Magic Round is here to stay.
That was the overwhelming opinion out of the 2022 version which saw all 16 teams play at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium during Round 10 of the most recently completed season.
Despite horrid weather conditions across the course of the weekends, fans - both local and travelling - packed out the 50,000-seat stadium.
All up, over 130,000 seats were sold across the three days of action. The biggest moment of the weekend was supposed to be the contest between the Penrith Panthers and Melbourne Storm on Saturday evening, and while injuries turned that into a one-sided contest, there were plenty of other superb games.
They included the golden point thriller between the St George Illawarra Dragons and Gold Coast Titans, the New Zealand Warriors' almost successful comeback against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Sydney Roosters clashing with the Parramatta Eels and the Canberra Raiders upsetting the Cronulla Sharks in a monster performance.
In front of big crowds all weekend - which were actually slightly increased on last year despite the prevailing weather conditions - have given another tick of approval to the NRL, who announced along with the Queensland government during the weekend that Magic Round wouldn't be going anywhere in 2023 after speculation.
While a bye will mean one team - a Sydney one - misses out on next year's version of the concept, that's unlikely to make it any less supported, and the Rugby League Outlaws team believe that the concept staying in Brisbane will be perfect for its future, with Magic Round now much more than the gimmick it may have started out as.
Instead, fans have voted with their feet and turned the concept into one of the biggest events on the NRL calendar.
"I tend to throw it to the people that are there. It's unanimous. People love it," Rugby League Outlaws host Dan Nichols said.
"Overall, I love it. As a football fan, no Thursday night football I don't like, the Sunday night game is a gimmick for mine, but it's about getting people to the game, and even in rain, it was a sell out three days in a throw. It's here to stay."
Watch the full video in the player above.
