As a non SL club fan, I attended my 1 st MW on saturday, just the last 2 matches and I enjoyed it, what then surprises me is if the RFL can organise an event like this, why can't they help the individual clubs to market themselves better?

Yawn. I wondered how long it'd be before someone had a pop at the RFL. Thought it'd be on the first page though.

14 sets of Super League fans plus a fair few neutrals from other clubs (not to mention the newbies coming to their first live game).

I've been to every Magic so far but Manchester is the only one where I've not stayed over. Magic's a great concept but Etihad has diluted it imo. Cardiff / Edinburgh is a genuine weekend. That was the Magic concept wasn't it? Etihad is just a series of games with a very significant proportion only seeming to turn up for their match. Increased attendance was the attraction at Etihad but this hasn't happened. I assume more people turn up fro the day but fewer for the weekend. Swings n roundabouts. Take it further afield again.

Great place to hold it atmosphere really good stayed Sat & Sunday in Manchester , really good night life. Its about coming together talked with fans from all over no problems what so ever great to have met you all and will certainly go again

This is exactly the argument me and my brother have had over it - my side being that the weekend away part of it has been taken away for the sake of those who wanted it nearer and insisted the crowds would be loads higher - it isnt but like you have said more could be coming for the day and less for the weekend now.

My long term hope for the Magic Weekend is that in time it becomes a big event on the sporting calender. Hopefully it can organically grow into something that people look to watch/attend.

I hope that given time and support it could be break into the nations psyche as a much watch event.

I think it's excellent that we have such a unique showcase for our sport. It got them talking on the Aussie RL forums and certainly makes people sit up and notice our sport.

Leave it to grow every year, but ensure the fixtures are mixed up a bit - the Wigan Leeds game in particular was a breath of fresh air.

It is what it is. An interesting weekend that's good fun to attend. The only time I've ever had anything negative to say about it is when people tried to attach the word 'expansion' to it, as if (when it was in Wales or Scotland) it had some role to play in expansion of the game. If that was the aim, it was a deluded aim. But in itself, nothing wrong with the weekend at all.

Why do they have to charge such ridiculous prices for food and drink? Surely for an all day event it's not unfair for fans to be allowed to bring in their own food.

Wouldn't mind seeing it in Sheffield - a city with a well-performing club that could really do with some publicity to give it a boost.

I'd love to see a breakdown of the day / weekend ticket sales for each Magic. To end up with only a slightly higher combined attendance than original Millenium Magic (when there were only 6 games) is a huge disappointment imo.

It's a great celebration that our sport can have fans from all clubs together with no segregation. On one hand I do miss going for a weekend away but on the other it's fantastic to have a local event.

At Cardiff and Edinburgh a lot of fans did just come in for their game anyway, so massive stadiums looked really empty and the atmosphere was killed.

I do think the fixture lists for other leagues could be cleared for the weekend, which will allow more people to attend. Warrington had U16's playing in Cumbria, and U19's playing at Wilderspool for example.

I liked the fact they had a few things going on outside, maybe they can increase the stuff outside, stuff that might actually attract just random people driving past the stadium. Maybe a few BBQ's some events in which rival fans can compete, like a sumo suit or giant boxing glove thing, possibly a bungee chair. Make the tickets a little cheaper and hope you recoup on the 'extras' outside.

The goal is obvious, it is a celebration of all the things that are good with our game.

Stick with Manchester but if you have to move it, then move it to an area on the edges of the heartland, eg Birmingham or Sheffield at a push Newcastle.

As much as i'd love another event in London so i don't have to travel, at this moment in time i think it's asking too much of people financially.

Could do them NFL style tailgate parties -

As I said non SL club fan, 1 st time albeit on a free ticket, the answer to the original question is

Why not

I agree. It got more coverage on both Sky and BBC news than just a regular round would.

Agree on the games too, maybe split the teams into day 1 and day 2 at the start of the season, so fans know which day their club will be playing so they can book hotels, transport etc then a day or so before the event do a draw?

This was my first magic weekend, been unable to go in the past due to work and uni etc. I will admit to having been a little sceptical about the whole thing, but I was completely bowled over by it.

The posters around Manchester were great and hopefully raised awareness, the city centre was buzzing and hopefully a few people will have enjoyed the atmosphere around the pubs etc and look into it for next year. The ground feels made for it, with the space around the outside and open bowl concourse. Loads of commercial opportunities for Heinz, Foxy, Iron Bru etc then having watched some of it today I think Eddie and pals did a great job of reflecting the carnival atmosphere.

If we can keep it in Manchester on the same date it could hopefully turn into a great jamboree which is firmly on the national sports calendar, attracting sports fans from far and wide. Now that they have found a formula which works we need to stick to it, don't go down the usual rugby league route of changing things based on knee jerk reactions.

The Cardiff weekends were the same, if not better due to the fact that a large proportion of fans stayed overnight and were present for all games.

The only people who criticized the Magic weekend in the past were those who had never attended, or thought it was something to do with some kind of 'Welsh experiment'. It's a great event.

Lets face it RL is never going to be bigger than RU or Football. We shouldn't be focusing on expanding the game to places which are dominated by the other code; we should be focusing on giving the fans that we already have a great experience and possibly more growth in the heartlands and I believe that's what having the Magic Weekend in Manchester achieves.

People complain about there not being enough cultural diversity in Super League when in reality I reckon if most of the clubs had a large contingent of Southerners/French at their ground, they wouldn't feel as welcome as your typical supporter (not that any decent supporter would want to make them feel this way).

At the end of the day many people in the heartlands know the we have the greatest game in the world to enjoy week in week out and if people in London for example can't see that then it's their loss IMO.

I'm not forcing anyone to see it the same way as me that's just how I see it. I'd rather see larger crowds at established clubs than at London/Catalan for example.

Why? In what way are Catalan not an 'established club'?

The original idea behind the MW was expansion, I think that aim has now been abandoned, however as an event it works quite well and any ' success ' is vital to the sports continuity and potential growth, so it works so try all you can to make it work better and bigger

Well there are 12 Heartland clubs compared to 2 outside of them and sorry an "Established Top Flight Club".