So Magic week is here...

Sales looking solid but not spectacular so far (no top tier open on the Saturday like some previous years) anyone in Newcastle to comment on the local marketing?

Sunday lineup looking very iffy with an out of form Salford taking on a slightly improved Catalan before a rematch of this weeks Hudds-Hudds-Wakey game and a Hull Derby that currently has more players at the hospital or at Redhall for the disciplinary than it does fit and available players!

Hopefully Saturday brings the magic and sun predicted for the weekend at least!

Some dull looking clashes for the Sunday. Would've loved it if they'd pick the games based on league position maybe 2 weeks before

The Saints vs Widnes fixture is the real blunder for me. It’s basically a bye for the best side in the comp currently and if they’d have jigged the fixtures around it would’ve been easier to spread big fixtures between Saturday and Sunday.

Saints could’ve played Wigan, Cas verses Wakefield, Leeds verses Warrington and the Hull derby would’ve made it four really good fixtures that then could’ve been spread two per day. I know the RFL don’t gave a crystal ball but Saints vs Widnes being a damp squib can’t be that difficult to predict.

Clashs with the FA cup final, massive blunder. And a royal wedding. Not that either of those interest me personally. But any national media coverage will be one step above nill.

The FA Cup clash has happened a lot and can be avoided you’d think. There isn’t much they could do about the Royal wedding. I suppose Big Nige could’ve had a word in the queens ear before he left to see if they fancied shifting it but he was off quicker then Usain Bolt with his pay cheque.

Exactly. I have no idea who came up with the fixtures this year but they are shocking.

Regards

King James

To be fair, last year it was St's v Hull and it ended up a blow out.

There's something in the back of my mind about either Wigan or Saints (or both) requesting that they don't play each other at the magic weekend?
The RFL obliged which is why we have the fixtures as they are.

I also seem to recall the Hull sides making a similar request, which was turned down. (I'm not sure how true this is though).

Anyone else remember this or am I going mad?

But at least the fixture would’ve pulled people in to the stadium to see it blow out.

The nuetrals in attendance for that Saints game Saturday will be very few in number IMO.

As a Hull fan I get annoyed with all the derbies these days. We play a pre-season friendly against them then we play them 3 times in the league before super 8s where we could play them again then either the top 4 play-off or grand final and a challenge cup game. That is a potential for 7 derbies in 1 year which I think takes away from the 'magic' of derby day.

I am not against magic weekend at all, I have been a couple of times and I love it, great party atmosphere, mixing with other fans, having a couple of drinks but I would much prefer it if the games were random rather than manufactured, actually do a draw for the games or something. To be fair though I would rather be playing KR this year than Saints given what happened last year...

Hull KR did request not to play Hull which was turned down. As a Rovers fan we are clearly not at the same level as Hull at the minute. Been the case for the last few years so it never seems fair that we get a harder game when teams around us get to play each other.

It’s ridiculous that Saints have an easy win this year.

There are always byes at MW, in the name of a stupidly manufactured 'Derby' theme; it's grossly unfair, and creates some truly dire non-spectacles.

For me, the games should be based on league position, or drawn a couple of weeks before.

Precisely Bren. These games are ‘extras’ and should be made relevant to sorting out final league positions. Each game should be ‘4 pointer’ - 1st v 2nd, 3rd v 4th etc. Sts/Widnes on one hand, Cas/Leeds and Wigan/Wire on the other - how is that fair?

Although it could still create the same type of fixtures as now, to launch the event each year, there could be a "magic" draw, in Challenge Cup style.
There may be some poor fixtures but, you'd expect 3 or 4 decent contests

That's the way I'd like to see it done.

The organisers seem to work on the premise that having some semblance of proximity for the team will increase attendance figures. This may have a small influence but in the interest of the competition, surely it would be better to have 1st vs 2nd from the previous season, 3rd vs 4th etc?

Lowest attendance at Magic could be on the cards.....52k?????

Quote ="Call Me God"Lowest attendance at Magic could be on the cards.....52k?????'" Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.

Quote ="Call Me God"Lowest attendance at Magic could be on the cards.....52k?????'" Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.

It'a a concept that is totally pointless, why is it always at Newcastle ? Didn't the RFL introduce this to promote the game at different outposts in the UK to help our game prosper. They will never admit it, but now they have given up on the idea. I know, let's have the 2019 magic weekend in Toronto, the Canadians love their Rugby League.....even though they don't have their own league !

Quote ="ThePrinter"Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.'" Little Cas playing poor but taking 2nd most fans. Not bad.

Quote ="ThePrinter"Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.'" Little Cas playing poor but taking 2nd most fans. Not bad.

That would be mint and if we are serious about growing the game then yes, we should have a magic weekend over there. I would be well up for that, I love the beautiful city of Toronto.

Regards

King James

You're joking but it was only a few days ago that I was reading an article about the magic weekend attracting overseas interest...

No, but it doesn't stop people making this argument so they can brand the idea as a failure.

It may have been a throwaway line in a press release, but it was never the intention to use Magic Weekend to expand the game. The intention of Magic Weekend is to make money.

The RFL sells the concept to local tourist authorities (Visit Wales paid the RFL £1m for the first one, IIRC). Since then, we've had tourist boards / local authorities in Edinburgh, Newcastle-Gateshead and Manchester all paying to support Magic Weekend.

I get that the typical tight- RL fan objects to the game being played anywhere beyond the boundaries of their bus pass, but we really shouldn't be paying too much attention to those kinds of people.

2000+ Widnes fans going, just sold out of all day and weekend passes for the gallowgate end. Haven’t got a clue how we’ve sold that many but looking forward to it as always.

Saturday is usually the better day. We(Widnes) always seem to get a game then, not complaining but it is a strange one to be matched up against Saints. Try fest for everyone to watch before two great games to finish the day.