One Round. One ground. 16 teams.
That’s how the NRL’s selling the 2023 Magic Round and we couldn’t be more pumped. If it’s not a weekend on every League fan’s bucket list, that needs to change.
And one of the most exciting weekends on the sporting calendar is coming at us quickly.
Plenty of fans from around the country will make the trip to Brisbane and, in fact, it’s still not too late to plan a magical rugby league weekend.
All eight games will once again be held at Suncorp Stadium, which also hosts Origin II this year as well; there are plenty of mouthwatering match ups to look forward to. It kicks off with Bulldogs-Raiders before the high-flying Broncos take centre stage against fellow title contenders Manly.
Now heading into its fourth iteration, and its small history beginning to grow, many sides will be out to create their own fond Magic Round moments. New club on the block, the Dolphins, will of course feature at Magic Round for the first time as well.
So here’s everything you need to know about the world’s largest Rugby League festival, the first event of its kind in Australia.
NRL Magic Round tickets
The NRL is committed to ensuring this year’s Magic Round breaks the attendance record.
Single day passes for start at $50 for adults and $139 for families. They can be found through this link.
The NRL is also offering a range of hospitality packages, for those after perhaps an even more memorable experience.
Magic Round 2022 was worth more than $27.4 million to the Brisbane economy, with
more than 30,000 visitors to the city for the event. Even more are expected this time around.
When and where is the NRL Magic Round?
As always, the NRL Magic Round will take place at the 52,000 seat complex that is Suncorp Stadium in the heart of Brisbane’s city. The home of rugby league, as it’s known to many.
It occurs during Round 10 of the 2023 season; from Friday May 5 to Sunday May 7.
What is the NRL Magic Round?
The round is a celebration of the competition and its growing community with fans from all of the country filing into Suncorp to watch 16 out of the 17 teams compete in a full eight games of rugby league.
Initially built off the idea established in Britain’s rugby league competition the Super League, the NRL has held three successful iterations of the Magic Round weekend, with all of them individually bringing in over 130,000 spectators across the three days. The NRL’s event is put on with the support of the Queensland Government, TEQ and BEDA.
It began in 2019 and ran in 2021 and 2022, but was cancelled in 2020 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
It has been such a success that cross-code rival the AFL has introduced its own version in 2023 with the so called ‘GatherRound’ starting in round five of their competition from April 13-16.
Magic Round games, times and dates
There will be eight games played across the three days, with two on Friday, three on Saturday and three on Sunday.
Unfortunately for Newcastle Knights fans, their side has been left out of the 2023 Magic Round due to inclusion of a 17th team this year in the Dolphins.
ALL TIMES LISTED BELOW IN AEST
Friday 5th May
Canterbury Bulldogs vs Canberra Raiders – 6:00pm
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos – 8:05pm
Saturday 6th May
New Zealand Warriors vs Penrith Panthers – 3:00pm
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks – Dolphins – 5:30pm
Melbourne Storm vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – 7:45pm
Sunday 7th May
Wests Tigers vs St George-Illawarra Dragons – 1:50pm
Sydney Roosters vs North Queensland Cowboys – 4:00pm
Gold Coast Titans vs Parramatta Eels – 6:25pm
From NRL HQ: Get in touch now via hospitality@nrl.com.au or by calling (02) 9359 8600 to stay up to date with the latest hospitality information.
