NSW Rugby League’s Magic Round set for North Sydney Oval

28 April 2023

By James Mullan

In a big coup for the North Sydney Bears, the NSW Cup’s Magic Round will now be hosted at North Sydney Oval on Saturday 6th of May. The round was initially scheduled to be hosted at Redfern Oval but it was believed that the ground was not in good enough condition to host all games. This led to the rescheduling of the fixtures to North Sydney Oval.

Magic Round was first introduced in the NRL in 2019, where all teams play at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium over one weekend round. This concept is not being tried for the first time in the NSW Cup, the division below the NRL.

The NSW Cup Magic Round will coincide with the NRL’s, occurring on the same weekend. This means while all NRL fixtures will be played in Queensland, the top rugby league that weekend in NSW will be in North Sydney.

Three fixtures will be held at Bear Park on the Saturday including rivals South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters at 11AM, followed by hosts North Sydney Bears vs New Zealand Warriors at 1PM. Concluding with the west sydney derby, Western Suburbs Magpies vs Parramatta Eels at 3PM. The Bears have advertised gourmet food stalls, craft beers and fun kids activities.

This one of the biggest rugby league events to be hosted at North Sydney Oval since the 2019 Women’s State of Origin. The Oval was set to host a Sydney Roosters NRL game in 2020 before COVID restrictions canceled the season.