Rugby league fever hits Queensland, Melbourne City and Wellington Phoenix fight for silverware and an Aussie fan favourite leads the PGA Championship.
NRL’s Magic Round
The NRL’s Magic Round returns once again. Brisbane’s Lang Park will host 16 teams across three action-packed days of Rugby League.
People from all areas of Queensland and the country travel for the Magic Round with another huge crowd expected. More than 149,000 people attended across the round in 2025.
The round kicked off last night with the second game of the NRLW State of Origin, won by NSW 14-10. The men start tonight with a double header at Suncorp Stadium.
An inconsistent Cronulla Sharks side take on a struggling Bankstown Bulldogs team, followed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs and The Dolphins second clash of the year.
The match of the round between the New Zealand Warriors and Brisbane Broncos takes place Sunday afternoon.
The Warriors have impressed this season, and will come into the game as favourites, sitting 2nd with only two losses to their name. The Broncos have struggled to find last years premiership-winning form, sitting 11th on the ladder.
Warriors will look to capitalise on Broncos’ poor form and end their win-less Brisbane streak, having not won there since 2018.
Australian with clubhouse lead at PGA Championship
Western Australian Min Woo Lee finished three-under par to claim a share in the clubhouse lead, during the first round of the PGA Championship in Pennsylvania.
Lee is joined at the top of the leaderboard by six others, including Americans Alex Smalley and world number one Scottie Scheffler, South African Aldrich Potgieter, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, and German duo Martin Kaymer and Stephan Jager.
Australians Jason Day and Cameron Smith finished one-under par leaving them tied in 15th while Australian Masters winner Adam Scott had three straight bogeys on the back nine leaving him at two-over par.
Lee started very strongly with birdies on the first, fifth and seventh hole to have a short lead, before a bogey on the eighth and tenth took him back to one-under.
He ended up with five birdies for the day and praised himself for his drives.
“Played great, drove the ball really well,” he said. “I think every major you have to, but especially this course, the rough is pretty juicy, and you don’t want to attack the greens over in the rough just because you can get some flyers or you can get some lies that sit down.”
“I thought I played pretty solid all day, didn’t get myself in too much trouble.”
The second round will start at 6:45am AEST. Lee will tee off at 1:21pm alongside Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala.
Ninja A-League Womens Grand Final
Melbourne City FC and Wellington Phoenix FC will leave it all on the pitch at AAMI Park in Saturdays Ninja A-League Grand Final.
Phoenix is the first ever New Zealand club to reach an A-Leagues Grand Final after their win over Brisbane Roar.
Standing in their way of grand final glory is premiers City. Since joining the league in 2021, Phoenix have never beaten City in eight attempts. They have had two tight contests this season, a 1-0 scoreline in December and 2-1 in January, both in City’s favour.
City coach Michael Matricciani said that a Grand Final win has been the goal for his side all season.
“It’s just another trophy on the line for us to be able to potentially win,” he said. “We set out our goals and we do try and set the top, top standards.”
“Last year we got one [trophy] and missed out on two, this season we’re one step further and we’re in a final.”
Phoenix striker Makala Woods said if her side brings their best they can “beat any team in the league”.
“We’ve already made history, but you’re like ‘this’ close, so it might hurt that much more if you fail,” she said.
The grand final kicks off at AAMI Park this Saturday 4:15pm.
What else is on?
AFL action continues throughout the weekend, alongside A-League semi final action and the MotoGP World Championship in France.
Photo: By Tiger Benji is available HERE and is used under a creative commons license. This image has been modified.
