It’s arguably the best weekend of footy on the calendar, and all focus will be on Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium this weekend for Magic Round!
Caxton Street and beyond turns into a three-day party, and sixteen clubs are in action… sorry Knights fans, you’re on the bye!
Friday night’s Sea Eagles vs Broncos game has fast become a Magic Round tradition, but there are plenty of quality matches to look forward to, including Saturday night’s Storm vs Rabbitohs blockbuster.
You can find my preview of every game and Magic Round Tips below!
We’re underway on Friday evening with an intriguing battle between the Bulldogs and the Raiders, and at peak ability, there’s probably a case to be built for both.
The rebuild is obviously in full effect, but the Dogs probably haven’t been quite as good as they could have been this season. Injuries haven’t helped, but they’ve also lost games after being in a key, winning position.
The Raiders have slowly built to the task this year, and despite letting the Phins back into the contest in Round 9, they did manage to sneak home.
I think the Raiders might just sneak home again, and there’s a bit of value on offer for them to win in a tight one.
The Broncos deserve their favouritism, but I think that this traditional Magic Round rivalry match could prove to be one of the standout contests of the week!
The Sea Eagles were horrific against the Titans last week after narrowly seeing off the Tigers in Round 8, but remembering back to their Round 7 win over the Storm and clearly, they are a side that plays to the ability of their opposition.
Jake Trbojevic is an enormous out, but Tom Trbojevic is a massive in, and I think they can be in the contest for a long way.
I thought the Broncos were found out a little but the Bunnies last week, but they regain both Payne Haas and Ezra Mam this week and ultimately, I think they’ll do enough to win.
What are your thoughts on Josh Schuster?
Should the Manly Sea Eagles make a huge call and move on? @JharalYowYeh5 & JaredTimms have more #NRL Unpopular Opinions! pic.twitter.com/ncWkr9rQsR— Neds (@NedsAus) May 2, 2023
Two Top 8 sides clash first up on Saturday when the Warriors take on the Panthers, and I thought that the latter might have been under the odds slightly at their current quote ($1.30 at publish).
It’s great to see the Warriors (seemingly) finally realising a bit of their potential in season 2023, and they’re probably unlucky not to have won more than five games.
I thought they were a little flat in last week’s loss at home to the Roosters, but they do have plenty of upside and I think they are starting to become a team that can bounce back.
The Panthers remain on the NRL’s absolute benchmark clubs but wowee, I’m even sure that Tim Sheens would have expected them to lose to Wests in Round 9.
All of that makes for a mouth-water clash this week, and I think that the value lies in backing the Warriors to cover the line as outsiders.
The Sharks have well and truly found their stride, and I am confident that they’ll deliver the Phins a thrashing defeat in Brisbane on Saturday evening.
They started pretty well without a couple of huge names, but since Nicho Hynes particularly has returned to the fold, they’ve continued to go from strength to strength, and they were excellent against the Cowboys last week.
After their own impressive start, the Dolphins seemed to have fallen into the habit of giving teams a decent head start and then trying to run them down late, sometimes successful.
Should the Dolphins trail early this week, which I am expecting they will, I simply don’t think they’ll have the means to reel in an opponent of the Sharks’ quality.
The match of Magic Round will almost certainly materialise when the Storm and Rabbitohs clash on Saturday night.
Both clubs remain Top 4 contenders, and sparks will almost certainly fly as they fight for dominance in front of a packed house at Suncorp.
It’s fair to say that the Storm are probably yet to find their best, but given some of the cavalry they’ve been missing, it’s not hard to see why. They’ve still been good enough to win five of eight and sit fourth overall.
In my opinion, the Rabbitohs have been the best team in the NRL this season, and that opinion is echoed by my colleague, Oscar Pannifex.
With everything considered, I think this will go right down to the wire and could fall either way, so there’s a pretty obvious tip to be given!
Wests Tigers take winning form into Magic Round but will face a stern task every time they step out in 2023. This week, it’s the Dragons!
They were winless for well over 250 days but incredibly, the Tigers managed to reverse their fortunes at the expense of reigning premiers Penrith in Round 9.
Can they do it two weeks in a row? There probably aren’t too many clubs that they COULD repeat that effort and result against than the Dragons, but I really do have to see them do it a few times before I’m a believer.
The Dragons can’t seem to win a game, but this is obviously the best opportunity that they have been offered to date.
Sunday’s slate continues with the Roosters taking on the Cowboys and understandably, betting is skewed towards the former.
I tipped the Roosters to win the whole thing before the season started, and while they haven’t enjoyed the most stunning start to their campaign, their last couple of performances have hinted at improvement.
I thought they did very well to keep a credible Warriors side scoreless in New Zealand last week, and they take on a weaker opponent in Magic Round.
The Cows’ fall from grace has been nothing short of monumental, meanwhile, and they’d need to produce a season-best performance to even compete with the Roosters for a full eighty minutes.
Another club that looks to be returning to some better form is the Parramatta Eels, and they can continue their build at the expense of the Gold Coast Titans on Sunday evening.
They couldn’t buy a win at the beginning of the season but like the Roosters, the Eels’ last few efforts have been a clear improvement.
Combinations are starting to form properly, and I thought that was underlined by the effort mustered by Josh Hodgson and Junior Paulo together last week.
Typically, the Titans have been extremely difficult to line up week in, week out, but they do take their place in Magic Round following a tough performance and win over the Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval.