Magic Round is done for the 2024 NRL season and lived up to the billing, highlighted by a huge upset on Sunday afternoon.
Five points decided the opening two games as Magic Round got off to a fantastic start and proved to be a sign of things to come in Round 11 of the 2024 NRL season.
The Canberra Raiders and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs put on a show and gave the fans in the stands a bit of everything. Following a hot Raiders start, they allowed the Bulldogs back into the game with two sin bins. However, in typical Raiders fashion, they fought to the end, gave themselves a chance, and scored what ended up as the match-winner in the 60th minute. Later, Jock Madden ended up the hero with his 75th-minute field goal sealing the win for the Brisbane Broncos over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. While an ugly game, it could have been a lot uglier with Payne Haas limping off the field before returning to finish.
The first big controversy of the round came late as the Gold Coast Titans appeared to have gone level with the Newcastle Knights with five minutes to play. However, nobody knows the extent to which the Bunker needs to see anything these days. Without any vision of separation between ball and hand, the officials deemed Brian Kelly to have knocked the ball on for the Knights to pinch the 28-24 win. Billed as the Match of the Round, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Sydney Roosters put on a show for the Suncorp Stadium crowd. The Roosters took a lead into the break but couldn’t hold off a fast-finishing Sharks. The 38-30 win keeps Craig Fitzgibbon’s side at the top of the NRL ladder.
Match Highlights 🎥 – #NRLSharksRoosters
Nicho Hynes pressed his claims for an Origin recall after leading the Sharks past the Roosters in a Magic Round classic! pic.twitter.com/JR2GncfGlL
— NRL (@NRL) May 18, 2024
Meanwhile, the South Sydney Rabbitohs remain fixed to the bottom. They’re showing glimpses of improvement but still lack in the finer details. A Damien Cook try in the 76th minute added some respectability to their 28-22 defeat at the hands of the North Queensland Cowboys.
Desperate for a response following a losing month of footy, the New Zealand Warriors rode what proved to be a home crowd to victory over the defending premier Penrith Panthers. Penrith played without Nathan Cleary, but their injury issues barely rated a mention alongside the Warriors, who needed to dig deep into the roster. The 22-20 win is being hailed as one of the best regular season victories in Warriors history. The Parramatta Eels are wrapping up a losing month of their own after falling to the Melbourne Storm 48-16. Mitchell Moses’ return can’t come soon enough, but he can only help so much. Especially when it comes to the defensive side of the ball where Eels players were left on the ground or scrambling to marker far too often.
Magic Round ended as most expected, with the Dolphins beating the Wests Tigers 24-12. The crowd thinned out by the end as the Tigers struggled to make it interesting. Following a promising enough start to the NRL season, that’s five defeats in a row for Benji Marshall’s side for 15th on the ladder.
Player Spotlight: Xavier Coates
Welcome back, Xavier Coates.
– 70 minutes
– 1 try
– 2 try assists
– 1 linebreak
– 215 running metres
Still only 23 years old, Coates is one of the most dangerous attacking players in the NRL. Give him space, and he’s gone.
Coates says GOODBYE 👋#NRLStormEels pic.twitter.com/BZSj1BszLb
— NRL (@NRL) May 19, 2024
If Coates can’t score it himself, he can find a teammate with a pass or kick. No winger is better at putting it on the toe back inside for a player in support.
As injuries take their toll – Coates himself still missed ten minutes of this one for an HIA – the Storm are hoping their winger can stay on the field for the rest of the season.
NRL Team of Round 11: New Zealand Warriors
There can only be one option this week…
The New Zealand Warriors beat the Penrith Panthers without Rocco Berry, Kurt Capewell, Tohu Harris, Chanel Harris Tavita, Shaun Johnson, Freddy Lussick, Luke Metcalf, Marata Niukore, and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. They also lost Wayde Egan during the match and spent time without Marcelo Montoya and Jackson Ford.
Decimated by injuries and on a four-game losing streak, the Warriors got back to what they do best: They got into the grind. Winning possession, they turned 54% of the ball into eight linebreaks and a late try to seal the win.
Match Highlights 🎥 – #NRLWarriorsPanthers
The Warriors produced one of the upsets of the season downing the Panthers at Magic Round! pic.twitter.com/E8GMafThbH
— NRL (@NRL) May 19, 2024
Billed as a premiership contender before Round 1, the Warriors have struggled through the early rounds. However, they showed their credentials in this one. With a lot of the injury list expected to return in the next 2-3 weeks, we will soon see the best of the Kiwi club.
The Highlight Reel
The pass from Terrell May?! 🤯#NRLSharksRoosters pic.twitter.com/i8x5xPGdrT
— NRL (@NRL) May 18, 2024
Numbers Game
It’s more of the same for the Bulldogs, who, like last week, won possession and finished up with more linebreaks in defeat. They occupied 55% of possession against the Raiders with six linebreaks for the match but couldn’t capitalise to lose 24-20. Patrick Carrigan wouldn’t allow his Broncos to lose on Friday night. Already down a handful of players and watching Payne Haas limp off for a period, Carrigan stepped it up a gear to run for 264 metres while making 33 tackles for the match.
The Titans might spend a lot of time throughout the week thinking about what could have been with Kelly’s no-try decision. However, they will be better off digging into the 56 missed and 15 ineffective tackles that ultimately cost them victory. In contrast, the Sharks missed 35 tackles with another 28 ineffective tackles while providing the Roosters with a three-second play-the-ball speed. Not many teams find ways to win with those numbers, but the Sharks are proving to be an NRL premiership contender this season. Again, in contrast, not many teams are winning with a 69% completion rate and only 47% possession while losing the penalty count 10-2, but the Cowboys did just that over the Rabbitohs.
Looking more like themselves this week, the Warriors dominated possessions (54%) against an out-of-sorts Panthers. It always felt like the Panthers would find a way, but the Warriors held their nerve and remained patient to eventually turn their eight linebreaks into points. Surprisingly, the Eels managed to maintain an even share of possession against the Storm despite conceding 48 points. More surprising, however, is Melbourne finishing with 21 offloads to Parramatta’s 20. The Eels lead the NRL in offloads with 14.1 per game to the Storm’s 11 per game. Hamiso Fabuai-Fidow made a successful return to footy to wrap up Magic Round. The flying fullback finished up with 257 running metres in a match-winning performance for his side.