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.

Make the RFL pass a rule saying the players that play must have played a certain % of games for the first team.

I've never heard or seen any marketing regarding the 9's tournament (i'll be honest didn't even know it existed)

It's the comp where teams such as Jamaica, Cumbria, Forces enter and they do the fastest man race. Think Hull are holders.

1) Whatever the merits of Wigan v Leeds and similar games, they're not derbies.
2) There's nothing particularly 'big' about Bradford v Cas (for instance), it's just one more league game like Catalans v Cas.

You are a gobe who does nothing but snipe and never backs up what he says. All I've done is show you up for that.

It appears significant in terms of RL what colour politics are involved. Look at Ian McCartney and David Hinchliffe for example and the roots of the game.

Now you are talking complete b0llocks about the COM, having failed to back up your pitch argument with anything proof wise at all. Please support with evidence your 'only so many non football' events line. The COM opened in 2002. GB played there in 2004, Take That, Oassis and Ricky Hatton have all put events on there, so you talk .

I'll ask you again how many events could they have had but declined? Let's be knowing when the RFL asked and when they said no thanks.

Oh so now you are saying Sky would not want to show the event? Remind me again how many stations Sky has, and remind me if SL is played that weekend and shown live on Sky? You said there was wall to wall media coverage of the Magic event, but apart from some promotion by Sky, where else was it really covered? How will this really differ at the end of the month?

By your reckoning the RFL shouldn't have any development officers in London or the South, given that the likes of Streatham and Mitcham folded, and if you want to bring it right up to date that the Broncos went pear shaped and Quins RL can't draw the crowds and are massively in debt. Manchester got one shot with Belle Vue Rangers then? What a crock of crap you talk.

I'll ask again, how much RL is there of any level in Bolton, Bury, Stockport, Trafford, Manchester? How much amateur in Salford? There might well be Championship 1 sides in Swinton, Oldham and Rochdale, but why not push the sport in the whole region outside of the top tier? If a town like Oldham can produce the quality of player it does from such a small amateur scene, how many more could be produced if work was put in to develop the game across the region?

This is one of the reasons cited for the work in London, to increase the player base, but there are very large untapped areas all over the region and across the Pennines.

Frankly you talk crap and clearly know jack about the game, preferring instead to proffer falsities to try and snipe and take a pot shot instead of offering anything yourself.

No thanks I have been told he smells of wee

Discuss the issues. Cut out the insults. That applies to everyone.

You pay for me to go all that way and to the expense, and I will!!

I've backed up everything I've said and people have corroborated some of what I said, I've answered your questions above, you bring nothing new to the table whatsoever.

Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Pity the Coventry Bears didn't work out, as they offered a real breakthrough back in 2004.

it was random, thats just about as fair as you can get.


Nobody wants to give us money and a stadium to do this, because less people would attend a 7s tournament, clubs would put out worse teams and it would no longer be an event.

Have Coventry city council offered us the stadium? any money to move it there? do you think people would be more likely to want to spend a weekend in coventry or Edinburgh?

You've backed nothing up at all and made a fool of yourself by saying no non football events have been held at COM since a couple of months after it opened!!

Show me proof of how much the RFL is paid for the event. Show me proof of when the COM has turned down RL events. Show me proof of the limit on non football events. Show me proof of the COM saying all those games off season would do too much damage, damge you can't quantify.

Tell me why there is expansion going on in london given the previous failures and struggle of Quins RL, shouldn't be happening according to your theory of why the heartlands should be ignored.

I bring nothing new? Did you come up with anything new? An event like this is Manchester would blow anything else away attendance wise and be a massive boost for the game on it's own doorstep. Manchester is a major UK city and what RL presence does it have? Around 2m people live in the AGMA region. If you really don't think that putting major effort into the heartlands is worth it, then you are clearly not very bright at all.

It seems to me that the only credible alternative stadium is St James Park Newcastle

1. City Centre location, close to what is widely regarded as a great place for a night out - certainly compared to places like Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol etc that have been mentioned

2. Away from the heartlands of the game but not so far as Edinburgh or Cardiff, which would help with travel costs

3. A sports mad local populace who could be targetted with a huge advertising campaign, free tickets for schools etc. Might also help Gateshead.

4. A cracking stadium that would look full with 40,000 there, which I think is very achievable

Howay the lads

A fan said Midlands, I said Coventry. Nowt more to it than that. On the road games have been done before, and given the interest their was to get an NL3 title winning side there why not look again at such a thing??

Union has taken games there and done very well for crowds.

Agree that St James' is a stadium worthy of the event, and is bang in the city centre. There's also the slope on the pitch to make some fans feel even more at home.

Nope, read the thread.

By the way did you go to Edinburgh or Cardiff?

Back up all you have said with proof or wind yer neck in I'll carry on tying you up in knots any time you like.
So when has MCC been approached and said no. How much did Edinburgh get paid? How much damage does a game of RL do? How many non football events can be held at COM? Howm many have been held since it opened? Is 2m not a big enough target area for development? How many live in Edinburgh??? Why London, as it does not qualify under your criteria?

Come on mouth almighty let's hear it.................................

I'll take that as a no then.
Suggest you read the thread and others on this topic, you'll find your answers.

Leaving to one side all debate over the stadia within Manchester and whether the resident clubs/ stadium owners would want this event on their pitches.

Manchester for the fans of Wigan, Wire, Saints, Salford, Crusaders, Cas, Wakey, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield is within a very easily commutable distance meaning that they would almost all drive to their game on the day and go back home after it. Even those that watched all games on any given day would not need to stay over. At most the Hull, Hull KR, Quins and Catalans fans would have to stay over for the weekend and I think that the Hull clubs fans would be equally likely not to stay over in Manchester and to attend their own clubs' games and go home.

As a consequence the potential for income to local businesses would be much poorer (they would make the same if not more when City or United are at home than they would from this event) in Manchester than it would be for those in cities where most fans had to travel a long distance to get to. There is less incentive for Manchester's tourist board therefore to put in a large bid to stage the event. So even if Manchester have submitted a bid to host it (Richard Lewis said on Thursday on BBC Radio Manchester that a number of cities are interested but didn't name any) their bid is unlikely to be equal to the amount bid by cities such as Edinburgh, Cardiff, Newcastle, Dublin, London (used as examples due to posters suggesting them) that would stand to make much more from tourism while hosting this weekend.

A Manchester bid would be unlikely to be accepted therefore over other bidding cities even if one was made as it would mean less profit for the RFL so less value in holding the event.

The popular suggestion seems to be take it to Newcastle, however IIRC I'm sure I read somewhere that Newcastle has a surprisingly low number of hotel beds available for a city of it's size. That may be a problem for an event like this.

I do know it is pretty hard to get room discounts on a weekend, weather that is down to lack of rooms or hoteliers just determined to keep prices close to rack rate. There are a number of options though with a couple of campsite/caravan places just up the coast.