Magic round 2027 fixture predictions: Who plays who, where do the Bears fit in?

We have taken a stab at working out what magic round looks like next year.

EDITOR | May 18, 2026 - 2:37pm

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Magic Round 2027 will see a serious shake up, with the Perth Bears to be added to the Brisbane extravaganza of rugby league.

That will remove the bye, and for the first time since the initial round in 2019, mean Thursday night is needed for men's rugby league.

Women's State of Origin will be heading to Townsville according to NRL CEO Andrew Abdo as a result, and the nine games will be played over four days.

When the concept originally came to be in 2019, a Thursday night game was played without a heap of success, and while the concept is bigger now, it's still doubtful a huge crowd could be drawn on the Thursday unless the Broncos or Dolphins are involved.

What that likely means is the prime time Sunday slot will be going to the other one of those two teams, staggering the two biggest draws for local fans at either end of the round, while travelling fans are far more certain to be in attendance on the Friday and Saturday.

The NRL will also need to slot the Gold Coast Titans and Melbourne Storm throughout the round, while the New Zealand Warriors have been a guaranteed draw for the Brisbane magic round audience in recent rounds, and should be again on either Saturday or Sunday in 2027.

With no bye, it means the NRL doesn't have the tricky decision of working out who misses the round.

It also needs to be noted that home teams essentially agree to host magic round games, and that most contracts with clubs are due to run into 2027, although there will be some changes.

Of the contracts, none of the Queensland teams generally host (although the Titans did this year), while it's believed the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers are certainties to host a game once again.

The Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors are also believed to be among the hosts.

Taking into account a spread of popular teams, the arrival of the Bears, who will no doubt be a draw, and some minor rivalry-type matches to draw interest, here is who we have playing who at next year's marquee round.