I have to say I didn't attend the first two magic weekends for the same reason, it seemed a long way to go and an expensive way of watching a game in a 'normal' round of super league.

However, after going to Murrayfield this weekend, I have to say it was an absolutely fantastic weekend! I enjoyed all the matches, mixing with all the fans and even Cheggars and the mascot games after a few beers! It is a superb event and I shall definitely be going again next year. I urge everyone else to do likewise!

I agree, the whole weekend was superb.

It's a bit like the challenge cup weekend but a bit more chilled, I think the weather actually helped, I can't believe i went to Scotland and came back with sunburn lol

It's a good weekend. But, in it's current format, I don't think it does what it's ment to do and that is to broaden the appeal of the game. The figures include apx 6000 "local" tickets sold, however, I wonder if that's just tickets bought on the day by travelling fans.

I'm not deriding the concept. I went last year and had a great time. But, if it's not attracting the additional fans then it's a bit pointless really

I was doubtful about the concept but having just experienced it first hand I'd recommend it to anyone. I had a superb time.

Having good weather helps, certainly at Murrayfield where there aren't as many pubs near the ground as Cardiff. Instead everyone was sat outside the beer tents on the grass which was great.

Everywhere seemed to have a good atmosphere, no kn0bheads about at all. Definitely going next year too.

I'm not sure that the main thrust of Magic Weekend was to promote the game outside of the heartland, but as a concept it certainly works for me as a spectacle and festival of rugby.
Sure its only one round of Super league but what an enjoyable weekend for comaraderie with fans from all 14 clubs in celebratory good humoured mode.
Comparisons with Cardiff are hard to assess as there are plus points for each.
Cardiff: pubs and eateries around the stadium
Murrayfield: Plentiful hotels and cheap B&Bs, £1.20 from town to the stadium on the many buses, good range of catering franchises and loads of beer stalls at the ground itself. Liked the fact that you could walk all the way round the stadium perimeter. Agree that inclement weather could be a problem.
Both were really well organised and I'll be back next year. Hear its going to be Murrayfield

Personally I'd think twice about going again, there just isn't enough around the ground, and the facilities in it leave a lot to be desired.

I think the whole weekend should have been left in Cardiff.

.There was nothing to see or do around the ground.

. Everything was too spread out.

.There was no decent concourse, meaning you had to trail a distance up and downstairs to get food.

.There was no atmosphere in the ground, it just didn't work due to the layout of it.



your thoughts please???

Definitely is, they signed a two year agreement with the Scottish RFU.

Not having been to Cardiff I can't compare it with there but:

Thought there was plenty to do around the ground, there was the tag games on Saturday and the Fan Zone area was open behind the West Stand all weekend. There were lots of bars too. Perhaps less of a draw if you're teetotal but I enjoyed it.



I don't think it was that much of a trail. I was a bit knackered walking up to row X with a pint every so often but it wasn't that bad. The grub on sale was better quality and more variety than at any SL venue.

The atmos was up and down because of the size of the stadium and fans being spread around. Having said that it was ok amongst the Bulls fans in the East Stand and the Catalans fans made a lot of noise. Around the ground I thought the atmos was good with everyone in the right spirit which was surprising considering the amount of beer supped!

Like I said I didn't go to Cardiff but would if the event was there in future. I 'd also go back to Murrayfield.

Cardiff was better inside but outside the ground Murrayfield had a better feel with it - They'll probs do one more year there and then move to the new Landsdowne Road in Ireland

Had I been up to Edinburgh for this which of course did not happen thanks to my ex. wife I would be sat at home completely depressed after that it's now all over. I'd also be thoroughly regretting going for a terrible and over priced curry at the Bay of Bengal on the royal mile last night.

Anyway this would be my thoughts:

* The locals were far friendlier and much better hosts than they were in Cardiff.

* It was good to see a lot more locals turn up for the matches and they seemed to enjoy it.

* Edinburgh is a much nicer city than Cardiff, there's loads more to do, it's cheaper and has a much better choice of acommodation.

* The ground wasn't that much of a trek from the city and I quite enjoyed the banter on the way out to Murrayfield. Anyway seen as I had to stay in Bristol last year because of the lack of hotels in Caardiff it's proximity to the city didn't really matter.

* I like the green spaces around the ground and found it was really nice to sit out on the grass enjoying a pint between matches with all the goings on around me.

* The stadium isn't as good as at Cardiff but the beer tents etc. were well organised and it was really easy to get served for drinks and snacks. The draw of the millenium stadium I don't think are enough to win me over and I can't wait to go back next year. Or err I would if had been this year I mean.

Newcastle have put a bid in for 2011. Be interesting to see what they offer. Dublin put in a bid last year so I wonder if they'll have another go. It really is becoming one of the stand out events of the Rugby league calender and cities across Britain are actively trying to get the RFL to go to them. That I think is because of one major factor and is I think the best thing about this sport and that's us the fans. I would have felt extremely proud walking down the royal mile in a Bulls shirt to be a rugby leaguer had I not been at Eureka in Halifax with two moaning kids and a lady from Social services.

We have been to all 3 weekends now and we all thought Cardiff was much better !!

much more atmosphere around the ground with all the roads around the ground buzzing with fans all having a good time,

the official figures speak for themselves!

[iA total of 30,122 watched Sunday's four matches at Murrayfield and, with 29,627 in attendance on the opening day, the combined total is down on last year's aggregate of 63,144 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff[/i

taken from sky sports

Quite right Keith. If you had been there you would've experienced great cameraderie with fellow RL supporters and a super atmosphere around the ground.

Shame you weren't

Edinburgh is my favourite British city, I love the place. Didn't see any promotion of the game in Scotland so cannot comment, but the locals seemed to know it ws happening & were grateful for the custom.

Inside the ground complex was a bit surreal. Almost as many around the ground drinking & chilling as there were watching each game. How people can ignore the footie going on is beyond me. I saw every game except the first half of HUdds Celtic.

I thought the quality of play was generally poor & I would much rather have all the derbies played. The only derby, Saints played like they didn't want to be there, which echoed their comments. A shame for their fans.

Fans wise, I thought Wire had the most. I was pleasantly staggered by the number of Bulls shirts I saw all weekend. However they tended to be spread around the ground rather than concentrated like Wire. HKR took loads, I never realised there was so much woodwork on Humberside for them to crawl back out of. Hull FC was the worst turn out I can remember, they are usually in massive numbers for any international or final. Especially big raps for Cats & Quins who were there all weekend in good numbers.

The weather was great in the sun, but bloody freezing out of it.

We stayed in Leith which is a great little area, a 2 mile walk along the river each mornig into the centre was a perfect start to the day. The tigress & cub loved it, they are responsible for regenerating the shops of Scotland, they definitely want to go back.

Yes it was lower by 5.4% which I think is at least representative of current financial constraints on supporters.
We too have been to all 3 weekends and would happily go back to either venue, the preference is subjective as both were top notch carnival affairs.

I think Dublin in 2011 would be a logistical nightmare for travelling and to my recent knowledge hotel prices are astronomical.
Never thought about Newcastle previously...that would be interesting but the limited accomodation might be as bad as Cardiff.

A let down,

Cardiff had a much better feel, better atmosphere in and out of the ground, and is next to the city centre.
The Murrayfield stadium doesn't have the same feel, Until the sun came out its a cold windy stadium, The stewards once again annoyed me, Why do the block peoples viewing 5 mins before the end of a half? and for the last game on sunday tripled all because of bantor between fans.
On the Food And drink side, we were promised better choice and quality, How is it better to go outside to get a beer than stay in the dry like at Cardiff. The burgers were cold, they ran out of milk for the wifes cuppa by game 5 of the weekend, and most inportant ran out of larger at the Bar tent on the east side of the ground for game 6.

Another reasons it was taken away from wales was due to lack of local advertising, but yet not one local (haymarket) old and young i spoke to knew anything about it.

The city centre wasn't the same, Most places were closing bang on 1am, getting taxi was a joke, we stood at rank with transport marshalls for 40 mins be we got 1.

& not one of them new that the rugby was on until they asked why we were up here!!

Well they sold 2000 more tickets locally than Cardiff managed to they must have been doing something right regarding marketing it to the local population.

Given the current financial climate, and the fact it wasn't derby games I think the attendance held up well. Let's face it more people are going to be interested in travelling to see Leeds/Bradford than Leeds/Catalans or Bradford/Wakefield.

Now we have a 14 team comp, and only home and away derbies, I think they might go back to the derbies next year - it has been overkill having 4 a season for the last two years but 3 might not be so bad.

I prefer Murrayfield as a stadium. It was good to sit in the sunshine rather than the dark and freezing cold of a closed Millennium stadium.

I'm still not convinced it's a good idea overall though. It's too expensive for a lot of fans and we were very lucky with the weather. That pitch would not have stood 7 games in the rain and the crowds would not have been anything like.

That just leaves you Wembley or Cardiff as the covered options and as I said the covered stadium was cold and dark.

Ok it's a good media opportunity but mid season internationals could surely do that.

Having never been to Cardiff I can't compare, but I thought the magic weekend was absolutely superb and I will definitely be going again, wherever it is.

I second that, had a cracking weekend, hopefully get a few more going next year but I'll definately be there.

.

and if you include the rest of the statement from the RFL its not such a gloomy picture - in fact attendance was approximately the same as the first year it was held in Cardiff and as others have mentionned, financial constraints are likely to have impacted more severely on the crowds this year.

[urlhttp://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=13928[/url

To be honest I reckon that the Millennium is the best stadium I`ve watched rugby at in respect of the atmosphere, but the downside was the slipping and sliding around, apparently caused by condensation,which none of the teams seemed to overcome. Against that Edinburgh is easily the better city in terms of being a visitor attraction, both for accommodation and for things to do in general, so for me, on balance, Murrayfield wins.

As for the food etc being up or down a few steps

, unless you`re in a wheel chair or on crutches so what? I went down both at halftimes and between games; queues were minimal and the choice was way above normal, if only it were so easy at normal league matches.

We had a wonderful experience, it held an awesome atmosphere.

The stadium guys really pulled off a great job. There were that many food and drinks bars we never queued for more than a couple of minutes. The Scots playing their bagpipes as each club bus came around the ground was fantastic.

Drinking in and around Edinburgh with like minded supporters just made the whole experience unique. How many other sports can create a weekend like this ? With different supporters all enjoying drinking, chatting and even some good old singing.


I know it's not every-one's cup of tea, but I didn't find a fan all weekend that wished they hadn't turned up