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.

:1umjbhnq

Indeed, they may very well be. As I said earlier I will happily leave it to those who both know the goals MM and have access to supporting data to make a judgement.


discussion of attendance is automatically irrelevant.

Take away the Sky money they would pay for less coverage and the gate receipts clubs would lose and then see if the players are happy deducting that amount from the salary cap! I bet they'd soon change their tune if they were on appearance fees only like the old days!

me the reason

I wonder if the RFL paid for coaches to take fans to the relevant days games if that would boost the numbers significantly? 400 quid for a coach, 80 extra tickets sold at 20 quid = a nice extra profit for the RFL.

I didn't see one advert for the event anywhere!

Like I said elsewhere most of the locals I saw at the games were already fans of the game so was this really getting the new audience we wanted to?

I have spoke to a number of people since getting back (not all saints fans either) and most seem to think that overall the experience in Cardiff was a lot better but I guess people will have different views depending what they wanted from the weekend itself.

It's a bollox theory and it doesn't matter.

Every time I go to a home game I spend money on travel, food and drink. If it's an evening game, I spend money on overnight accommodation as well.

This all goes to rail companies, hostelries, hotels, etc. This is money I'm moving away from the game is it?

You really are demonstrating a totally bollox level of stupidity on this thread.

Were they fans before the magic weekend was coming to Murrayfield though? I know a crowd who were at the games all kitted out for "their" teams, but they only got into RL when they first heard about the magic weekend and looked into it. So although they'll have looked and sounded just like fans, it was the weekend on their doorstep that got them into RL.

It will depend on who people speak to as everyone I've spoken too have all said the experience in Edinburgh was much better than Cardiff.

The ones we spoke to were fans before.

Of course it depends who you speak to but it seems there is a lot of mixed views on it, just read a thread on the Leeds board and it seems a lot on there weren't overly impressed with things. Personally I was disappointed when it was moved from Cardiff but wouldn't be if it was moved from Edingburgh.

To be fair there's a few on the Leeds board who aren't overly impressed with most things. It'll always depend on what people want. I suppose it's very much the same as picking your away games if you can't go to them all.

The good thing I think is I haven't heard anyone who supports the magic weekend concept say they wouldn't go back.

It's a great way to capture the imagination. My only gripe is the lack of co-ordination with RL playing kids clubs outside of Edinburgh, but that's not really anything to do with the actual enjoyment of the weekend itself.

Was thinking the same myself. I did wonder how many hotels and travel companies he thought the RFL owned.

ok as owner of the bollox theory, i never ever said the rfl owns anything,and since when was the main idea of mm regeneration of the economy?? I must have missed that leaflet!

anyway its crerated a debate and a mixed one ill admit, foor me it doesnt work, for some it does. mainly for the weekend away if truth tells.

And this is not flat-cap ism, I think catalan is working, I just dont think theres a way to accomadate one extra random fixture, and I dont think its the best advert for our product.

The money bit became an issue because by sat night sky would not shut up about it, my calculations were there to prove a point, if they didnt fine, tb is right it doesnt matter what I think, or anyone on here. We dont run the game.

I'm not racist, I have a lot of friends who are Asians...

eh?

how do you spot a racist? they open their sentence with '[iI'm not a racist...[/i'

Saw a fair few adverts, flyers/posters outside quite a few pubs listing the games and times and saying they were showing them all on the TV, pretty well every shop I went in talked about the games, as did the driver of the taxi that took me back to the B&B on the Sunday Night.

Didnt have any trouble getting in the pubs either (5 of us, all blokes, some in shirts, some in jackets, but all identifiable as rugby fans).

Saw loads of people inside the stadium in scotland RU shirts, and a couple of Leicester RU shirts aswell).

For me, Edinburugh is a far better city, the only slight drawback being the stadium is a bit out on a limb.

then it wouldnt be a trial game, it would be an end of season jolly? nice!

what about holding the MM on the same weekend as the WCC? Still take it to Edinburgh or Egremont, or whatever. We get another game, it takes place at the beginning of the year and everyone is happy?
can someone run this one past Mr Graham please, to see how the players feel about it?