Something about Magic Round is just ... special!
I had to fight every instinct not to type "magic" then, but it really is a marquee weekend on the rugby league calendar.
As we all come back to reality (boo reality!) the breakdown of the past weekend begins.
We bookended the weekend with two magnificent, end-to-end clashes. Funnily, though, no Queensland side recorded a win despite home-state advantage.
Last weekend was ruined by refereeing overreach. This weekend flowed much more openly, and as a result, I am in a far better mood when compiling this week's thoughts.
Below are 20 thoughts from Round 9:
1. A far better week of football this weekend and I owe it all to the referees not being the main talking points. Ok, it was far from perfect but compared to Round Eight, it was pure bliss. There were still errors but there always will be.
2. Not for one single second do I believe there wasn't a "blitz" or "crackdown" called last weekend. We were seeing the most ridiculous love taps rewarded with penalties. We saw the mother of all over-reactions when it came to Sin Bins. This week, those tackles magically disappeared? Come on now ...
3. Just quickly, and then we move on from the officials, that Ronaldo Mulitalo "tackled in the air" penalty was a long time coming. I said when they changed the rule to that you couldn't bring down the attacking player in the air, that this would happen. The refs probably nailed it, which just shows the pure stupidity of the rule. I'm against players allowing attackers to jump only to smash them mid-air, but this was a genuine contest, a tangling and nothing more.
4. My guess is that Trent Loiero would have been the last player off the park after Sunday night's game. He cost the Storm on multiple ocasions including one of the all time brain snaps. For the life of me I will never understand why players, while in possession, lash out. Stay down and win the penalty if nothing else.
5. The Origin series hasn't even begun yet and I am worried that the NSW Blues may have handed the reigns to someone totally out of touch. Talk is that Spencer Leniu, despite being the 28th best prop in the game in 2025, looks set to win a spot on the Blues bench. I don't like that, at all.
6. Speaking of coaches who are out of touch, how bad has Des Hasler set back the Gold Coast Titans? His selections have been mind boggling to say the least. He has toyed with man mountain David Fifita all season, he flatly refuses to name AJ Brimson in his actual position and the amount of late changes has your head spinning.
7. Just on David Fifita, he played QLD Cup on Sunday afternoon. He has nine runs for 58 minutes. That is outright disgusting. Maybe Des Hasler does have a point in dropping him. He should have had 15 runs for 200 metres as the best player in that contest by a mile!
8. It's way, way too early but King Gutho's crown maybe under serious threat. That try on Sunday evening, in the pouring rain, has the potential of King Kaeo Weekes reigning over the premiership for many years to come. Phwoar! That was simply brilliant and should highlight all the material this week.
9. Shout out to my Dragons mates who now have to endure a year of being taunted as the only club who are yet to win during Magic Round. I know they had the bye last year but if I'm Shane Flanagan, I'm emailing the NRL now to put my hand up to have the bye next year as well.
10. No Queensland side won at Magic Round. The NRL sides went 0 from 4 while the women's Origin team were beaten by their Blues counterparts. I don't really have a point here, just wanted to have a stab.
11. Speaking of Women's Origin, that game was an absolute cracker! The NSW girls ran away with it in the second half after the Maroons started making errors chasing points. We saw a similar start to last year's series before QLD captured the series 2-1.ย Strangely, theย Blues have never won a Women's Origin series, only the old one-off games.ย They started this series well and have set themselves up for their best chance yet.
12. I don't know what the answer is but the Dragons have to find a way to use Jacob Liddle more. He makes such a huge difference when he's on the park for the Red V. Do you move Cook to lock, or split them straight 40 mins each? I was worried Cook would overtake Liddle as the team's number one, number nine. Cook has been good but I feel the Dragons missed a trick here.
13. That Warriors/Cowboys clash was the game of the round up until the Raiders thrilling Golden Point win over the Storm. I'm a big "defensive guy" but this game was pure entertainment. The crowd added to it in a big way but that game was pure brilliance from both teams. The Warriors are a far better side than anyone expected.
14. I am 99% sure Mitchell Moses had a go at Braydon Trindall's hairline on Friday evening. That is new. For the record it was great seeing the two halves go at it.
15. Nothing good comes from, four days after the game, releasing a statement that a match-winning penalty was missed. Anyone from the NRL reading, stop doing that!
16. I'm worried re the recent results of some of those linked to the new Perth club. Brad Arthur didn't leave the Eels covered in glory and I'm not sure targeting Newcastle's ... well, anything, is a good shout. We'll wait and see. I don't mean to be down on them before they're even officially announced.
17. Looks like Jacob Preston is going to fall victim to an issue with the Match Review Committee. He has a few priors to his name which means a tackle that was barely a penalty will rub him out for up to four games. In a vacuum, four games for that is criminal. It's far from perfect.
18. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Knights should have nailed Fletcher Sharpe down to the Dylan Brown deal. Now they'll struggle to keep him next time his contract comes up. That kid is the future in Newcastle.
19. Can we please end those cringey half-time interviews? Just have the interviewer stand with a hat full of cliches, pick two at random and same result! Magic!
20. Ok, it's time to ask some serious questions at the Bunnies. Their injury toll is all time, historically bad. You could put it down to bad luck but this is the third season in a row where they've lost a literal First Grade team worth of talent. Is it the training track? Are they recruiting older or broken players? Is the conditioning team up to standard? Something has to change!
