It works up to a point. Its great for singles or couples looking for a boozy weekend. But its not great for families, teenagers, or those who cannot afford a full weekend away. Alternating the venues allows different groups of fans to take part.

Anfield is a fair shout for Wigan/Saints/Wigan/Warrington. I kept with CoMS because it is hosting this year's.
It would make sense to have Salford play in Manchester, yes. But I've tried to make it two games per ground, and if you had Salford/Huddersfield there, then where would you have Warrington/Widnes?


I was thinking of something similar for the other Magic Weekends. There's Hearts' ground right near Murrayfield. Or you could put up a couple of temporary stands on the fields outside the ground to make two pitches and it could be like our Wimbledon. "Court 1" "Court 2" "Centre Court" kind of thing.

Its better for families, teenagers or those who cannot afford a full weekend away because they know, when and where it is every year. So they can save towards it, even if it means they go every other year. Thats better than waiting 6/7 months before deciding which random city we are holding it in this year just to see if it was in a city near enough for them to go this year, which just due to chance is going to be a pretty rare occasion.

Its likely to cost 3 times more to rent out 3 stadiums than it would to rent out 1 stadium. You are tripling the biggest cost and dividing your market by a third.

It wouldnt help families. Their issue really is that children do not have the appetite or patience to watch several games of rugby not involving their team. They might travel 40-50 miles to watch their team plus one other match, but much less likely to travel 200+ miles.

It wouldnt help young teenagers eg 13-15 year olds. The ones that you see at every match, stood watching with their mates. They're not going to be able to stay overnight, they're not going to be able to join in the social side in the pubs.

Knowing where the event is to be held doesnt really help those on limited budgets if its going to be held 200+ miles away. They will still struggle to afford the travel costs.

Dont get me wrong, I'm not saying that it shouldnt be held at places like Cardiff or Edinburgh. But it should be accepted that those venues only appeal to a particular segment of the RL fan base. Having the occassional event nearer to home is fairer to those who otherwise wouldnt be able to go.

The Manchester event will attract a different crowd to the Cardiff/Edinburgh events. Fewer fans will go for both days. But that will be offset by a lot more fans going for one or two matches. It will be different, not necessarly better or worse, just different. And its fair enough for it to be like that every few years.

Why should events cater for everyone? Why not have a range of events that people can pick and choose from?

These events are not compulsory, if they don't appeal or you can't afford then don't go.

You're kidding, aren't you?

They're not compulsory, but a lot of fans do want to follow their team week in week out. It doesnt seem unreasonable to me to arrange magic weekend so that say one year in three they can go to that

I'm not aware of any blocks on people travelling within the UK.


Or do you mean "a lot of fans do want to follow their team week in, week out, as long as it doesn't cost more than a tenner or involve traveling more than an hour".

I was thinking of people like my 14 year old nephew who hasnt been to any of the MM magic weekends. Cant afford it and his parents will not let him stay overnight. But he's already saying that he and a couple of mates will be catching a train to Manchester for one of the days.

And my neighbours who are fairly regular rugby watchers but haven't been to MM because they dont want to travel a huge distance with their 6 and 9 year olds and find that that they're bored after their team's match. But are happy to take them to Manchester, watch their teams match and stay on until the kids have had enough.

Either that or he had his eyes shut

It seems all of your examples dont actually seem to want to go to or an MM event, they just want to go to a match in their local area. They can do that every week of the season.

to be held at Man City ground news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 819616.stm

to be held at Man City ground news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 819616.stm

So much for 'expansion'. What a load of s*ite. Red Hall seem to do their best to make Sepp Blatter look credible

Did this need another thread? It was released about 2 weeks ago.

Wasn't here 2 weeks ago, so didn't know!!!!

I notice that they dont have a date on the releases....... I hear 26/27 May.

Fixtures I saw last night said that too.

Don't see the point in this.

I thought the whole idea of Magic WEEKEND was to promote the game away from the heartlands by showing the product both on and off the field.

By off the field of course I mean the behaviour of the fans who turn up for the weekend and drink and mingle together despite supporting rival clubs. Who in their right mind is going to travel from Wigan to Manchester for the f*cking weekend (a reason why I prefer the Wembley cup final to the GF)????? You'll go to watch your teams day and that's probably it (imo).

So let me get this straight....

MM in Cardiff = "Clueless RFL. Cardiff is too far... it's too expensive... hotels cost a fortune... petrol costs... Welsh don't like RL anyway... Should be in Manchester... Where's me wippet?"

MM in Edinburgh= "Clueless RFL. Cardiff is too far... it's too expensive... Scotland is too cold... petrol costs... Too far out of city centre... Scots don't like RL anyway... Should be in Manchester... Where's me wippet?"

MM in Manchester= "Clueless RFL. Who's going to have a weekend in Manchester?... Defeats the point... Not good for expansion... Should be in Cardiff / Edinburgh..."

The people who are against it being held in manchester are by and large the ones who supported millennium and/or murryfield.

Have you self appointed yourself to speak on our behalf pyeman?

No just noting which posters were against one idea but for another, its not an absolute truth, which is why i added 'by and large'. Are you of the opinion that the same people who were against wales and scotland are generally the same ones opposed to manchester?

Exactly. Most people i have spoke to who have been to the others are still going for at least the day their team is playing on.

The point was not about who was going but about who was opposed to the location.