Exactly.

People would not be willing to stay in a strange pub or restaurant or stay around the ground as it would be a short train or taxi ride and they could be back in their local or nearer to home.

Those that go generally enjoy it. It's your sat at home grumblers that spoil it. Moaning that there are empty seats when all they have to do is realise those seats are empty because of them.

The event does not have to be expensive. Coach down and back in a day with very reasonable tickets and take your own food/drink would see it affordable for lots of people.

I didn't attend cos I'm skint I live just outside cardiff and my gripe Is lack Of Marketing. Ok I'm sure they push it to the rl crowd but surely the point of Magic in Cardiff is too entice locals and those from the SW to watch live rugby so how come I saw nothing on local tv. Nothing in local rag and zero billboards. The only advertising I saw were lampost flags (small ones) on the road to the bay.

I spoke on Friday to a guy at the ice rink in Cardiff who had no idea magic was on!

Loved it, loved it LOVED IT!!

Had a really great time and many laughs with other fans. Stayed in Caerphilly and found a brilliant indian restaurant.

Shame it was so cold inside the stadium on Saturday, it seemed to be warmer on Sunday?

Loved how easy it is to park and ride even when I went the wrong way on Sunday and went round 'Torchwood'.

Hope its in Wales again next year but slightly warmer.....

Were you there? If not shut yer gob. I live in cardiff so travel and accommodation was not an issue. Work committments meant i could only attend sunday. I thought the organisational side was spot on, the stadium is as great as ever (i always reccomend the 2nd tier for the best view of the games), food and drink prices were not a complete rip off, the fans were the usual friendly boisterous peeps, enjoyed it and will definitely be back next year.

Overall i agree on the marketing chubs but there was an 8 page pull out in the wednesday echo. Awful rag though it is.

Yeah i thought that was a bit harsh really. Felt sorry for people during my 10 min walk home

Wednesdays is cutting it fine It should have been pushed right after Xmas! What good is it 3 days before people would have plans you cant say oh this weekend there is rugby all weekend, and expect a massive uptake. People need time to plan and arrange things. Bands at the millenium or cia have posters and stuff
Up months in advance. Also having it In the middle of 6 nations might have stopped some people going who were interested in checking it out. I.e the whole I'm going to watch Wales on the tv or the mrs says we have to have a family day as I went to the home game last week issue.

They did. The "RL Community" consists of about 30,000 hardcore supporters who are happy to travel long distances to watch as much rugby as they can + 200-300,000 fans of varying degrees of enthusiasm and commitment. The event was aimed at the hardcore fans as a live event and the rest as a televised event.

Not as sorry as they would have felt for you having to live in Cardiff

Yes i would sacrifice living on cathedral road, with my view of bute park for east hull any day of the week.

I think I would still prefer to live in East Hull.

Cardiff has to be one of the worst cities I have ever had the misfortune to go to. It has a yearly average of 364 days of torrential rain, relieved only by one day of light drizzle.

Cardiff us the worst city? I see your Cardiff and raise you Portsmouth

Actually I might just concede defeat with that one.

Well played sir.

It was a good weekend of rugby. We watched all but Quins/Cats on the saturday and missed the Crusaders/Salford game on the sunday. Nice to mingle with lots of fans from different teams and even though you are not a fan of the other teams playing you know the underdog will get the majority of the crowd cheering for them.

Considering it was February, it was warmer than it was in Edinburgh last year. Plenty of pubs in close vicinity to the ground and we spotted no trouble in any of them. The fact it was the season openers made it more enjoyable as well for me.

Lived in Cardiff for a year back in the early 90s, and it is indeed the wettest, windiest and coldest city I've ever visited. And I come from Manchester.

As a city though, found it fairly pleasant, even if it was next to impossible to find RL coverage or publications back then.

CARDIFF? That is the worst spelling on Manchester I have ever seen.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

First time we've been and I'd definitely go again. Watched all the games apart from most of the Quins v Cats game as it was a bit dull, but especially enjoyed all the fans mingling together.

Only able to do the Saturday this time due to work commitments of 2 of our group, but a good day in Cardiff (as was in 2007 and 200icon_cool.gif, a win for the Cockney boys, a trip to Barry Island in the morning for coffee at Marco's caff ( as seen in Gavin and Stacey), great to mix with all the different sets of fans in a great city, wish a few more of the stay at home moaners would get off their backsides and give it a try !

Considering how tight money is for folk at the moment I think getting a bigger gate than in Edinburgh isn't bad going. Harlequins offer a half price MM ticket for Season Ticket holders,do any of the other clubs do anything similar? Or subsidised travel?

If I have one gripe this time (and its only one) its the lack of much in the way of veggie food in the stadium - it seemed the veggie option was a cheese and onion pasty or bugger off! Not asking for much but somewhere doing chips or a magherita pizza (like in 2007) would have been good.

Will be back in 2012 if MM stays in Cardiff!!

Enjoyed it as always having good banter & sing along with the Hudds/Cas/Wire fans outside the pubs & in the stadium

Hotel was fine even if it was 3 miles out of Cardiff & a £15 taxi fare


Entertainment was poor,Normally like to watch the Mascot games but was disappointed with that.

Overall fully enjoyed it but not sure if we will go again as Wakey won't be in SL

I think I read that under 5% of the whole population of the UK are vegetarians.

When you consider how few people actually went to the event I think one cheese and onion pasty could probably have fed all of you.

For breakfast, lunch AND dinner.

Both days.

Southern Jessie

Which city is your current mental instituition in now phipps?

I'm assuming you make yourself laugh.

It was brilliant, Good rugby, plenty of Ale, good friends and made really welcome. Whats not to enjoy about being away and watching Rugby League.
Come with us next year and we'll show you how to have fun

For me the weekend has to have several different things to succeed.

Continuity - Cardiff is the only stadium big enough with a roof that eliminates weather risk and the location is ideal. I'll try to put a post up on here of all available hotels in towns, cities for 20 miles around Cardiff with good transport links. Every little helps.

Marketing - The RFL need to spend money advertising and marketing the game down here. Even if it needs Alfie and Iestyn to go into schools, and I mean literally every one, giving them a 2 for 1 voucher with a child attending the match for free with a full paying adult. They could also show them a quick video and get them excited for the event. These tickets could be for the top tier that was shut this weekend so no loss on that front.

Change TV schedule - Put only the last games of each day on Sky. Maybe give Sky some money to make it worthwhile. This should encourage more people to stay in the stadium. It would also mean more travel down to see the game I feel. At the moment with all 7 games on staying at home and watching it in the comfort of your front room is an easy option.