The clock has just struck 6pm on Friday night and a huge roar goes up so loud that it startles anyone within a few hundred metres of Suncorp Stadium.
The massive cheer from inside the stadium was marking the start of Brisbane’s fourth Magic Round which just gets bigger and bigger each year.
Thousands of supporters – former players and fans alike – were streaming down Caxton Street in the direction of the noise, with Willie Mason’s enormous frame sticking out in the crowd.
And so it would continue for the next three days, with everyone and anyone involved in rugby league soaking up eight matches of the greatest game on earth.
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Fletch and Hindy were in the thick of it from the get go, parked up inside a see-through perspex box inside the Caxton Hotel car park.
They drew the rowdiest of fans but the real action was happening next door as the Raiders upstaged the Bulldogs and the Broncos put on a clinic against Manly in front of 50,077 fans.
Latrell Mitchell told foxsports.com.au a fast start was required to beat their bogey side Melbourne and that his game-breaking plays come easily.
It took just five minutes for Mitchell to make good on his promise as he set up a freakish try for Cody Walker and the Bunnies ran out 28-12 victors.
That win came after the Panthers defeated the Warriors whose coach Andrew Webster told reporters if we paid his fine he’d give us his real thoughts on the officiating.
The Dolphins then stunned the Sharks in Wayne Bennett’s 900th game coaching first-grade, racing out to a 30-0 lead after just 33 minutes.
The difference between winning and losing sheds is staggering, Cronulla captain Nicho Hynes looked like someone had died while the Dolphins were celebrating like it was Christmas.
Bennett was at his brilliant best in front of the cameras during his press conference, making fun of almost every question asked, but inside the sheds he was far warmer and even thanked journalists for coming on his way out the door.
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Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader was as jubilant as the players and said the documentary made on the expansion club’s 18-month lead in to the NRL had delivered them swarms of fans.
“People who have never watched rugby league in their life are now committed Dolphins fans,” Reader told foxsports.com.au.
“We took them behind the scenes and they really got to know the players, the documentary was brilliantly made and has been sensational for the club.”
On the other hand, Storm coach Craig Bellamy was still fuming in the tunnels 45 minutes after full-time but appeared to calm down when he ran into Cameron Smith and stopped for a long chat.
After press conferences, journos head to the sheds and which players are up for a chat varies but unsurprisingly we have plenty more luck with winning sides.
Cody Walker wasn’t in a mood to talk after the Rabbitohs posted a fifth straight win, but his halves partner Lachlan Ilias told foxsports.com.au the camaraderie within the tight-knit group was behind their dominant run.
Mitchell magic steers Souths to victory | 02:17
Souths forward Liam Knight played his first NRL game in 12 months and opened up about his struggles with addiction that saw him spend a month in rehab at the end of last year.
One Panthers star agreed to talk but asked if he could load his bags onto the bus first. He then slipped onto the bus without returning – one of the oldest tricks in the book.
Penrith young gun Spencer Leniu spoke about his determination to show this weekend against the Roosters – who he’s signed with for next season – that he’s “worth every penny”.
Everyone wanted a piece of Dolphins new cult hero Valynce Te Whare and the lively character delivered a cracking interview after his two-try debut.
The rugby-raised Kiwi admitted he barely knows who Mal Meninga is and still doesn’t know all the rules.
The Queensland clubs made it a clean sweep on Sunday as the Cowboys stunned the Roosters and the Titans hung on against the Eels.
Phins debutant draws immortal comparison | 00:48
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The Suncorp Stadium turf looked ripped to shreds by the final game but an NRL official said it was simply aesthetics and that the testing showed the grass was still strong under foot.
“It’s a great weekend. To watch all the Queensland teams win up here is great and I just thought it was a great spectacle for all rugby league fans,” Titans coach Justin Holbrook said.
“The field copped its fair share of criticism but it was okay and held up for everybody and the whole weekend looked good from afar.”
Titans wrecking ball David Fifita and Cowboys hard man Reuben Cotter both told foxsports.com.au they’re ready to answer the call of Maroons coach Billy Slater for the State of Origin opener on May 31.
North Queensland fullback Scott Drinkwater delivered his best game of the season and revealed the shock training move coach Todd Payten pulled to get their season back on track.
Gold Coast speedster Alofiana Khan-Pereira, who scored two tries on Sunday, told foxsports.com.au he’d back himself to beat Kangaroos winger Josh Addo-Carr in a footrace to be crowned the new fastest man in the NRL.
Furious JWH ready to have a ‘crack’ | 00:48
The Queensland sweep came after the Wests Tigers won back-to-back games for the first time since Round 7 last year.
The 18-16 victory over the Dragons came as rookie fullback Jahream Bula pulled off a match-winning tackle for the second week in a row.
Bula was still ecstatic when talking to reporters an hour after full-time and revealed his shock at Moses Suli not taking him on in the dying seconds.
Dragons young gun Jayden Sullivan was devastated in defeat despite delivering a standout performance on his NRL return after being dropped, but he was good enough to stop and chat on his way to the bus.
Sullivan opened up about the “brutally honest” conversations he’d had with Anthony Griffin and backed the under-fire coach to lead them out of their five-game losing streak.
In total, 147,095 people passed through the gates over the three days and the Queensland Government is already in negotiations to extend their contract beyond 2024.
The NRL has received “exceptionally strong interest” from Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne as the cities watched the booming success in Brisbane with envy.
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