Did Peter V'landys, Andrew Abdo, Graham Annesley and whoever else signed off on the now infamous 'crackdown' know just how big an impact it was going to have?
Ahead of the biggest home-and-away round of the season, the directive around high shots went out to clubs and they weren't kidding.
Referees were sending blokes to the bin left, right and centre - 14 across the eight matches - and three players were sent off.
Amid it all, there was some pretty damn good footy on display.
Here's what we liked and disliked from Magic Round:
WESTS TIGERS 36-18 NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
What we liked: Luke Brooks taking the game on
This was without a doubt Luke Brooks' best game in a while for the Tigers.
He's had to endure being the Tigers' whipping boy for the past few seasons and it's reached chronic levels this season, but Brooks' classy showing against the Knights was just the response the maligned halfback needed.
Often criticised for not running the ball more often, Brooks made an impressive 13 runs for 183 metres, while scoring his sides first try and setting up another in the rout of the Knights.
In an emotional defence of his No. 7, Michael Maguire declared it one of Brooks' best performances before saying he hoped it'd silence his critics.
"I hope people realise that (how good Brooks was)," Maguire said in his post-match press conference.
"I can’t believe how much one player can get hammered for what goes on in a team, it’s beyond me.
"It’s crazy to think that people think like that about certain people.
"Not many people have to go through those sorts of things."
There aren't many better sights than a player under pressure responding, and that's what Brooks has done.
What we disliked: Newcastle's soft underbelly
Was this the Knights' worst performance of the season? We think it was.
On paper, Newcastle had the team to roll the Tigers twice over but they didn't even come close. Whether it was dropped balls, poor choices at the end of sets or atrocious defence through the middle, the Knights found an array of ways to lose this game.
Their senior players - David Klemmer, Mitch Barnett, Lachlan Fitzgibbon to name a few - simply didn't aim up and were bullied by a Tigers pack which has barely troubled many of the teams they've faced this year.
Adam O'Brien delivered a seething assessment of his men, before saying the Knights desperately need to address their losing culture.
"When we carried it, we were just manhandled, put onto our backs and not willing to fight hard. On the flip side, they were pouring through us," O'Brien said, diagnosing his side's poor performance.
"It sits with me, whether it is a personnel thing or their standards. The club is used to this rollercoaster that we’re on, and we need to get off it."
Nearly 30,000 fans packed into Suncorp for the early game on Friday night but they only witnessed one team come to the occassion. Mightily disappointing for Knights fans.
MANLY SEA EAGLES 50-6 BRISBANE BRONCOS
What we liked: Marty Taupau bringing back the mongrel
By the standards we've come to expect from him, Marty Taupau has had a quiet start to the year for the Sea Eagles. He's been good without being brilliant.
But against the Broncos he served some of his finest work, tearing through their forward pack and providing his natural aggression in defence.
The Samoan Test beast ended the night with 19 runs for 200 metres, 71 post-contact metres, four tackle-breaks and a rare try assist which came from a peach of a flat ball close to the line for fellow front-rower Sean Keppie.
It was about as close as you can come as a forward to a man-of-the-match display.
Manly are 10 times a better side when their forwards are rolling through the middle, and Taupau is pivotal to that.
What we disliked: Broncos embarrassing their home crowd on NRL's biggest weekend
If there was a night for the Broncos to do their home fans proud, this was probably it.
Thousands piled into Suncorp Stadium on a Friday night to begin the Magic Round celebrations, but first to watch the host team, and the Broncos were abysmal in every way.
Granted they were playing one of the form teams of the competition, but Kevin Walters' men were classes below their opposition.
Their forwards had a big opportunity to make a statement against one of the NRL's biggest packs but simply didn't come to the contest.
Walters used the four-letter word no player wants to here from their coach when describing his team's performance.
"I feel sorry for all of our fans and sponsors,” Walters said.
“We started soft and got softer as the game went on."
CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS 18-20 CANBERRA RAIDERS
What we liked: The Josh Papalii send off
We'll be talking about the insane number of sin bins this weekend for quite some time.
It started on Friday and lasted all weekend as referees had no choice but to march a series of players for contact with the head after the NRL's new rules were announced late last week.
But it shouldn't all be outrage and anger.
On Saturday night, Josh Papalii was sent off for making dangerous and forceful contact with the head of Bulldogs winger Tuipulotu Katoa. It was the right call.
That's the kind of hit the NRL is attempting to eradicate from the game, and we should applaud when they get one right.
What we disliked: Bulldogs absolutely bottling it
A little bit of composure in the final 20 minutes would have seen Trent Barrett's team beat the Raiders.
The Bulldogs were up 12-8 against an 11-man Raiders team who had Jack Wighton in the bin and Josh Papalii sent off. When Josh Hodgson applied a chicken wing to England teammate Luke Thompson, Canberra looked shot.
Instead, the Doggies capitulated.
A listless set of six followed Hodgson's penalty, before Jake Averillo kicked too deep and Adam Elliott gave away the first of two penalties.
It was all the desperate Raiders needed to get back into the game. Despite being a man down, the Raiders found space out wide allowing Curtis Scott and Sebastian Kris to score and take a 20-18 lead.
Meanwile, Barrett was left scratching his head and wondering how it all could've gone so wrong.
CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS 22-32 SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
What we liked: Souths playmakers strut their stuff
Adam Reynolds' first visit to Suncorp Stadium since signing with the Broncos for next year gave Queenslanders a taste of what's to come.
The halfback booted six goals from six attempts in a typically tidy performance with the boot but it was his halves partner who stole the show early on.
The ageless Benji Marshall wowed fans with some raking passes and was particularly instrumental in the Bunnies opening up a big early lead, laying on tries for Keaon Koloamatangi and Alex Johnston.
With Latrell Mitchell due back from suspension next week, Cody Walker is expected to move back to five-eighth, seeing Marshall return to the off-the-bench role he was used in early in the season.
What we disliked: Cronulla dig deep and Fifita fights back
The Sharks will be disappointed to have given away a 20-0 start but they showed more than a little character to get back into the game.
An untimely delay to go back and penalise Chad Townsend took the wind out of Cronulla's sails as they were making their late charge, but they will be pleased not to have rolled over against their highly-fancied opponents.
Of particular note, veteran prop Andrew Fifita proved he's not a spent force in his maiden first-grade appearance of the season.
The former Origin and Test star had been playing for Newtown Jets, and sidelined with suspension, but made a significant impact off the bench in Brisbane.
The 31-year-old revealed former Sharks coach John Morris had told him to retire but he showed he can still match it in the top grade, making his tackles and proving a handful in his short cameo.
ROOSTERS 30-16 NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
What we liked: Victor Radley's ball-playing
They call him 'Victor the Inflictor' but, if anything, that moniker doesn't do justice to what Victor Radley brings to the Roosters.
Yes, he's one of the hardest hitting players in the game, but Radley's ball-playing ability is also sets him apart.
Radley was heavily involved in all of the Roosters' first three tries.
He twice engaged the defensive line out of first receiver, giving the Roosters' young playmakers time to work their magic out wide, with tries coming to Daniel Tupou and Matt Ikuvalu.
Radley also lurked dangerously around the ruck, linking perfectly with Sam Walker for the halfback's ninth minute try.
What we disliked: Lachlan Burr being sin-binned
It's disappointing that we have to linger on a couple of dud calls on such an epic weekend of footy, but here we are...
Burr was sent to the bin when he was ruled to have hit Roosters fullback James Tedesco high.
It was an overreaction.
Tedesco was falling into the challenge, and was virtually on his knees by the time he reached Burr.
Burr couldn't do much about it and Tedesco was never in any danger.
The whole scene was made worse by the fact that Tedesco was off the field for all of 20 seconds as the Roosters exploited a loophole in the rules that allows a team to use a free interchange when a player is the victim of an incident that is placed on report.
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 18-34 PARRAMATTA EELS
What we liked: Jakob Arthur gets Dad out of his seat
NRL coaches can be pretty serious at the best of times and Eels boss Brad Arthur is among the most stone-faced of them, at least in public, but even he let it all out when his son reached out for a try on debut.
18-year-old Jakob Arthur started at five-eighth in place of the suspended Dylan Brown and showed glimpses of his potential on the big stage,
Arthur helped get Ryan Matterson to a second-half try before piercing a gap and getting over the stripe himself late in the game.
Up in the box, Brad turned from coach to father for a brief moment as he celebrated the four-pointer with a massive fist pump.
Special mention: Reece Walsh. Again. The kid is a star and will ensure the Warriors remain a must-watch attraction for years to come.
What we disliked: Warriors play themselves out of the contest
No one likes to see a blow out and this match looked in very real danger of that as the Eels shot out to a 24-0 lead inside 20 minutes.
While the likes of Mitchell Moses and Reagan Campbell-Gillard starred to take the ascendancy in the contest, the Warriors did themselves no favours.
Nathan Brown's side completed at just 47 per cent in the first half, giving up 15 errors in total for the match, while also getting on the wrong end of a 6-2 penalty count.
They showed they can put on quick points in the second half but not many teams are going to claw back a four converted try head start.
Still just one win outside the eight, the Warriors will need to tidy their game up before a clash with the Tigers on Friday.
MELBOURNE STORM 44-18 ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
What we liked: Nicho Hynes' coming-out party
Craig Bellamy is a genius.
That's the only explanation for the master coach's ability to unearth star after star and utility back Nicho Hynes is the next cab off the rank.
Already without Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Brandon Smith to injury or suspension, Melbourne lost Ryan Papenhuyzen to concussion in the opening minutes.
Hynes had been named at five-eighth but was switched to fullback when Papenhuyzen went down.
The Storm had a one-man advantage for 67 minutes thanks to Tyrell Fuimaono's send off and Hynes made the most of the extra space, cutting open the Dragons time and time again.
Hynes finished with two line breaks of his own, four line break assists and two try assists to put his name up in lights for potential suitors as he nears the end of his contract with the Storm.
Can a rival club tempt him with a starting role?
What we disliked: Dragons show some ticker/Foolish Fuimaono
If the directive from the NRL about the harsher penalties for high shots wasn't enough, then surely the action on the two previous days at Magic Round was to get the message across to players?
Dragons forward Fuimaono either missed the memo or ignored it anyway when he cleaned up Papenhuyzen early in the contest.
The long delay as the star fullback was taken off the field in a stretcher, fortunately a bad concussion was the worst of his injuries, only prolonged Fuimaono's misery as the 40,000 crowd knew what was coming next.
Neither Fuimaono or captain Ben Hunt could muster a word in protest as he was sent on his way, leaving his side with 11 men while Josh McGuire was in the sin bin for an earlier incident.
That looked to be game over but the Dragons managed to hold their opponents to just one try while two men down.
The contest got away from them in the second half but Anthony Griffin should be able to take some positives away from the performance of his side, crossing for four tries despite being a man down.
A tidier afternoon with the boot from Corey Norman (1/4) would have made the score even more respectable.
GOLD COAST TITANS 12-48 PENRITH PANTHERS
What we liked: Nathan Cleary flexes his muscle
Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary put in one of the best performances of his career as he scored three tries to further underline his Dally M claims.
Cleary's threat as a ball-runner was on full display, breaking tackles, carrying blokes over the line and quite simply bullying the Titans into submission.
Funnily enough, Cleary and his teammates did their best work while it was 13 on 13 or even a man down after Moses Leota was sent to the bin.
While their left edge has done most of the damage this season, Jarome Luai, Matt Burton and Brian To'o were kept pretty quiet while Cleary and Charlie Staines did the damage on the other side.
Oh, and the star number seven went 8/8 with the boot. Some night.
What we disliked: Ese'ese' moment of madness
What are you doing, Herman?
Your team is 24-0 down, you've sat and watched referees send players off for high shots all weekend and you charge in and clothesline Brian To'o.
Coach Justin Holbrook probably sums it up best.
"We were the last game. We had all the time in the world to get our own house in order and it was a completely reckless decision on his behalf and we paid the price for it," Holbrook said.
"We hadn't scored, we had them on their line and plenty of players in the past have flown out of the line and tried to get it right.
"But we had all weekend to look at it. We spoke about it as a team and I don't think he'd have an answer either, but it definitely hurt us."
Yep, that about covers it.