Template:Arl1996ladderprogression

Ladder progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round

	Team	1¹	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1	Manly-Warringah	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	28	30	30	32	32	34	36
2	Brisbane	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34
3	North Sydney	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	18	18	20	22	22	23	24	26	28	28	30	32
4	Sydney City	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	20	20	22	24	24	26	27	29	29	29	31
5	Cronulla-Sutherland	0	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	16	17	19	21	21	22	24	24	26	28	30
6	Canberra	0	1	1	3	3	5	7	7	9	9	11	11	13	15	15	17	19	19	21	23	25	27
7	St George	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	11	13	15	17	19	21	23	25	25	27
8	Western Suburbs	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	12	13	15	15	15	17	17	19	21	21	23	23	25
9	Newcastle	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	21	23	23
10	Sydney Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	22
11	Auckland	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	22	22	22	22
12	Sydney Tigers	0	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	18	20	22	22
13	Parramatta	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	14	14	16	18	19	21	21	21	21
14	Illawarra	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	14	14	16	16
15	Penrith	0	1	3	3	3	3	3	5	5	7	9	9	9	11	11	11	11	11	11	13	13	15
16	Western Reds	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	5	7	9	9	11	11	13	13	13
17	North Queensland	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	10	10	12	12
18	Gold Coast	0	0	2	2	4	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	9	9	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
19	South Sydney	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	3	5	7	7	9	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
20	South Queensland	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

¹ - Due to the Super League war, clubs aligned with the Super League refused to take part in round 1. As such, only 4 games were played, all between two ARL-aligned teams. Of the remaining 6 games, Super League teams Canberra, Penrith, Cronulla and the Western Reds forfeited their games to the ARL-aligned clubs South Queensland, Parramatta, Newcastle and St George respectively. The match between Canterbury and North Queensland was cancelled, and Brisbane forfeited to Auckland due to Auckland fielding a team consisting of players from the Otahuhu Leopards and Ellerslie Eagles clubs. As a result of the forfeitures, 9 teams were in the top 8 after the first round due to ties on points differential.