Today we take a look at the plague of players laying down for penalty, the Warriors' miracle victory over the Panthers, Harry Grant trying an old ploy and failing, and the magic return of a slightly rusty Hammer.
Read on as we take a look back over the weekend at some of the biggest hits and misses.
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Bunker working overtime on forensic investigations into 'dead possums'
There was one aspect of the weekend that certainly wasn't magic and that was the plague of players playing possum as soon as they felt either contact with the head or weight on the back of their neck or legs.
With almost mandatory sin bin stints for players found to be making head-high contact, crusher or hip drop tackles, players are being coached to stay down long enough to have their suspect tackles properly evaluated. Way too many times we saw players clutching at their injured body parts, refusing to rise until medical treatment was available, the match officials had seen the offence and begun a thorough investigation. The problem is there is still no consistency in the way these incidents are being treated and some bad ones are being missed when players do the right thing and try to get on with the game. It currently makes sense for players to play possum.
Maybe the victim and the perpetrator should be made to leave the field for a period of time; the guilty party for his minimum 10 minutes in the bin and the victim for five minutes of thorough medical treatment and evaluation. The victim being allowed a free replacement whilst off.
I'm sure there are better cures out there, but something must be done to eradicate this increasingly prevalent scourge on the greatest game of all.
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Awful start doesn't prevent miracle Warriors win
The Warriors looked like they were at it again for Magic Round. They cleared the dead ball line easily with the opening kick-off and in the ensuing set of six, the Panthers crossed for the opening try to Dylan Edwards. Anyone betting on a Warriors revival against the toughest opponent in the league, would have torn up their tickets.
Still miracles have been known to happen during Magic Round, and through a spirited and determined performance, particularly from several relatively inexperienced players, they were able to engage the Panthers in a torrid tussle and emerge with the desperately needed two points. Could this be the kick in the pants that they needed to reignite their season?
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Grant tries it on again
Harry Grant is clearly one of the best hookers of his generation, but he appears to be a bit of a slow learner. Earlier in the year he tried to milk a penalty by deliberately throwing a dummy-half pass directly into an opponent minding his own business around the ruck. Perhaps he assumed that the rule had been changed because of how upset he was the first time the plot failed. Maybe he thought this situation was slightly different, as the Eels defender was rising to his feet as Grant fired the pass into his legs, but the referee was again having none of it. Next time Grant should try running at the defender before tripping over them, there might be a penalty for him in that.
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Rusty Hammer still more than useful
The much anticipated return of Dolphins star Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow from injury found the fullback perhaps a little rusty. Nine minutes before halftime he tore the Tigers defence apart from deep inside Dolphins territory. His footwork and acceleration were mesmerising, and with the crowd on their feet he neared halfway and threw a blind inside ball to a support player who would have raced away for another Dolphins try. Unfortunately the only two players anywhere near the pass were both Tigers.
In the second half he did run onto a short ball from Jeremy Marshall-King after the Tigers spilt the ball, and raced away from halfway to score, an absolute athlete in full flight. Later he chased through on a kick and toed it ahead, but used way too much mustard and sent it well dead. He backed up again with 20 minutes remaining in the game to score his second try and wrap up the win.
It didn't take long to dust off the bit of surface rust, and now he's back and ready to terrorise opposition defences.
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Mistakes let Bulldogs and Raiders down
It was a strange first half between the Bulldogs and Raiders to open Magic Round in Brisbane, with the first three tries scored directly from errors. The Raiders started the scoring when Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey spilt an innocuous high ball which dribbled directly into the arms of Xavier Savage (who appeared to be a metre in front of the kicker - an officiating mistake) who then jogged in for four points next to the posts.
Not too long after that, Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz took a hit-up from deep in Bulldogs territory. The ball popped out in the tackle and landed in the arms of Sebastian Kris who jogged over for the second try.
Not to be outdone in the charitable efforts, the Raiders were next to give away a try, when a Drew Hutchison grubber kick looked well covered by Jordan Rapana and Savage. The two converged on the ball with an awful lack of communication that saw them collide, leaving the ball alone to be dived on by Jacob Preston.
The gift tries might have been over, but the strangeness wasn't. In the 37th minute Josh Addo-Carr found himself in the clear with only Rapana to beat. He kicked ahead, the ball flying off his boot and easily over the dead ball line, but Rapana had committed himself to ending Addo-Carr's run. The referee and bunker both agreed that Rapana had plenty of time to pull out of the collision. The Raiders were down to 12 players and would soon lose another after Josh Papali'i lost his feet and landed his full weight in the legs of a teammate and subsequently on Viliame Kikau's lower legs. He was placed on report and sent to join Rapana in the bin as the Bulldogs cashed in on the numerical advantage through a try to Stephen Crichton.
Still, the Bulldogs were unable to score enough points to hold back the green machine, who managed a narrow, if somewhat strange, victory.
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Some injuries have a silver lining
This season there seems to have been an unprecedented number of injuries to some of the games biggest stars. When teams lose their best players, they obviously lose potency, but sometimes, just sometimes, they can unearth the next super star.
When the Dolphins lost Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to a hamstring injury, they promoted Trai Fuller, a player who showed he was more than capable of wearing the fullback jersey at any NRL club.
Heads dropped when the Knights lost star fullback Kalyn Ponga to a serious foot injury. Their back-up fullback was also out injured, so they turned to their third choice, David Armstrong. He has played so well since his debut that many are seriously starting to wonder where Ponga will play when he does finally return. Against the Titans Andeson scored three tries, showing incredible acceleration and positional awareness.
And they're not the only two new fullbacks to make their marks thanks to recent injuries. The Storm have been showcasing the electrifying skills of Sualauvi Fa'alogo, the Warriors moved Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to five-eighth to give Taine Tuaupiki a run up the back, and an injury to Clint Gutherson has seen Blaize Talagi enjoying the extra space at the fullback for the Eels.
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One team had to break their drought, it was the Cowboys
The Cowboys crossed for a try with eight minutes to go to extend their lead over the Rabbitohs to 26-18. As Tom Deardon crossed the line he was smacked across the chops by the forearm of Rabbitohs half Dion Teaupa.
The replays did Teaupa no favours, he was placed on report, sent to the sin bin and the Cowboys were awarded a potential eight-point try. Valentine Holmes hit the posts with the conversion attempt from a reasonable angle. He managed to slot the free kick from right in front to take the score to 28-18.
The Rabbitohs were not done however with a try to Damien Cook five metres from the posts taking the score to 28-22. With the clock stopped, for some reason, Latrell Mitchell rushed the conversion and also hit the post. The Cowboys were able to fight off a frantic Rabbitohs finish to break a five-game losing streak.
It was a game where the Rabbitohs were much improved, but it always felt that endless errors really stopped the Cowboys from a more comfortable victory.