Magic Weekend made its debut at Anfield with six games to savour.
Huddersfield Giants topped the score count with a 55-2 demolition of hapless Hull.
Leeds scraped home 24-22 in the basement battle while leaders St Helens continued their dominance at the summit.
Our man Nigel Wiskar was there for every second of the action.
Here he talks hair straighteners, wonderful Wolfie, French finesse - and some rugby league too.
1. Magic lives up to its name
The knives were out for Magic Weekend before a ball was kicked, something rugby league has turned into an art form over the years.
Newcastle would be an impossible act to follow, went the narrative.
Well Anfield can’t match the proximity of outstanding pubs and bars close to the stadium like St James’s Park but then where can?
But the atmosphere is better here, better than any of the venues that have hosted the concept - and I’ve been to them all.
It holds the sound brilliantly so even from a rarified and elevated viewpoint, every game had a crackle and buzz.
If you live close it’s not a getaway weekend. I get that.
But if you live close it’s easier to get to so there’s no excuse not to go, particularly with ticket prices so affordable.
The crowd of 56,869 is the second lowest ever. What effect the doom mongers had cannot be measured.
If you didn’t bother going and moaned then it’s an empty gesture.
Piers Morgan recently wrote about Game of Thrones, condemning it like a baby who’s been given a big bag of lame adjectives. He says he has never watched it other than fast forwarding through the final episode.
If you didn’t go to Anfield and moaned, you’re a Piers Morgan.
And there’s nothing clever about a baby with a big bag of lame adjectives.
2. Pearl of a performance from the leaders
Ellery Hanley’s obsessions these day are squash, tennis and racquetball.
But the Great Britain legend’s recent return to the rugby league fold has been a welcome one.
Hanley took time to chat with St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus during Leeds win over London, simply saying: “You’re doing a great job.”
The Saints go marching on. Irresistible at times, even with the saintly James Roby spending time in the sin bin.
That 36-16 win over Castleford keeps a six point cushion at the top.
There’s a crispness to the leaders, every pass matters, and in Tommy Makinson a permanent weapon in attack and defence.
Hanley also gave the injured Luke Gale a hug before the game. Cas need him back soon enough if they are to get anything from this season.
3. Walker back to happiness for Leeds
Hats off to whoever decided to stick the Leeds v London game on before Castleford played.
It gave the Broncos a level of support they will rarely have had as the orange shirts soaking up the sun urged them on against the Tigers’ hated rivals.
Leeds look a different side with Jack Walker at full-back and dipped noticeably when he went off.
Jordan Abdull was the best half-back on the pitch and back rowers Jay Pitts and Will Lovell both dented the line every carry.
London will go down but rarely has a team in their situation showed so much spirit week in, week out.
*For future reference Tigers fans, it’s Laaarndan not London.
4. Straight talking about Eorl
Eorl Crabtree is still a head-turner these days - despite hanging up the boots.
The ever charming Anfield backroom staff watched and nudged as the former England prop strode towards the restaurant buffet like a Bond baddie on his way to hurl a stuntman off a tower block. Hurl Crabtree?
He’s literally a Giant among men (and women).
But there’s one burning question that has to be asked about big Eorl.
With his blonde wife and blonde daughter sharing his look of long, luscious locks, who gets to the hair straighteners first in that household?
Time is over for those wretched Kardashians, the Crabtrees is coming to the small screen soon.
5. All time high for Mason
The view is terrific from the lofty heights of the fifth level of the main stand.
Look over to your left and you can watch the mist rolling in over green hills on the horizon.
Look down and you get an amazing view of the action, which is why some of the coaches choose to watch their strategies unfold from that view point.
You see the gaps, the overlaps and see why men like Mason Caton-Brown will forever set the pulse racing.
He’s an athlete with proper pace and most importantly a winger who backs himself to beat a man with the old in-out shuffle.
Anthony Sullivan at St Helens and Scott Donald at Leeds were masters of that simple but deadly ability to run at a player so he momentarily goes on his heels then take him on the outside when his balance is locked up.
The greatest ever exponent of that was up in the Gods too.
Martin Offiah, who had the misfortune to be on the same fetid 8.41am sardine can from Euston as myself on Saturday morning, watched on from the back row.
I’m sure he’d appreciate what he saw.
6. Blake’s heaven nails Warriors
Wigan’s defence in that opening 20 minutes against Warrington was something else.
Nobody gang tackles like they do. Three players hurtling in to smother.
They did it in the Challenge Cup defeat to the Wolves too, snuffing out the threat of Blake Austin which means someone else has to step up and take the game by the scruff of the neck.
They had Austin in their pocket too for most of the game. Most of the game...
But great players have that sixth sense ability to turn it on when it matters.
Austin did it in patches at West Tigers and consistently at Canberra Raiders.
And he did on Liverpool’s turf with a superhuman solo effort to swing the match.
Worth noting when he’s not winning games, how effective his one-on-one tackling is too.
That upper body strength is devastating with a body slam up there with his coach Steve Price on their mascot - though also worth noting that Austin’s are legal.
7. Wolfie wins the honours
Talking of mascots, and you’ll never shut me up on those critters, Wolfie won the weekend.
Hull coach Lee Radford blotted his copy book by moaning about Warrington’s social media tactics saying it had inspired FC to victory the previous week.
Tosh. Warrington are leading the way this season with inventive, provocative, witty social media. If you don’t like it, don’t look at it, don’t buy into it.
Wolfie is the jewel in the crown, winding up their noisy fans pre match with a length of the field try and some decent goal kicks - given he’s wearing giant fluffy wolf feet.
Contrast with Warriors mascot Max who wandered round like a manic depressive pre game, making vague hand gestures that suggested he was as confused as the Hull defensive line.
8. Ray’s telly trauma
Ray French is sick of seeing his face on TV these days.
The gentleman of the BBC is a regular at home town St Helens after retirement but sits right in front of the coaching box in the stand so is in shot when the cameras pan to animated scenes.
“Drives me bloody mad,” he told me with a smile. “I get texts from mates saying ‘you’re on telly again Ray’. I’m trying to keep a low profile!”
Ray caught up with Ben Westwood for a bite to eat, though the Warrington forward looked particularly upset that the cheeseboard was on its last legs.
9. One Hull of a mess
Danny Houghton and Gareth Ellis were deep in chat in row 58 of the executive box, hot drink in hand in Houghton’s case, in the build-up to that humiliation at the hands of Huddersfield.
The pair didn’t play but if ever their leadership and organisation was needed it was during that seismic embarrassment.
Everything went right for the Giants with the likes of Darnell McIntosh revelling in some feeble defence.
You can toss a coin for third place this year in Super League.
Hull sat there before kick off. How is mind boggling on this evidence.
That’s the third time they’ve conceded over 50 points this season with Warrington and Wakefield putting 80-plus and 70-plus on them last year too.
Coach Radford gave a high five and playful hand slap to Giants winger Jermaine McGilvray before the game. He’ll be wanting to slap some of his players too at this rate.
10. Dragons show their style
The ladies in the wraparound shades and leather trousers could only be French.
You notice the accents after you’ve clocked the expensive clothes and manicures.
They were whooping away during that clinical Catalans first half, less so when Wakefield hit back but celebrating again at the death as Steve McNamara’s side dug deep.
Jacob Miller brings an exuberance to Trinity and when Danny Brough returns they’ll have a say when it matters later in the season.
But when you’ve got Kenny Edwards, Mickael Simon, Jason Baitieri and Sam Kasiano snacking on raw meat on the bench it bodes well for the Dragons.
Kasiano and man of the match Tony Gigot were laughing away as they strolled around outside the stadium after victory.
Barcelona one week, Anfield the next. Job done both times.
11. Rovers return to winning ways
The Hull KR fans I spoke to, just before they fell off the cliff into drunken wiffle, reckon their side is only capable of playing for 40 minutes in a game.
Rovers had far more about them in the second day opener after Salford made a spirited comeback.
The Red Devils were asleep in the first half, like Wakefield had been after a sluggish opening 40 against Catalans.
I’d hoped for some kind of mountain collision between Pauli Pauli and Mose Masoe, something to make the tectonic plates shift, but it never truly came to pass.
Perhaps if Pauli Pauli, so big they named him twice, had managed to stay on the pitch a touch longer instead of being instantly sin binned when he did jog on, that fantasy may have happened.
12. Furner night to remember
David Furner has been keeping his head down since he was shown the door by Leeds.
But the ex Rhinos coach looked in sharp and ebullient form as he headed out to hit the town in Liverpool after the end of day one.
Furner teamed up with former Great Britain star Gary Connolly on his mission, a dangerous accomplice.
Connolly, son of St Helens publicans, was renowned during his Wigan and Leeds days as being able to neck a pint quicker than any other player.
Former England rugby union captain and Lady Diana botherer Will Carling was in thrall when Connolly had a brief spell with Harlequins in the days when those things were fashionable.
The night was young when I clocked the pair putting a step on towards Liverpool’s vibrant nightlife.
They may still be at it as you read this. I’m sure they too had a magic weekend.