Yeh because we all take the wife and kids on the lash for a couple of days don't we

I was one of those who didn't go as I couldn't justify the cost and time with other family commitments. I went to Cardiff and watching the TV this weekend the general atmosphere seemed better, the crowd shots certainly showed a lot of mixing of club colours. Even the two sets of Hull fans seemed to be standing together in places.

I love the weekend and hope to make future ones. The only negative of this weekened was RLFans down all day Sunday.

Where you in a different City to me? I was shocked how little was known locally about what was going on. The only ones I saw talking rugby league were the fans who had gone up for the weekend I certainly wasn't convinced any publicity had been done for the event locally we were asked on a number of occasions what was going on, or which union sides were playing!

Personally I think Cardiff was a much better choice for the weekend and would have liked to have seen it stay there for a few more years before moving on to allow it to properly develop.

No we dont.

We stayed at home, my lad cant do 2 days in a boozer surrounded by drinkers.

I didn't see people talking, I heard them. I got talking to lots of Scots and a few Irish lads and they were all absolutely superb and knew what the magic weekend was about. Advertising was all over the place. It was noticable there were a number Scots in the ground too.


As for Cardiff for a choice for the weekend..on what grounds? The WRU didn't lift a finger, and thats one of the main reasons the RFL chose Edinburgh

It seemed to me Cardiff was a hell of a lot more prepared for the event a lot more locals in wales seemed to know what was happening from the people we spoke to we encountered a lot more locals in Scotland who didn't know what was happening, the only ones who seemed to be aware were wearing club colours which would suggest they were fans of the sport already who live in Scotland rather than converts to the sport.

The stadium in Cardiff is much better location wise and the fact the roof closes if poor weather is a massive bonus. If it had rained this weekend then it would have been a massive washout with very little to do around the ground (most people when they headed up that way seemed to be sat outside the stadium on the grass or stood in the beer garden of one of the few hotels with bars opened) and the pitch wouldn't have coped with 7 games.

Getting to and from the stadium - especially after the last game of the day - from the City Centre wasn't easy, why hadn't shuttle buses been put on to help the fans getting away? There seemed to be nothing more than the normal bus service which couldn't cope with the volume of people wanting to use it meaning most people seemed to end up walking the 40 mins back to the city centre, again its a good job the weather was dry!

Add to that the fact that the whole city centre seemed to be being dug up, and the race taking place on Sunday morning it just seemed to me that the whole thing was badly thought out when it came to moving the event.

I enjoyed the weekend but I personally am not convinced that Edinburgh is a better choice than Cardiff was.

Whine whine whine, generally Edinburgh is a much better city for tourists and visitors than cardiff, I bet there were a lot less problems getting weekend acomodation that Cardiff

Your just upset Saints lost.

thats exactly what i've said to people who are moaning about it - i've been (to Cardiff) and experienced it, they haven't.
Until you have been then it will seem rubbish on TV with loads of empty seats, but when your there it doesn't matter its like one giant RL party and anyone is invited - fair enouh, some people dont like the idea but i do and i thinkits great !!!

Nowt to do with losing, I said about them not being aware what was happening on Friday night soon after we arrived and nothing happened to change that view.

And the accommodation we got in Cardiff for the same price was much better, but we have never struggled getting accommodation at either due to being organised and booking well in advance.

The attendance alone means it should be scraped and never ever done again. It's an absolute farce. The Saints players should have handled their distain for the non-event a bit more professionally, but you can bet they weren't the only ones who didn't want to be there.

The attendance looked quite respectable on tv both days for the last games (no thanks to some convenient scheduling, but good anyway).

anyone who thinks 30000 looks bad in murrayfield should take a look when edinburgh are playing and see how 4000 every other week looks.

Considering part of the reason for the Magic weekend is to help expand the game and to hopefully get a Championship club in Scotland having a match in an almost empty stadium is a good indicator of what we would end up with , so from that point of view it should be seen as a success



It will be interesting to see how well attended the Championship version is later in the year

Does the job description for 'Professional Rugby League Player' include playing scheduled rugby league matches? If you don't like the job, get another. I expect he'll turn down an opportunity to play for England anywhere outside the M62 corridor then - don't want to travel or anything awful like that.

Why? Has it got a growth on it or something?




Personally, I'd say an attendance of 59,749 – and yes it includes people who attended both days because, well, they attended both days – is not too bad in "The worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s" as everyone keeps telling us. [url=http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/09/05/03/RUGBYL_Magic.htmlThe organisers seem happy as well[/url.

I didn't go this year for a number of reasons, but one thing I know from the last two years [url=http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/09/05/02/manual_211115.htmlIt's a good festival of rugby league[/url, with the chance to mix with fans from across the SL (and championship clubs) and even people new to the sport and watch games you normally wouldn't get a chance to.

errr - no it's not. Though if it was, 6,000 ticket sales in Scotland wouldn't count as a 'disaster' – except in the world of professional Micawbers

If you're going to quote at least quote all the relevant parts
See below

Well we are trying to follow RU arent we

Now that suprises me. I lost count at the number of shops with magic adverts. Even down in Leith where we were all the locals we talked to had heard it was on and were interested in it. We even spoke to some locals who went to the games and were loving the atmosphere ( it was just a shame they were Quins fans

)
I'd take Edinburgh over Cardiff anyday of the week it has soooooo much more going for it.

I agree we were lucky with the weather which did help massively. Also I think that next time you might see special buses being put on as I think it's the main minus point which has been mentioned to the RFL. However even with all the tram work thats being done Edinburgh still managed to have a transport system in place to put most other british cities to shame. And as for the run unless you went up to the citadel you wouldn't have even known it was on but for people walking around loking like they've just been cooked in tinfoil.

I'm surprised as well. The only people we heard wondering what was going on were tourists rather than locals.

As for the bus services I thought they put on a great service personally. We never waited longer than 10/12 minutes which given there was a hell of a lot of people waiting was pretty good. The drivers were also great at directing people to where they wanted to be and, if you couldn't get on their bus, letting you know when the next one was.

The facilities at the Park and Ride were great, lots of spaces, well signposted, spotless toilet facilities and frequent services. The chap behind the counter was a bit over-whelmed when a whole load of people turned up earlier than he was expecting the fans to be arriving, but he simply got on the phone and asked for extra buses and someone to help him with the tickets.

Obviously the weather made a massive difference and I'm finding it hilarious people are whinging about it being cold in the shade of the stadium. Although it appears you cannot win - I had a Saints fan whinging to me in the loos that no-one told her it was going to be warm and she only had long-sleeves and jumpers. I thought she was kidding, but she was actually complaining so some people will never be happy.

The prices at the catering outlets are steep, but they were equally steep in Cardiff with much less choice. The range of food was excellent imo and it's always going to be over-price at catering vans, it's the same at every event.

The entertainment with the mascots was ott imo. However at least there were several other things on with the dancers and the likes. At Cardiff the first year the same dance troup did the same routine to the same music between each game on each day - so that's something that obviously needs more work. However it's presumably sorted by the RFL's team so not something Murrayfield can be critisised for in anyway.

Everyone I spoke to was having a great time and preferred Edinburgh to Cardiff. Overall I think it was a cracking weekend, more enjoyable than Cardiff for me purely because everything was within the stadium grounds.

Rugby wise i was impressed with the occasion. When it came to the nightlife it was terrible. We were refused entry into loads of pubs on both nights for no apparent reason. It wasn't just us either many people we spoke to we're having the same problem even the locals.

Was there a big group of you?

rugby shirts on?

A lot of pubs in Scotland have strict no colours policies, given the historical sectarianism around Rangers and Celtic an, to a lesser extent, around Hearts and Hibs. It's a bugger, especially on an event like this - but could that me the reason?

A lot also have strict policies on no big groups as well. Also it was pay weekend with a number of evets on so lots of them would have been really busy.

Also if anyone appeared to have already had a fair fews drinks or as a bit loud/rowdy would see a whole group turned away.