Melbourne qualified for their 9th consecutive finals series. Sydney qualified for their 3rd consecutive final series. South Sydney qualified for their 2nd consecutive finals series. Canberra qualified for their first finals series since 2016. Parramatta qualified for their first finals series since 2017. Manly Warringah qualified for their first finals series since 2017. Cronulla-Sutherland qualified for their 5th consecutive series. Brisbane qualified for their 6th consecutive series.
The system used for the 2019 NRL finals series was a final eight system. In this format, the top four teams in the eight receive a "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals, such that if a top-four team lose in the first week it still remained in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight will play knock-out games – only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home-ground advantage goes to the team with the higher ladder position in the first two weeks, to the qualifying final winners in the third week.[4]
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final play the winners of the elimination finals in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the grand final at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.