base-and-parallel structure, there’s a long ladder of insert sets, each with its own pull rate. Here they are roughly from most common to hardest to find:
- Luminous (1 per pack): the big new feature for 2026. A 228-card set printed on a silver, non-scratch PET board, each with a protective clear film you can peel off. Because there’s one in every pack, it’s the most common insert, not the rarest.
- League Heads (1 in 3): 136 character-style cards.
- Game Breakers (1 in 4): 160 cards printed on clear acetate board.
- BANG (1 in 6): 102 of the biggest names on a reflective foil board.
- Colours Diecut (1 in 8): a 221-card die-cut series.
- TRYumph: celebration cards. The red version falls 1 in 18. The extremely limited TRYumph Gold is 1 in 432 and individually numbered to 80.
Numbered Cards: The Hits
Numbered cards are stamped with a serial (e.g. 025/450), meaning your card is copy 25 out of a total print run of 450. Lower print run means a rarer card. On average there are at least two numbered inserts in every box:
- Gladiators: 153 cards, numbered to /599.
- Mercury: 204 cards, numbered to /450.
- TRYumph Gold: numbered to /80.
- Golden Treasure: a redemption card, one player per club, 1 in 2,592 packs and numbered to /80. Redeems for an exclusive prize.
Predictor Signatures & Redemptions
The chase autographs in this release are the Predictor cards: signature redemptions tied to the 2026 season:
- Dally M Predictor: 85 cards, numbered to /270.
- Premiership, Clive Churchill and Dally M Rookie Predictors: each numbered to /230.
- State of Origin Predictor: featuring players from the 2025 Origin series, numbered to /115. Any predictor from the winning state is a winner.
Hobby Boxes: The Premium Tier
Everything above is the retail product. The Hobby release takes the same set and turns everything up: the base is printed on metal, the per-pack Luminous is a Gold Back version individually numbered to /725, and the parallels are rarer and serial-numbered. Hobby-only highlights include:
- Colours Diecut Gold: 1 in 3 packs, numbered to /250.
- Etched: a hobby-exclusive 153-card set, numbered to /185.
- Gladiators Gold: numbered to /140. Mercury Sterling: numbered to /95.
- Playmakers: a hobby-exclusive box hit, 85 cards numbered to /110.
- TRYumph Black (/50) and TRYumph Black Signature autographs (one per club, /50). Both hobby-only.
- Platinum Predictors, upgraded signature redemptions: Dally M /80, Premiership /65, State of Origin /60.
With only 9,000 boxes produced and every hit numbered, hobby is where the serious chase cards live. It costs more per pack, but it’s built for collectors hunting the rarest versions.
Instant Win Cards
There’s an Instant Win card for each of the 17 NRL clubs. Enter the unique code on the back of the card in the competition section of the Select website to reveal your prize. A fun lottery element on top of the cards themselves.
NRLW Cards
All 12 NRLW clubs are part of the base set alongside the men’s teams, recognising the growth of the women’s competition. NRLW players follow the same numbering and checklist structure as the rest of the set.
How to Read the Checklist
Select releases official checklists for each product: a complete list of every card number and player. The retail and hobby checklists are different because they contain different card types.
When you’re completing a set, the checklist is your roadmap. Each card has a unique number printed on the back. That number matches the checklist so you always know exactly what you have and what you’re still missing.
Download the 2026 League Heroes checklists here →
Where to Start
If you’re getting into collecting, the base set is the best place to start. It’s accessible, achievable, and gives you a solid understanding of the product before you go chasing numbered hits.
If you already collect and are looking to complete a specific set or track down a player card, browsing by team is the fastest way to find what you need.