The NRL wants Caxton Street to feel like Fremont Street in Las Vegas. Queensland's government wants to convince Peter V'landys and co. that the concept deserves to stay in Brisbane. The result of combining these objectives for Magic Round 2025? A promotional and hospitality rollout best described as 'The Strip meets Disneyland.' The usual kaleidoscope of fans repping colours past and present, kids with faces painted, pop-ups and interactions all went up a notch, delivering a superbowl for the NRL- albeit one that (at this stage) stays in one location.
EELS vs. SHARKS
Any hopes of assessing finals credentials in identical conditions were effectively laughed out of the cauldron by a trademark South East Queensland weather chance card. The Eels and Sharks opened the round on a fast, dry and fresh track, and Craig Fitzgibbon's men fell short of vindicating their pre-season status as genuine title contenders. Some slick Nico Hynes ball play produced the first try of the round and a general theme of direct attack. A reprieve from the lateral nature of the past month and something Fitzgibbon has been searching for. The question now - will it still be there next week?
To the naked eye the Eels genuinely didn't feel a long way out of the game. And yet, aside from an early Junior Paulo bell-ringer and some danger on Josh Addo-Carr's edge; the most effective shot fired came from the mouth of Mitchell Moses in his running spat with Braydon Trindall. The most confusing thing about Parramatta '25, and the source of sleeplessness for coach Jason Ryles, is just how much they SEEM to be in games for extended periods, only to disappear (seemingly from the stadium) and let points flow like the Suncorp Stadium turnstiles at this time of year. It'll be a battle to avoid the spoon.
DOLPHINS VS. ROOSTERS
Dolphins fans would've left the ground around 10pm pondering one fundamental question. How can Kristian Woolf inspire his halves to get the ball in the hands of the 'Hammer' more often? While Roosters fans would've been contemplating just how ridiculous Laurie Daley's Blues team will look without J. Tedesco's name being read out first. An imperious display from the skipper underscored a class gulf between the combatants in game two; and surely dispelled any lingering doubts over the Roosters finals credentials. A 'too little, too late' fightback maintained the Dolphins capacity to stay in and around games but didn't paper over any cracks. Without their fullback, or Herbie Farnworth with a bit of space, it was another example of a non-finals worthy attack.
KNIGHTS VS. RABBITOHS
Saturday's opener posed the conundrum of extracting magic from the competition's two worst performing attacking outfits. The Knights scored a quarter of their entire season points tally inside twenty minutes. Then the skies opened, and they were restricted to merely doubling the tally in a heavily sodden remaining hour; despite being confronted by one of the worst defensive displays of the year so far.
Kalyn Ponga delivered early, but fell away notably. It was a willingness to run the ball from halves Fletcher Sharp and Jack Cogger that saw the pair sharing the first three tries and the Knights finally finding some oxygen. Up against a heavily depleted Rabbitohs, nothing less than a comfortable triumph would have had many judges writing Newcastle's entire season off. Even depleted, the Rabbitohs defensive line turned in an out-and-out stinker. 'More holes than swiss cheese' was one radio commentator's observation, and the absence of Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker and Jack Wighton absolutely did not justify the absence of physicality. Wayne Bennett's dream return to the Burrow might just flicker out before it catches on in 2025. As for the victors - it was a flattering margin but not enough to suggest any kind of wholesale season turnaround. But as long as 200-gamer Dane Gagai and Bradman Best are running straight and a general easing of everything falling on Ponga is happening; there might just be Knights footy to be played beyond the first week of September.
WARRIORS VS. COWBOYS
'Up the Wah's' is easily the most prevalent slogan to feature on home made banners and various other paraphernalia across Magic weekend. The Wahs' tragics were in full voice as the rain eased late on Saturday afternoon. They witnessed a finals quality matchup; featuring energy, speed and physicality despite its tipsy turvy nature and fiesta of points. In Mitch Barnett and Marata Niukore is evidence the post Fonua-Blake era might not be as difficult as first thought.
Another slow start for the Cowboys prompted a potentially sleep-depriving question for coach Todd Payten: would the team be better served by starting Griffin Neame? The 24-year-old powerhouse continued his season trend of lifting the momentum within minutes of coming on; helping seal gaps that had been catapulting the Warriors down the middle third of the field. A costly deficit became a second half fightback from the far northerners and the Warriors were seemingly dazzled into capitulation by raids on both edges; holding on by the skin of the proverbial teeth to take the win after emerging from another near fatal fade out. The Cowboys' season will go deep if they fix the slow start problem. Reuben Cotter faces the ultimate Origin conundrum after launching into the head of Niukore, while Tom Dearden posed a curly question of his own for Maroons selectors with a typically crafty, communicative and rugged display; what would the Maroons look like with a Munster/Dearden halves pairing?
TIGERS VS. DRAGONS
It's a good thing Dragons coach Shane Flanagan didn't put an infuriating six-point defeat solely down to the cataclysmic drop over the line on the stroke of halftime by Jaydn Su'A. Tigers flyer Jahream Bula's subsequent try 100 metres upfield confirmed a burdensome 26-12 halftime deficit; but wasn't the only reason they lost. Sluggish line speed, regular errors and dwindling physicality in defence played more of a part.
The Tigers attack flows when it connects the spine and everything good came with the fingerprints of Api Koroisau, Jarome Luai and the much maligned Lachie Galvin. Terrell May's ridiculous season continued up front and must be posing serious ponderances for NSW Blues selectors. It's a side with far more threat than previous years; but remains short of being a finals special. It's equally difficult to see the Dragons featuring in much beyond a battle to avoid last. Promisingly for Flannagan, 19-year-old Lyhkan King-Togia played himself into the No.7 jersey for the foreseeable future with a measured display.
TITANS VS. BULLDOGS
It's that same No.7 jersey that continues to be the bane of Des Hasler's existence. Taking nothing away from the immense talent of AJ Brimson - the zip, flair, passing game and game breaking eyes-up brilliance is the mark of a truly elite athlete. Just not quite the ideal half back. Brimson struggled to kick for territory and marshall his side in the absence of concussed Tom Weaver; as the Bulldogs exacted death by a thousand cuts over the course of a blessedly sunny Sunday afternoon. Hasler would have winced at every thumping boom of Toby Sexton's boot; as the ex-Titan launched a crippling second half aerial raid that proved far too much for Alofiana Khan-Pereira. Even Tino Fa'asuamaleaui's unorthodox short kicking game wasn't enough to distract from the gaping hole confronting Hasler: a team that improvises beautifully and executes plans poorly. Cameron Ciraldo's Bulldogs are a blue and white battleship sailing toward the Top 4, with Stephen Crichton playing a lead role in an epic turnaround of last week's capitulation on the same ground.
PANTHERS VS. BRONCOS
Irrespective of their unfathomably low ladder position, teams still get up for a date with the Panthers. Magic Round saw the four-peaters getting up for venue hosts Brisbane, who apparently missed the memo despite the presence of more than 50 thousand willing spectators. An infuriating first half for Michael Maguire provided some performance salve for Ivan Cleary; his charges willing, energetic and intent on defending errors, with his son Nathan pulling the strings like the utter champion he is.
The Panthers were gifted the luxury of an insipid Broncos display, but there was cohesion and energy that's been amiss for most of the past eight weeks. Cleary has made a habit of outpointing Adam Reynolds and did it again; despite clear and heavy targeting from the Broncos pack - rubbing it in with a perfectly executed 40/20 moments after Reynolds had put an attempt out on the full. Brisbane's rocks, diamonds and everything in between 2025 bingo card came out with every cheap mistake, failure to capitalise on territory and costly communication breakdown in defence. Kotoni Staggs was mostly guilty of forgetting he had a player (and a speedy one in Deine Mariner) on his outside, Reynolds climbed to second on the all-time point scorers list despite producing his worst game since the 2023 decider. Brisbane's edge defence was in touch footy mode and the middle channel resembled the wide open space of an outback highway. The message surely must be to stop expecting to win games and focusing on earning the right.
RAIDERS VS. STORM
The Raiders are daring to dream in 2025, and backing it up with a ton of guts. The rain returned for a suitably magical finale; showcasing grit, flair and a satisfying degree of anger for the hardy fans hanging on its every twist. Storm lynchpins Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes looked to be setting an attacking benchmark the 'Green Machine' simply could not match early. Sualauvi Fa'alogo dazzled with rapid pace on the right edge, showcasing the other good thing about his footwork with a kick for the NRL's Energiser bunny Ryan Papenhuyzen to claim the try of the round in the 15th minute.
But the Raiders pack is tough - Corey Horsburgh and Hudson Young toed the line with some rough house tactics but gradually gained territorial ascendancy in the face of grinding discipline from the Storm. Jamal Fogarty is getting better at frustrating teams into error and it was Melbourne's uncharacteristic ill-discipline that ultimately saw Kaeo Weekes send the game into golden point with a scintillating chip and regather try in the 77th minute.
Ricky Stuart must be smiling at his side's capacity to frustrate the most steely of opponents; because this was a win the Storm lost sight of in a red (or is it lime green) mist of frustration. Spare a thought for Trent Loiero; helpless to avoid the dangerous contact penalty that saw the weekend conclude with a Fogarty penalty goal.
The competition's ultimate outcome this year remains anyone's guess. The erratic nature of the year continued across the weekend, and on evidence submitted you'd probably not be laughed at for backing the Storm and Raiders into the first week of October.