I think you sum RL up in a sentence, glass half empty outlook, stick to what we've got approach to the sport.

Manchester as a population hasnt taken notice of RL to any great degree previously. There are now amateur teams being established across the city improving access to the sport, Salford have just moved into a new purpose built stadium 6 months ago, footballers from both Manchester teams regularly follow and talk about RL and the RFL has just moved into MediaCity. There are loads of new reasons to showcase Rugby League to the Manchester public, so why not try again?

Been an armchair non-attendee until today (mate had spare ticket going cheap). *Still* not 100% sure of the concept, but I'll be honest and say I did enjoy it. Definitely wouldn't traipse to Cardiff or Edinburgh though, can't break the bank for a regular league game.

30 odd thousand looks better in a stadium which holds 47000, rather than a stadium which holds 70000 - 80000, as is the case in scotland and wales

hull fc had a deal for supporters with travel, ticket and hotel accomodation for the weekend

Just got in from manchester. Last train back to London!

Great weekend and I like the ground. Disappointed that so many fans only watch their team play, have fantastic weather so why not at least see a couple of games?

Wigan were brilliant, great atmosphere and I never saw one bit of trouble.

Now as for the attendance, I dont think 63k that high. It is in the heartlands and we still couldn't get 70k. RL Fans need to do better!!

Oh and another moan here. Why do we never get any decent merchandise stalls at big RL events? Outside the Etihad it was Eddie Stobart crap all over the place. People were queuing up for pics with the drivers!

WTF!!

Had a great day yesterday but disappointed with the attendence figures. Is it really that much better than when the even was in cardiff?

I was hoping for an 75 - 80k average total considering how close it is to the heartlands clubs.

co-sign regarding the lack of merchandise stalls. There are 30k+ rugby league fans walking around yet nowhere you can purchase RL merchandise. Absurd!!!

There were probably never that many more than 20-25,000 in the stadium at any one time. I think the idea of moving the event around is fine, but not in the 70,000+ stadia. Ideally its better suited to a 40,000 capacity stadium but it also needs to have some facilities around the ground to cater for those fans that don't want to spend all day in the ground.

Like it or not the majority of fans will only watch their own team and perhaps one other game, or parts of a couple of games.

Played at the right venues (Catalan instead of London for example), that round of fixtures should be able to top 100k attendance. Surely the point of the Magic Weekend was to attract new supporters, not just provide a venue for half the people who would have gone to the games anyway to meet up?
If Saracens with a 7k ish average crowd can get 60k+ to Wembley, surely we could fill this ground for just Wigan Saints? Add 30k+ for Leeds Bradford at Elland Road, 20k for Cas / Wakey at Huddersfield and that's the start of a REAL Magic Weekend for the game.
I'd like to see the Magic back to Cardiff, perhaps with an International 9s tournament (featuring individual Super League teams, Championship rep teams, rep teams from Aus and NZ, plus new nations getting a taste of the big time) culminating in the World Challenge.

We've been to ever one and have enjoyed every one (despite the result yesterday).

I wonder how many people actually went. If 30,000 went one day and 33,000 the next, is it the same 30,000 plus another 3,000 going, so in effect only 33,000 went?

Great venue yesterday and was allowed to take in soft drinks/water and a picnic so from that point of view was better than Cardiff when I had a bottle of water taken away at the gates.

I think that would have certainly been the case for the events in Cardiff and Edinburgh, but I suspect there would have been a greater turnover of fans this year, particularly given the huge difference in tickets sold for the day and weekend.

They got it right, this year in my opinion, which I'm sure was helped a little by the glorious weather.

We had a top day yesterday, the venue was great, the atmosphere in Manchester City Centre was fabulous, and the activity around the stadium itself was really good.

The problem, I felt, with previous Magic Weekends was that it was the expense and hassle of yet another weekend away to add to the trips we already make to Catalans, Wembley and London Broncos. It just gets too expensive. As a day trip, however, yesterday was a damn near perfect as you'll get.

I've also been saying that, as a concept, Magic Weekend needs to be relatively local so it can grow. If it's a success, and the economy improves, then by all means take it on the road. As it stands though, keep it in Manchester.

That would be utterly ridiculous moving that game to someone elses ground when that could be played at Elland Road too if you really want to have a pointless extra game on the road.

Over 100 years and we still can't get Manchester interested is what it is mate, no wonder other sports laugh at us if we think Manchester is a development area.

The venue is outstanding both around and inside the ground. Great atmosphere, cheap tickets. Next year the new tram system will be up and running properly meaning we can get the tram from the centre over to the stadium easily. Maybe transport will be arranged properly as there was thousands of Wigan fans getting onto a 2 carrage train that did not go directly to wigan. It was full to the brim and very uncomfy standing up all the way home in the heat.

I believe Wigan and Wire matches over the past few years have been some of the best. Maybe the RFL should mix it up and make it closer. Wire vs Widnes is a complete joke, two different leagues IMO. Putting both sets of fans off as the outcome is predictable.

Games:
Wigan Vs Saints
Wire Vs Catalans
Widnes Vs London
Leeds Vs Bradford
Hull FC Vs Hull KR
Salford Vs Huddersfield
Castleford Vs Wakefield

Abit more competitive, a few fixtures there that could be mixed up!

All in all a great weekend

Would you choose to hold it elsewhere or scrap the concept altogether?

I think Manchester was a good choice. Saying that after 100 years they're still not interested, whilst true to an extent, is a very pessimistic viewpoint. It's only recently (last 15 years or so) that RL have really started to invest at grassroots level in development areas, and Manchester hasn't had such a strong grassroots infrastructure in the modern era.

The Magic Weekend got the city talking and asking questions about RL.

I think the past four Magic Weekends have generally been attended by the same people who went to the first one in Cardiff 2007. The weekend just gone was attended by a lot of people attending their first Magic Weekend, and hopefully they enjoyed it, will tell their mates how good it was and come back in 2013.

The concept needs an element of stability and time to grow. Keep it at Manchester for the next few years & grow attendances gradually.

Manchester has been historically a strong RL area. in addition to Salford, Swinton who used to be a big time team in a big time stadium. There was a strong team in Broughton until the 1950s. Oldham, on the fringes of eastern Manchester were also a big time team until the last couple of decades.

The decline of these teams and the growing dominance to football has psuhed the prominence of RL in Manchester into the background.

The new Salford stadium and the steady improvement of Reds might be the start of a resurgence of the game in the area. If Swinton get their new stadium at Agecroft and stabilise in the Championship and if Oldham can get it together these factors will help also. The Magic weekend in Manchester, The grand final in Manchester and the World Cup final in Manchester can all help us to regain lost ground in the metropolis, with the media attention they bring to the game. This can only be a good thing . Manchester was on the verge of becoming a RL wasteland and the game needs a succesful presence there.

My preference would be elsewhere but that is by the by, the poster stated that we should hold it in Manchester to help development was laughable.

Lets be honest, if we couldn't get a good crowd in our own back yard then we should give up and go and watch soccer.

I don't think they were saying that as such, more that [usome[/u benefits of holding it in Manchester would be to build upon the recent success of the grassroots setup in the city & to take advantage of the BBC's relocation etc.

I'd hardly call Manchester our own back yard, more like a couple of doors down's back yard. For mine, I think it's a great idea to hold it in Manchester as it will tempt the non attendees of the further afield Magics out of their holes and get them interested in the concept.

Much preferred Manchester than Cardiff, not because it was a weekend away (I live 22 miles from Cardiff) but it felt much more concentrated than in Cardiff. Great competative games for the neutral also (barring Widnes and Broncos).

I don't think the magic weekend will ever work as a means of attracting new fans. Its overkill, new specCies are unlikely to be attracted by the prospect of watching several hours of a sport that they've not watched before. Even diehard fans struggle to watch more than a couple of games.

It should be accepted for what it is, a novelty weekend with a greater emphasis on the social side.

Not always the case. I was sat next to a group of about 40 school students, most of whom weren't already fans but who sat through three games on Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Talked to a few 12-13 year-olds amongst them who said they would definitely like to see more.

One thing puzzles me about this Magic weekend. Why is it being regarded as such a success compared to previous ones? It was slapbang in the middle of the heartlands, we had absolutely fantastic whether and some great games but it was only marginally better attended than previous ones. Why is this one was then a success, despite having so many more advantages, than the ones that had gone before it?

Because sports marketing (especially when Sky are involved) is all about hype.

I appreciate that and that is something that RL has always suffered from, or lack of it to be precise. However why has this one been hyped up and not the others?