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The sixth Magic Round is in the books, bringing results that were unsurprising but still much fun. Let’s dive into some NRL talking points.
Always looks like a great time, Magic Round. Sunday was the day for the big matchups but the four-day football festival delivered once more for those in the stands and us on the couch – my mates who headed up reported back full of cheer.
Since 2019 it has become the biggest event on the regular season calendar and I’m going to make it my business to get there next year.
Big crowds, happy faces, rugby league. How do you do better?
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Not nearly as many bludger games this week, even though the results all went to the favourites.
Parramatta gave another good crack in their 28-18 loss to Cronulla but just lacked the polish. The Sharks were once again far from convincing, but they won so they won’t care.
(It was a penalty on Bailey Simonsson, by the way. He pretty clearly tackled the Sharks player in the air).
The Roosters edged ever closer to a finals place with a 36-26 over the Dolphins, who are feeling the pinch of injury but are still unable to capitalise when they’re in a position of power.
James Tedesco is putting some kind of season together. Getting bumped from State of Origin has given him a new lease of club life.
Brisbane came out dominant but quickly handed Penrith the reins, and the premiers made them pay over and over and over again walking to a 32-8 win. Horrible result for the Broncos, the dream of finals stays afloat for the Panthers.
Nathan Cleary. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
They might be in the lower spots but Penrith are never going to give up – Brisbane just showed the world you need to be prepared and ready to battle as if you’re playing the 2024 version.
Newcastle took the game on offer against South Sydney, a comfortable 30-4 result and boy oh boy did they need that. Five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe is great fun to watch, his hat-trick of tries all quality.
After hanging in and playing competitively for the first six weeks of the year, South Sydney are scraping the bottom of the depth chart and have finally succumbed to their huge injury list. They’re in real trouble, even a Wayne miracle might be beyond them at this point.
Canterbury were slow and steady to come up with a dominant 38-18 win over the Gold Coast, who remain rubbish. A good stretch of the Bulldogs’ legs after the shocker last week.
New Zealand were walking away with their game against North Queensland but in the end were lucky to hang on 30-26, which at one stage was 30-12 early in the second half. Credit to the Cowboys and especially Scott Drinkwater for the comeback, but Todd Payten’s team will be angry about that one for a few days.
As for the Warriors, they’re a game clear in the top four, winning when they should but keeping the questions open as to exactly how good they are.
That’s the Warrior’s way!
A belter to finish in the hosing rain as Canberra came from 14-0 down to win 20-18 in a golden point penalty goal from Jamal Fogarty.
Fantastic tries, a great battle and just the right amount of niggle.
Melbourne lock Trent Loiero had an up-and-down game giving away four penalties, one which struck a field goal off the board, then the decisive one in golden point. Hell of a way to undo 43 tackles and lots of good work to control the Raiders’ middle.
(And before there are any complaints, the golden point penalty was stone-cold).
Believe it or not, the Raiders sit in second place, to the shock of everyone except those who have been seeing what they’ve been building over the last couple of years. Still plenty of road to go, but this is a bright start.
As for the Storm, they’ll be just fine.
Wests Tigers’ 34-28 win over St George Illawarra showcased a wildly swinging game.
If Dragons forward Jaydn Su’A doesn’t inexplicably spill the ball on the way to score just on half-time, things may have been different but he did, so they weren’t. Tigers fullback Jahream Bula showed some great awareness to get on the ball and whip it away 100-plus metres to turn what was about to be 20-16 into 26-10.
That was whittled to 26-22 with plenty of time to go before Adam Doueihi seemingly killed the contest, but there was still some excitement after a late Dragons score.
The Tigers missed 42 tackles and made 11 errors but still scored 34. They’ve beaten teams around them (Newcastle, Cronulla, Dolphins and now St George Illawarra) which can play a role later in the season.
I’ve long been saying the Tigers weren’t as bad as advertised even though the results were horrible so I’m all in – they’re going to make the finals this year. Next month they’ve got Melbourne, Souths, a bye then the Cowboys.
Beat the Bunnies and Cowboys, and the season is lining up nicely.
A great watch from the round was the women’s State of Origin game one on Thursday, really good fun before the Blues pulled away in the second half for a 32-12 win.
Also great to see post-game was that Origin’s TV ratings absolutely smashed the AFL match being played in Melbourne at the same time.
Yet more indisputable evidence that given the space and resources, the women’s game is a fantastic asset.
After last weekend’s sinbinathon, there was the tradition ‘rugby league is cooked/the game is ruined’ hysterics from those who are ‘never going to watch again’.
Every year (or every few weeks, really) we’re subjected to the lines that refereeing is so poor it’s driving people away, that the game’s not what it was back in the 80s and 90s where most of the NRL’s broadcasters wish it stayed.
So a reminder that in 2025 TV ratings are up, crowd numbers are up to record averages, the NRL is making cash like never before and we’re seeing players do things every week those yearning for the ‘golden days’ could only dream of.
Pay no mind to the sooks and professional crisis actors, the game has never been in better shape.
(But they’d better bloody get Perth right)
After all the fun in Brisbane, who will stay lively as we reach round 10?
It all starts Thursday with a sneaky good one, Parramatta and the Dolphins. Sure, the win/loss ledger isn’t great for either club but this might be a decent matchup.
The Friday pub game is in Newcastle, with the Knights and Titans going at it in an absolute humdinger. I won’t guarantee I’ll stick around for all of that one.
Friday primetime it’s South Sydney hosting Brisbane, which two years ago would have been a screamer but now with so many injuries, the bunnies are really up against it.
Match of the round is in the national capital on Saturday afternoon when Canterbury and Canberra have a good old-fashioned 1 v 2 battle. That’s followed by St George Illawarra and New Zealand in Wollongong, then North Queensland and Penrith in Townsville.
Sunday has two good fun matches, off to Melbourne for the Storm and Tigers before the round ends with Manly hosting Cronulla at Brookvale.
The Roosters have the bye, and the two free points to bump them right up into the fringes of the finals places.
Morgan Smithies, Jamal Fogarty and Tom Starling celebrate winning. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
– Again it rained, again the Lang Park surface held up across four days and nine games. You can bet, however, that next year we’ll have the same media BS about how it will never handle the workload… but it’s useful timing there are no games there next weekend.
– Selwyn Cobbo at fullback has been pretty solid for the Broncos, apart from a couple of positioning issues. There are plenty of bigger problems at Red Hill than his performances.
– A lively 200th game for Canberra captain Joe Tapine, getting into a few stinks while rolling out his usual quality performance. A running battle with Stefano Utoikamanu was the highlight for the neutral.
– Brisbane’s white-ish away jersey is horrible. Team need to sort these threads out.
How magical was your round, Roarers?