One of the biggest highlights of the NRL season would’ve been Magic Round, which was to have taken place at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium this weekend.

However, the suspension of the season after Round 2 has resulted in its cancellation, though the competition’s potential return on May 28 continues to gather steam, with the New Zealand Warriors having been given clearance to travel to Australia to resume the season.

Each club will have received a 48-page document detailing the strict biosecurity measures that must be undertaken when the season resumes, which includes driving to and from training, avoiding contact with people other than their families, and regularly undertaking health checks.

Any serious breaches of those conditions could result in the stripping of competition points in what is set to be a truncated season, and could prove costly as far as finals berths are concerned.

In the meantime, we will look back at no less than four finals matches, while we also look back at an opening round golden point thriller between the Wests Tigers and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks from 2012.

So, sit back and relax while we continue to take you down memory lane between the would-be Round 8 opponents from this weekend.

Round 1, 2012: Wests Tigers 17 defeated Sharks 16 at Leichhardt Oval
Magic Round would have kicked off with a clash between the Wests Tigers and the Sharks, with the Tigers seeking revenge after a final-round loss to the Sharks cost them a finals berth in the previous year year.

Instead, we’ll look back at a golden point thriller that played out at Leichhardt Oval in the opening round of the 2012 season.

Just under 20,000 people packed into the iconic venue to watch their teams battle it out for the first bragging rights of the new season, and after three minutes, the Tigers were in first thanks to Beau Ryan, with Benji Marshall’s conversion making it 6-0.

The Tigers led 12-4 when the match took an ugly turn, when debutant James Tedesco suffered an innocuous knee injury while returning a kick from the Sharks in the 30th minute of the match.

Scans would confirm that he ruptured his ACL, thus requiring a knee reconstruction and ensuring he would not return to the field for the rest of the season.

The Sharks then started to work their way back into the match in the second half, with club debutant Todd Carney setting up Colin Best to score a try that would bring the scoreline back to 12-8.

Carney then did it on his own less than ten minutes later, scoring and then converting his own try to put his side in front, 14-12. A penalty goal to the 2010 Dally M Medallist then saw the Sharks lead 16-12.

However, Beau Ryan would score his second try at the death, giving Benji Marshall the chance to convert it and to win the game for the Tigers in normal time. However, his conversion was unsuccessful, and the game went to golden point.

Marshall then made up for his missed conversion by stepping up to slot the winning field goal in the first period of extra time, giving the Tigers a 17-16 win which probably won’t be remembered for all the right reasons given the serious injury to James Tedesco.

Round 22, 2005: Sea Eagles 21 defeated Broncos 20 at Brookvale Oval
With five rounds remaining in the 2005 season, and with a three-win buffer on the second-placed Parramatta Eels, the Brisbane Broncos were seemingly on their way to their first minor premiership since 2000.

But as had been the case in years past, the club’s post-Origin curse was to strike at the wrong time of the season once again.

Queensland had just lost the Origin shield for a third consecutive year, and because many Broncos players, including captain Darren Lockyer, are called upon to represent the Maroons, it resulted in player burnout and a loss of form towards the finals series.

At Brookvale Oval, the Broncos started brightly, and led 14-8 at halftime, at which point they were seemingly on their way to a first win at the suburban venue since 2005.

However, the Sea Eagles, which had also lost form in the aftermath of the Origin series, turned it around in the second half, scoring 13 straight points, including a try to fullback Brett Stewart and a field goal to Michael Monaghan, to lead 21-14 with less than ten minutes remaining.

A late try to the Broncos would prove too late as they suffered the first of what would be seven consecutive losses to finish the 2005 season, bringing what had been a season of dominance up to that point to a bitterly disappointing end.

Round 26, 2011: Knights 40 defeated Rabbitohs 24 at Ausgrid Stadium
The last place for a berth in the 2011 finals series came down to a winner-takes-all showdown between the Newcastle Knights and South Sydney Rabbitohs at Ausgrid Stadium in the final round.

The Knights were looking to qualify for the finals for just the third time since 2003, and it was also, potentially, the last game in charge for Rick Stone before he stepped aside to become incoming coach Wayne Bennett’s assistant coach for the 2012 season.

The Bunnies, meantime, were looking to make the finals for just the second time after 1989 after another season of improvement, which was bolstered by the arrival of Greg Inglis at the start of the year.

Both teams had everything to play for, but it was the Knights that rose to the occasion in front of a crowd of 30,729, leading 30-6 at halftime with Akuila Uate having scored two tries to that point.

Uate scored another two tries after halftime to finish off the Rabbitohs, who were missing Inglis due to injury and whose halfback Chris Sandow played his last game for the club before switching to the Parramatta Eels for the 2012 season.

The Knights subsequently finished eighth on the ladder and were drawn to face the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park in the first week of the finals. They lost 18-8, but were far from disgraced.

Third Qualifying Final, 2006: Bulldogs 30 defeated Raiders 12 at Telstra Stadium
After injuries destroyed their premiership defence in 2005, the Bulldogs hit back with a vengeance in 2006, finishing second on the ladder, eight points in arrears of ladder leaders* Melbourne Storm.

Meanwhile, the Raiders were written off by many at the start of the year; not only did they finish second-last the previous season, they also had an ageing playing list headed up by captain Simon Woolford as well as veteran five-eighth Jason Smith and Clinton Schifcofske.

They also had to deal with the news that Matthew Elliott would no longer be their coach when the season finished.

Despite all that, they managed to finish seventh on the ladder, and the old finals system in effect at the time would have them facing the second-placed Bulldogs at Telstra Stadium in the first week of the finals series.

It was expected to be a close match, but it was anything but, as the Bulldogs showed why they had won the premiership just two years earlier, thrashing the Green Machine by 30-12 to earn a week off and progress directly to the preliminary final.

It marked the end of an era for the Raiders; not only did their coach Elliott depart, veteran players Schifcofske, Smith, Woolford, Jason Croker and Michael Hodgson also bid farewell to the club.

The Bulldogs went on to lose the preliminary final against the Brisbane Broncos by 37-20, after they had led 20-6 at halftime.

* – usage of the term “minor premiers” is inappropriate here, given the Storm were stripped of this title, among others, following salary cap breaches undiscovered at the club in 2010.

Second preliminary final, 2004: Roosters 19 defeated Cowboys 16 at Telstra Stadium
Last week we had a look back at the Cowboys’ stunning 30-22 win over the Bulldogs in what was their first ever finals match.

Now we look at how they dared to dream of a probable grand final berth when they faced the Roosters in the preliminary final, after backing up their win over the Bulldogs with a 10-0 shutout of the Brisbane Broncos in their semi-final.

The Cowboys went into their first ever preliminary final against the Roosters having only beaten the men from Bondi just once to that point – all the way back in 1999.

But after wins over the Bulldogs and Broncos, they had nothing to fear, while the Roosters had everything to lose given they had finished the regular season as minor premiers for the first time since 1981.

The match exploded after just two minutes, when Luke Ricketson floored Nathan Fien, sparking an all-in brawl, setting the tone for what proved to be a brutal match.

The Chooks were first to score, though, when Ryan Cross scored after several raids at the Cowboys’ tryline. But the northerners would hit back almost immediately, with Paul Bowman outmarking Shannon Hegarty to score for his side with the successful conversion from Josh Hannay locking the scores at 6-all.

A pair of penalty goals from Craig Fitzgibbon would see the Roosters enter halftime with a 10-6 lead.

Five minutes into the second half, the Cowboys would score first, through Ty Williams, but the unsuccessful conversion from Hannay saw the scores level at 10-all.

Ten minutes later, Brad Fittler scored under the posts to give his side back the lead, but the Cowboys were not out of it yet – with another try to Williams, and a successful conversion from Hannay, levelling the scores again at 16-all.

Brett Finch then potted a field goal to put his side ahead 17-16, before another Fitzgibbon penalty goal at the death gave the Roosters a hard-fought 19-16 win – and put an end to the Cowboys’ fairytale season.

The northerners would only go from strength to strength in the years following, acquiring the services of Bulldogs utility Johnathan Thurston and Brisbane Broncos forward Carl Webb, among others, and reaching the grand final in 2005.

However, it would not be until 2015 that they would win their first premiership, defeating the Broncos 17-16 in golden point extra time in the grand final.

First Qualifying Final, 2007: Eels 12 defeated Warriors 10 at Mount Smart Stadium
The qualifying final between the Eels and Warriors at Mount Smart Stadium will go down as one of the most defensive slogs in recent NRL history.

After the end of the regular season, the Warriors had finished in the top four for the first time since 2002, while the Eels had spent most of the season inside the top four only for a late-season form slump to conspire against them as they finished fifth.

Under the finals system that was in effect at the time, fourth was to play fifth, which meant the Warriors got home hosting rights for their clash against the Eels.

The first half was a dour affair, with neither side able to breach each other’s line. The result was that at halftime, the score was 0-all.

Warriors winger Todd Byrne was first to break the deadlock, crossing five minutes after the resumption of play and giving the Warriors a 4-0 lead.

But back to back tries to the Eels saw them lead 12-4 with ten minutes remaining, and while they could not be beaten, they conceded a penalty try at the death when it was ruled that ex-Eel Michael Witt was illegally tackled while attempting to score a try.

In the end, the Eels won 12-10, though both teams later progressed to the second week of the finals with the Eels defeating the Bulldogs at Telstra Stadium and the Warriors travelling to Townsville where their season would come to an end at the hands of the Cowboys.

1999 NRL grand final: Storm 20 defeated Dragons 18 at Stadium Australia
The game was still recovering from the Super League war when the two newest clubs to the competition, the Melbourne Storm and St George Illawarra Dragons, faced off in the first grand final to be held at Stadium Australia, which was to host the Sydney Olympics the following year.

In only two seasons, the Storm had been a revelation in the AFL-dominated market, finishing third at both the end of 1998 and 1999, and after bowing out to the Brisbane Broncos in the former year, were primed for a shot at the premiership in 1999.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing, as home losses to the North Sydney Bears and then the Dragons on either side of a final round bye had many fearing that the Storm would suffer a straight-sets exit from September.

However, they would lift to beat the Bulldogs and Eels in consecutive finals matches to book a rematch with the Dragons, who despite beating the Storm in week one of the finals had to win another two matches (against the Roosters and Sharks) to reach the grand final.

Thus, the 1999 grand final pitted the Storm, in only their second year in the competition, against the Dragons, who were competing in their first season as a merged entity with the St George half of the merger having not won a premiership for 20 years.

A world record crowd of 107,558 crammed into Stadium Australia, which had opened its doors in March that year – 18 months prior to the start of the Sydney Olympics – to watch the first decider to be held at the ground.

The Dragons made a barnstorming start and, thanks to a stunning 70-metre try from Nathan Blacklock, led 14-0 at halftime.

A knock-on by Anthony Mundine proved a major turning point as the Storm began their comeback, running in tries through Tony Martin and Ben Roarty, as well as a pair of penalty goals to Craig Smith, to get to within four points of the Dragons.

Then came the most controversial moment in grand final history, when Smith was taken out by Dragons winger Jamie Ainscough while attempting to score a try in the south-western corner.

Referee Bill Harrigan later awarded the Storm a penalty try, giving Matt Geyer the chance to convert from right in front, which he did. The Storm ended up winning 20-18, thus becoming the quickest expansion club in the NRL’s history to take out the premiership.

Channel Nine commentator Ray Warren labelled it “a sporting miracle”, and it completed a dream weekend for the state of Victoria, with the Kangaroos having won the AFL premiership the previous day.

It was also the perfect retirement gift for Glenn Lazarus, who retired with five premiership rings to his name (two at Canberra, two at Brisbane and one at Melbourne). That could’ve been six, had he not suffered an ankle injury in 1997 (in which the Broncos won the only Australian Super League premiership).

For the Dragons, this loss proved to be the most devastating loss in the club’s history, and it would not be until 2010 that they would get another shot at the premiership.

Round 4, 2007: Titans 24 defeated Panthers 22 at CUA Stadium
The fourth match of the Gold Coast Titans’ existence took them to the foot of the mountains for a clash against Preston Campbell’s old side, the Penrith Panthers.

The Titans had started life in the NRL somewhat promisingly, taking until just their second match to record its first ever win when they defeated the Sharks at Metricon Stadium in Round 2.

But their Round 4 match against the Panthers was to test them mentally, as it was their second consecutive match away from home (in this case, the old Carrara Stadium as their new ground at Robina was still under construction).

Campbell scored a try in his return to Penrith Stadium as the Titans raced out to an 12-6 lead halftime. When ex-Dragons prop Luke Bailey scored early in the second half, the scoreline was 24-6 in the visitors’ favour.

However, the Panthers would peg back three late tries to get it back to 24-22 with less than a minute remaining, but their attempt at a comeback victory would fall short with a knock-on at the death.

This ensured a happy return to Penrith for Campbell, who had played every single minute in the Panthers’ successful 2003 campaign which saw them capture its second premiership, only two seasons after finishing with the wooden spoon.