The advertising, tourism and occasionally football-centric extravaganza that is Magic Round is over.
After eight games, 328 points and countless commentary references to the occult, it is back to regularly scheduled programming for round 11.
But, as the magic fades from the streets of Brisbane, let’s look at who leaves town with the fairy dust on them and who would be booed out of an eight-year-old’s birthday party for pulling a headless rabbit out of a hat.
Winner: South Sydney Rabbitohs
On coronation weekend, it seems only fitting that the NRL also anointed a new premiership favourite.
In rounds two, three and five, the Rabbitohs lost to the NRL’s holy trinity from the past seven years — the Panthers, Roosters and Storm, who have appeared in every grand final since 2015.
It was a suggestion that maybe they’d missed their window and were still a tick below the elite of the elite.
But now they’ve beaten the impressive Dolphins, reigning premiers Penrith, the ladder-leading Broncos and the Storm in the past four weeks.
With the Panthers looking mortal, no team is miles ahead of the pack, but in a more traditional NRL season, Souths are looking as good as anyone at the moment.
Loser: Nicho Hynes
The Sharks were so completely dismantled by the Dolphins on Saturday evening, it might have cost Nicho Hynes a State of Origin debut.
It’s debatable if he had his nose in front of Jarome Luai at all, what with the incumbency and the Penrith connection within the NSW side.
But Hynes may have felt the sky blue jersey slip through his grasp as surely as the Steeden burst through his hands on a number of occasions as the Dolphins ran out to a 30-0 lead in the first half-hour.
The Sharks reeled them back in a bit, but likely not enough to impress Blues selectors, who also have Cody Walker to consider.
Winner: Valynce Te Whare
The Māori phrase Te Whare means “The House”, and it’s quite possible there’s never been a more perfect, ready-made nickname for the Dolphins’ 22-year-old debutant.
Not only is Valynce built like a cosy two-bed, one-bath, but the house always wins and, for now at least, Valynce has a 100 per cent winning record.
The rugby convert who only took up league when he came over from New Zealand last year was handed his debut against the Sharks in front of 50,000 fans at Magic Round and made Lang Park his whare.
The winner here is really all of us as we got to watch the unbridled joy of Te Whare took it to the house twice and battled NSW representative centre Sifa Talakai all night in his NRL debut.
He missed some defensive assignments and looked completely gassed at times, but it’s safe to say he won’t be called on to do the groundskeeping at Redcliffe again any time soon.
Speaking of which…
Loser: Amateur groundskeepers
The weather in Brisbane in the week leading up to Magic Round was dry, but the previous week was a bit rainy and cloudy.
Naturally, the NRL media cycle went into crisis mode about the Lang Park surface, which would apparently turn to mud in a manner it hasn’t in the previous three Magic Rounds.
Alarm bells went up when Broncos halfback Adam Reynolds took out a chunk of turf as he slipped while kicking on night one. Then he clutched an injured thigh and the headlines started being written calling for a move to Sydney.
Alas, it was a corked quad. The pitch was fine.
And look, you wouldn’t want to play pool off the surface the Titans and Eels ran on to for the last game on Sunday, but it was in pretty fair nick considering the amount of football played over the three days and a freak downpour just before the penultimate game of the weekend.
Winner: Magical Murray
In the same round last year, North Queensland’s Murray Taulagi was primary magician with a freak pass from this position to set up a try…
This time around it was fancy footwork down the left wing that turned nothing into something. That something being a try for his captain…
Loser: Miserable Melbourne
There’s no shame in losing to South Sydney, but the issues go beyond Saturday night’s loss.
So far in 2023, Melbourne have lost to the Bulldogs, Titans and Manly, and even their wins have been scrappy, lacking the typical polish of Storm teams gone by.
After the 28-12 loss in Brisbane, Cameron Munster told ABC Sport: “We need to go back to the drawing board and have a big hard look at ourselves.”
But when he does, he might be grateful most drawing boards aren’t reflective.
Munster and star halves partner Jahrome Hughes look shadows of their former selves, there’s still no sign of fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen (and his return from a shattered kneecap will likely be gradual), and there will be speculation about coach Craig Bellamy’s future until he guarantees he’s coming back next year.
All the while, they have some mid-season adjustments to make.
Winner: Queensland
While no-one enjoys Magic Round more than the state government that watches the tourism dollars roll in and imagines some sort of Scrooge McDuck-esque dive into the Chandler Aquatic Centre, this time around the joy spread to all four teams from the Sunshine State.
The Broncos locked in top spot on the ladder, the Dolphins won their maritime showdown with the fancied Sharks, the Cowboys returned to relevance with their tough win over the Roosters, and the Titans wrapped things up with a thrilling Sunday night win over the Eels.
Four from four for the first time.
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