Magic Round began with Bulldogs vs Raiders; suspenseful twists and excitement filled seemingly mundane match.
Magic round kicked off with a mid-table clash between the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Canberra Raiders. What many expected to be a mundane match was filled with twists and excitement, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats until the last minute.
A Kaeo Weekes kick was spilt by Connor Tracey in just the fourth minute of the game which Xavier Savage pounced on to open the scoring. Rapana converted but soon both sides were back in the arm wrestle. Josh Addo-Carr looked close to scoring but had a foot in touch, and Canberra later capitalised on another Bulldogs error for Sebastian Kris to cross over untouched.
It was 12-0 and the Raiders looked right on top as they dominated the pace towards the backend of the half. Eventually, the momentum flipped through a mistake to Canberra where cult hero Jacob Preston dived on a grubber kick which not even two Raiders players could contain.