Ah, now I get your reasons for the personal attacks





You assume that I am a Labour supporter, quite wide of the mark. It wouldn't bother me what colour the council was if it supported RL, in fact you might want to check out the colours of Edinburgh council.



Now you are grasping at straws, CoM are only allowed so many non-football events a year, they haven't held an even there since the first few months of the stadium opening, it is quite logical to assume they don't want RL when you look at how many high profile events they could have had.



FFS, you wanted it played at the end of May, a time when Sky have the footy play offs, theirs and the medias attention will be elsewhere.



Have you been to one of these events?



Read the thread, if you can't grasp it by now there is no point explaining it.

Which stadiums and what tough restrictions?



Where have I said they wouldn't? They would day trip at best at worst go for one match.



Eh? Unless they have moved the heartlands areas overnight then there is plenty of RL there, you might have to explain this as i am clearly missing something...



Is it?

You can bang on about the supposed "heartlands" all you like, it is down to the clubs to sort out their own business, they have ignored investment and growth of the game for decades, if they couldn't spread the game a few miles down the road it is their problem.

Big G
Scanners

get a room

Agreed.

"looks terrible on tv" thats a great one!

a number of posters mention the" political" angle- and i assume from this that over the 4 years of Magic weekend that the RFL have had some financial "reward"- if thats the right description from public funds to bring the event to the 2 host cities.

Post election whatever the outcome - isnt their a big chance of a lot of belt tightening by local government - things are so bad where we are that the council recently said in public they couldnt afford to repair the clock on a local library as the ............£1,500 it would cost couldnt be justified - that might be one end of the spectrum , but if the RFL havent got the same level of support for Magic 5 already in place then i just wonder if they might find it difficult post election

The funds come from the tourist boards of major cities, not the local councils of small towns.

I think with London hosting the Challenge Cup, Manchester hosting the Grand Final and Edinburgh being a little too far for some people (being a student it would just be far too expensive) I think St James Park would be great, in the middle of Newcastle with plenty of Hotels dotted around.

Being a Sheffield Wednesday supporter I also think Hillsborough is a good shout too, the super-tram works a treat, especially if you are travelling by train. Both these stadiums would look great on TV with RL supporters and would definitely attract local media interest.

I also think the fixtures need to be either derbies or closely matched teams. I don't think the RFL should bin the idea of a magic weekend though, it's great having a slot in the RL calendar where we can go to a new city and watch some good games of RL in a nice stadium.

those were the prices quoted at the time the deal was signed, i thought it was common knowledge tbh

why would fans bother to pay to stay in a hotel when they are (for the most part) an hours drive from home? and yes it costs less, and because it costs less, less money goes into the local economy, the less money that goes in, the less the worth it has to the local businesses

Would love to, but like a lot of people I have limited cash to spend and this was the wrong time for me money wise.

As crazy as it may sound but for me it has to be far away to make it a bit special. Who wants to spend a weekend in Manchester? I go there all the time. Boring.

Ive just come back from Edinburgh and enjoyed it thought it was a little nicer than Cardiff as a city and thought Murrayfield was just as good The Millenuim Stadium.

Just got back from Edinburgh for the 2nd year and thought it was a fabulous weekend. Great City, transport links and stadium. Cheap Accomm & Train tickets. Loved the atmosphere in the bars during the day, pre and post match and loved the night life.

Cracking weekend and well done to all those who supported it!

Next year i'd like a return to the derbies and for SkySports to only show one game to encourage fans to make the journey. Maybe there should be a blanket price which includes both days but isn't too expensive.

Loved it and hope it goes back there next year

As much as I love the weekend, Murrayfield is the coldest place on earth! Watching all the games is a real endurance test.

Agree with you but £4 per game is not really expensive, is it?

no excuse tickets went on sale months ago and also cheap hotels could have been booked ages ago,all you needed was money to get there,sure most clubs had coaches going up for the day

Just got back- Long drive back to the Smoke but another weekend enjoyed.

That has to be the coldest stadium around-yesterday was a test of endurance!!!

I would like to see the derby's come back.

It wasn't much warmer at the Kettering Sevens down here in the Midlands!

I really enjoy the Magic Weekend, I went in 2007 and 2009 and really enjoyed every bit, sadly, i only went for the day and i'd really love to go for the weekend. But it needs a new coat of paint, because this season i watched 3 games on TV, didnt bother with the rest.

1.Derbies or Competitive games at least, each team has a chance of winning or appealing to public e.g. Wigan Vs. Leeds, Saints Vs. Wire, Wakey Vs. Cas.
2.Needs a new venue, Edinburgh is a nice place, but there isn't enough to do, simple as, Edinburgh castle only gets you so far, Cardiff was ideal.

3.Needs to be rammed down peoples throats, advertise whereever whenever, in public papers, in the 'areas' where it is e.g. Cardiff, in the cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Bristol, Bath areas, if you get 3,000 extra from that, you make up the money from it as it is.

4.Make incentives, I haven't got that many friends who are interested in RL, get them involved,offer incentives like buy 4 get a 5th free or something.

5. Offer tickets to local kids, after all, whos gonna take the reign when older people pass away, get kids in and you get support for teams like Crusaders.

6. Close to City Centre, people can take families for shopping and rugby, perfect mix, close to pubs, so fans can watch games, leave at half time, have a pint, be back for second half!

Charlety Stadium in Paris. Get the bigwigs in France curious.

I would hate to see derbies return, it was stupid and contrived.

You would seem to be in the minority though.

The only fair system though is the 1v2 3v4 5v6 concept

how is that fair? seems the most unfair way if im honest. The better you are the more difficult your extra game.

a random draw is the only 'fair' way

With the derby concept how can it be fair (on the current league standings) for Wigan to have an extra game against St Helens when Warrington are likely to bag 2 points against Salford (no disrespect)?

Because everyone is equally matched is why it's fair.
What's fair about a draw where the top team draws a 4th placed team and 2nd gets a bottom club ?

It's an extra game purely for commercial reasons and warps the league. The only true system is a 26 game season.

Turn the magic weekend into a sevens tournament, the RFL get their money, we get a nice day out and the league is fair again.

I don't see where the 'derby' idea is automatically dismissed as Wigan v Saints etc - what's wrong with having Wigan v Leeds, Saints v Wire, Bradford v Cas, Huddersfield v Wakefield etc? All big games in their own right.

A 7's tournament is a no go. Clubs don't use many first teamers for the nines comp and not many turn up to watch it...and thats played in the heartlands.