When I think about Magic Round last year compared to what it’s going to be this weekend, the phrase that comes to mind is the ridiculous to the sublime.
Last year the NRL hardly covered itself in glory with the crackdown at Magic Round when pretty much any incidental contact with the head resulted in players being sent to the sin bin.
I saw a “highlights” clip of it the other day and it makes you cringe.
This year’s Magic Round in Brisbane should be a great showcase of rugby league, highlighted by the game of the season so far when Melbourne take on Penrith in the last game on Saturday night in front of 53,000 fans.
It’s the perfect time of year to play Magic Round. It’s got itself a nice little spot in the calendar – we have the Easter games, Anzac Day games which are great events and then Round 10 is the ideal spot in the lead-up to State of Origin.
Having every team at the same venue over three days reminds me of the schoolboy carnivals where all the teams play each other and by the end of it you pick your representative team, although I’m pretty certain the Origin selectors for both states don’t need too much more information on how their players are tracking.
There’s been some talk that Magic Round might be moved away from Brisbane next year (or the year after) when the original contract ends with Sydney or Melb being considered.
I think that would be a mistake. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium has been a winner in its previous couple of iterations so there’s no point heading elsewhere.
The stadium is the best in the country for fans and players and QLD has the best weather at this time of year which makes for free-flowing footy.
In the first Magic Round in 2019 all the winning teams scored 22 points or more and it was similar last year with 20 being the lowest total from the victorious outfits.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
It’s great that two of the three games on both Saturday and Sunday are held in the afternoon so their should be plenty of end-to-end attacking play in those matches.
Magic Round is a great opportunity to get more casual fans hooked on the NRL so that hopefully they become more engaged with the sport but that won’t happen if the matches are grinding, low-scoring affairs.
It might be wishful thinking but I reckon the refs should take an Origin approach to Magic Round. Call the blatant penalties but try to let the game flow as much as possible without pulling up everything. Let the players’ skill sort out the result.
Brisbane and Queenslanders (and footy fans from south of the border) in general love to have a good time so hopefully with sell-out crowds all three days, the atmosphere will be like a finals game or a rep contest, none more so in the top-of-the-table clash between Melbourne and Penrith.
Across the park these teams are similar in their strength, dedication and their commitment to what they know works.
The Storm are the best attack in the league, Penrith have the best defence.
They’re both stacked with Origin and Test stars or at the least players who have grand final experience from these two teams winning the comp the past two years.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Even the coaches, Craig Bellamy and Ivan Cleary, are developing a healthy rivalry. This should be a beauty.
With that crowd noise it’s going to be deafening at times out in the middle and that’s where the key players will have to rely on that experience they’ve built up in Origin. It can be hard enough telling the player next to you what to do so they’ve got to be clear in their communication.
Ryan Papenhuyzen and Reimis Smith being out injured is a massive blow for Melbourne but you know with Bellamy’s Storm machine, the players like Nick Meaney who will come in at fullback and Marion Seve named in the centres and Dean Ieremia on the wing will know their roles and their team won’t miss a beat.
Papenhuyzen has been in tremendous form – he’s leading the Dally M count, has scored the most tries and points so you can’t do much more than that but like he’s done with replacing the Big Three of Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith the past few years, Bellamy knows how to identify the next player to come in even if they’re not always the biggest name to begin with.
A perfect example is Josh King from Newcastle going to Melbourne this year. Most people thought Brandon Smith would go to starting lock but King’s has been basically doing the same role that Dale Finucane had done in previous years.
In a recent interview King’s said that the best part about his move there is that they’ve simplified his game and he is playing with confidence by following the coach’s instructions every week.
Craig Bellamy (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Bellamy is considering whether to go around as coach next year and my question on that front would be why wouldn’t you want to do it all again? He’s got Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant re-signed long term, Cameron Munster’s there next year as well and could even stick around beyond that.
Melbourne have got the jump on teams this year in the early part of matches – Newcastle didn’t even touch the ball in the first 10 minutes a couple of weeks ago – but the Panthers are too well drilled to allow the Storm to get a sniff in the opening exchanges.
Penrith are probably coming into this clash with a slightly better preparation even though they lost the other night against Parramatta.
I didn’t see the Panthers do too much wrong in that game but the Eels took advantage of their opportunities and scored some well constructed tries to show they’re going to be up for the big games this year. And showed everyone they can give Penrith and Melbourne a run for their money for the trophy.
This Saturday night is likely to go right down to the wire and it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s only a field goal in it at the end.
It’s almost impossible to separate the teams as they’re both tough, physical and skilful line-ups but with Papenhuyzen out it should give the Panthers the slightest of edges.
This game is what Magic Round’s all about – hopefully it will be much better than the alternative we saw at the same time last year.
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Heyou
Roar Rookie
Magic round… Let the games begin! Are you thinking that all rugby league should be treated like SOO by the match officials and players? Ain’t it a fact that rulz is rulz? Change the rulz or leave them as is? Get it meticulously correctly scribed in stone or on paper or in Wikipedia or Googs or whatevs. Is you is? Or is you ain’t? It ain’t easy for this diehard old tragic to figure all these complex things out. Don’t know how the heck the match officials are meant to do it and they obviously know the RULZ like the back of their hands on whistles ready to blow and do hand arm signals and such. I’m afraid I’ve lost it again. Magic round? Can’t wait :thumbup:
BigJ
Roar Guru
Disappointing that the 2020 grand final rematch ain’t in Melbourne, yet another sporting event that Melbourne loses to Brisbane. The Victorian government needs to pull the heads in
Aiden
Guest
You get consistency by penalizing even the so called incidental ones. It's where you bring the 'its not that bad is it' discretion into things that you do get the inconsistency you complained of. Either the NRL is serious about protecting players or they are not. During magic round they had a crack, basically marching anyone who made contact with the head. There was a lot of contact, highlighted by all the decisions that drive us nuts. That says something about how the game is played. Frankly I'm not sure why any deliberate contact with the head needs to be made. Tackle lower. It's harder to police in Union (although they are taking a harsher stance which fans complain of), due to the rucks and mauls being a dog's breakfast and a more fragmented defensive line. But most NRL tackles involve a guy running straight in, usually up-right. Yet in every game we see shoulders hit heads multiple times, typically ebcause the defender goes high to wrap up the ball and stop offloads. Usually there is no obvious injury and its play on, but all of this contact mounts up. Just don't connect with the head. There may be more offloads, more trys. So what. Less concussion. I don't want to see it like union though. Only send offs for clear direct contact with the head. Where attacking players suddenly go low into a tackle. or if the contact is below the shoulder and it the defender slides up accidentally, then I'm in favour of the player going on report for a later decision. That means games are not ruined by refs taking an overly harsh approach, as in Union, and ruining the game.
Muzz
Guest
This should be a cracking game. The only thing that could spoil it is Gus Gould or Michael Ennis commentating.
Adam
Roar Guru
I know the MLB commentators love to complain about the strike zone and depending on the broadcast it can get a bit much. But generally speaking they're not too bad - and balls and strikes are hardly a player safety thing. But then there are usually accessible ways to get home town commentary which makes it more parochial but you can take it all with a grain of salt.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Adam. It bugs me so much the ‘white anting’ by nine. I don’t watch too much AFL or our soccer or other leagues around the world, but I don’t notice on the cricket leagues or even summer cricket time (when I do have the volume up). I love the management to say ‘stop it right now!’, but they most probably encourage it. Is it like this in the USA or UK leagues coverage?
Adam
Roar Guru
Consistency is used by NRL fans as a synonym for perfection, at least in their own eyes through whatever lens they happen to be wearing. Ain't gonna happen. And there's plenty in the media, particularly in the one free to air organisation, that think a penalty should be all that's required unless it's intentional and it hurts someone. I could switch on any game just about and listen to Gould, Johns and Mat Thompson complain that a high tackle is incidental and isn't worth x,y or z. On 100% Footy Gould was telling those that'll listen that none of the Lawton, Kennedy or Ramien were even worth sin bins because there was no injuries and no intent by the players. So I think I can safely say that the media loves to white-ant the NRL and high contact and will continue to do so. I also took umbridge at the use of the word incidental to describe high contact amongst the NRL's media population. As if that somehow absolves players making high contact. Over 600 tackle involvements are recorded in a game of league, if 599 are legal then all good, doesn't mean we shouldn't punish the 1 that makes contact to the head just because it's incidental
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
If I was the NRL I'd be taking it to NZ as a thank you to the warriors for their absence from their home ground for the last 2 years and now 3rd . But it's all about $$$$$ .
Phil
Roar Rookie
It would be good to see him get a go in 1st grade but Bellamy has his reasons for holding him back. Maybe he's still adapting from RU, and hasn't found his RL feet yet.
Phil
Roar Rookie
It would be a huge call to say he will be as good as Hynes which is not what I meant. For Meaney to be able to slot into almost any backline position is like what Hynes did at Melbourne. He may not turn out as good as Hynes but I'm confident he will excel and prove to be another astute buy.
Chuck
Guest
Just having a look around to see where any commentator suggested we call play on every time there's a high tackle......nope, can't find it. Could you provide a link please? I think you will find the vast majority of complaints about "referees ruining the games" comes from the inconsistency of calls. One week someone hangs an arm out and nearly takes a player's head off, penalty, move on. Next week it's a send-off looking at weeks off. It was last year that one of the Cows players was trying to tackle either Korisau or To'o right under the posts, the Cows player went in very low, no chance of a high tackle, the Penrith player dove at his legs and his head connected with the legs. Penalty. High tackle. 10 mins in the bin. Some of the calls were just absurd. We, as fans, have a right to expect consistency. Without the fans, there is no league. I wont comment on Bunker inconsistencies here. Thats a whole other novel.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Phil. Like Hynes is a big call.
matth
Roar Guru
And if you aren't interested in the footy, every recruiter and player agent in the country will be in one spot with access to all the players. Rumours will fly. What more could you want? If the weather gets kinder this should be a great weekend. I'm a bit worried about the ground chopping up with all the are we are having. Suncorp is the best place for this for all the reasons set out in Mary's article.
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
If Warbrick is that good, I wish they'd give him a run, but maybe they don't want to debut him against Penrith.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
I think it should always be at Brisbane. Sydney could do it, but not at the loss of Brisbane holding it. Could Melbourne get crowds big enough for the weekend? The people paid the money would know better the me, maybe for the other cities like Melbourne they could do a ‘mini carnival round’ for two or three cities. Melbourne, north Qld, Newcastle, NZ, Canberra, all could put their hands up, have the NRL auction that event before GF. The magic round is an ‘event’ more then regular game for a fan, if done right it could work elsewhere, but not at cost of it leaving Brisbane. I’d add another ‘event’ weekend if there was interest.
varun sharma
Roar Rookie
Can't wait to see penrith loose their second game this year. :happy: :stoked:
Phil
Roar Rookie
Don't worry about Meaney at fullback. He's fullback first, winger second so he should go good. I'm tipping him to be a sensation at Melbourne whatever position under Bellyache's tutelage, something like Nicho Hynes. As for Warbrick, I too would like to see him given a run either at centre or wing. Looking at his highlights video, he is one hell of an athlete.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Paps and Smith are big outs…especially since their replacements are several rungs below. Meaney’s been great at wing but fullback is a whole new ball game and the way Paps has been the last few weeks there’s no chance he’ll get anywhere near close to those performances. Seve had to be given special dispensation for come up from reserve grade…solid but nowhere near Reimis in skill and defense. Maybe not this match as its a tough initiation but I’d like to see Will Warbrick given a shot at center or wing since Reimis is out for 10 weeks. Similar to last years mid season rematch where the Panthers had injury outs I suspect this game won’t be the cracker match that everyone is anticipating.
3 R M
Roar Rookie
It will be a good game Michael and an easy one to scout for you as well with our two toughest opponents coming up in the next couple of weeks. I follow cows in an ocd fashion and I never new..
Phil
Roar Rookie
Looking forward to Magic Round, especially the big one. First plays second in what should be a crackerjack game. Unfortunately Melbourne won't be at full strength with Paps and Smith missing but that's RL. I just hope the refs don't blow the peas out of their whistles like last year. As Michael says above let the players' skill sort out the result.