Magic Round Matchups
An Insight into Suncorp’s Showings
F. A. Loxton
After the closest fixtures ever seen in an NRL season so far, this year’s Magic Round promised to be a highly entertaining festival of Rugby League, and it certainly did not disappoint. From a Friday evening nail-biter between the Raiders and Bulldogs to a Tigers tight victory on Sunday afternoon, Suncorp Stadium provided an electrifying atmosphere and passion throughout the fanbase, making the round a success across all aspects of the game.
In the opening match of the round, the initially struggling Raiders faced an injury-riddled Bulldogs side, looking to have their fourth win in a row after a slow start to the season. With several lead changes in the opening forty, Ricky’s Raiders pushed on after halftime to establish a 14-point advantage, however, Jake Averillo inspired the Bulldogs comeback with a long-range try. Matt Burton’s kicking game also threatened the Raiders back three. However, his final ‘floater’ was caught by Jordan Rapana to end the match, with the Raiders securing the win by a four-point margin.
The Broncos faced the Sea Eagles in the second fixture of the night, with Tom Trbojevic returning to face the top-of-the-table Broncos. After a nervous start from both sides with early errors, Reece Walsh showed his class, setting up two tries as Brisbane cruised to a 20-point lead at halftime. The onslaught continued throughout the second half, as Selwyn Cobbo scored his third try of the match, his second Magic Round hat trick in a row against the Sea Eagles, as Broncos cruised to a 32-6 victory in a much-improved performance from last week.
On Saturday, the afternoon started with the Panthers facing a much improved Warriors side since last season. Following an early try from Addin Fonua-Blake, the back-to-back premiers recovered to a six-point lead, and although the Warriors looked promising, Spencer Leniu crashed over in the final ten to seal the victory for Penrith.
The most shocking result of the round, perhaps was the first-ever Sharks vs Dolphins clash in Wayne Bennett’s 900th game as an NRL coach. Dominating the first half an hour, the Dolphins established an unexpected 30-point lead, with the Sharks edge defence disorganised. Whilst two tries late in the first half inspired the side from Cronulla, Valynce Te Whare’s double on debut proved too much as the Dolphins won 36-16.
In the most anticipated match of the round, South Sydney faced the Melbourne Storm as slight favourites coming off their best win of the season over the Broncos. With early tries to Cody Walker and Jacob Host, the Rabbitohs started strong and dominated throughout, advancing to second on the ladder with a 28-12 win.
On the final day of Magic Round, the West Tigers faced the Dragons after their first win over Penrith last week. Carrying this momentum, a late try from Junior Tupou secured their second win of the season in a tight affair with just a two-point margin.
Following the Tigers win, the Roosters faced the struggling Cowboys, who provided a much-improved performance in the wet weather. Although it was a back-and-forth game throughout the first half, with the Roosters attack disjointed, the Cowboys broke through early in the forty-fifth and forty-seventh minutes to overcome an up-and-down Roosters side 20-6.
The final fixture of the match saw the Eels face the Titans, with both teams coming off strong victories in round 9. Kieran Foran was pivotal early in the first half scoring two tries, and despite a hat trick from Maika Sivo and a late try from Clint Gutherson, the Titans maintained a narrow lead to edge out Parramatta 26-24.
With the 2023 NRL season proving to be the closest we’ve had yet, Magic Round certainly didn’t disappoint with upsets, floggings and everything in between. And, as the origin period comes closer and more important games await, only time will tell as to how the seemingly unpredictable premiership race will pan out.