Maybe, just maybe, primarily it doesn't serve any purpose other than offering supporters another event (because there's only the CC and GF) to go to and mingle with other clubs fans. Obviously the financial benefits play a part.

You say that "We've moved on and, importantly, so has the concept of MW".

I'd suggest that the opposite is true.
Back then there was a plan to expand the game into new areas and attract new fans.
At the time The Crusaders were a SL club, trying to grow their support base and whilst you could argue that we are trying to establish the sport in Newcastle and the North East, Wales was a far more exciting prospect but, like so many other ideas, it has been allowed to, all but, wither and die.

#with the benefit of hindsight, maybe the £1million should have been used to prop up and grow RL in Wales and what we may have had now, if that had happened ??

MW has just become a cash generator for the RFL and we shouldn't kid ourselves that it is anything other than this.
Btw, I'm not knocking the event in itself, just its flawed aims.

The problem is that the £1m was never an RL development cheque. It was an inducement from the Welsh tourist body for the RFL to host an event that would put bums in hotel beds in Cardiff.

When I say we've moved on, I mean that we have moved on from that episode of expansion and it seems to be that the RFL is trying to grow the game more organically. I don't know if it will work any better / worse, but that's where we are.

I've got no problem at all with the Magic Weekend effectively becoming a 'trade conference' for RL, where the game lets individual cities or regions do their best to intice us to their venue. We need more big events, we need more revenue in the sport - Magic Weekend ticks those boxes and we shouldn't let this flawed notion of it being an expansion project be the death of it.

Brierely said that MW doesn't bring new investors to the sport and that it doesn't lead to an RL presence in that market. Newcastle Thunder shows that he's wrong on both counts.

Quote ="shinymcshine"In 2006 the original concept was to continue with development of the game in Wales, following the hosting of the Challenge Cup Finals: "The 'Millennium Magic' initiative is the result of a partnership between the RFL and Cardiff Council and follows the sell-out crowds for the 2004 and 2005 Challenge Cup finals in the Welsh capital. Richard Lewis, the RFL executive chairman, said, "We want to build on both the rugby league supporters' liking for the Millennium Stadium and the progress rugby league is making as a sport in Wales." www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/othe ... ic-2313005'" there you go, thats what we were sold failed.

Quote ="shinymcshine"In 2006 the original concept was to continue with development of the game in Wales, following the hosting of the Challenge Cup Finals: "The 'Millennium Magic' initiative is the result of a partnership between the RFL and Cardiff Council and follows the sell-out crowds for the 2004 and 2005 Challenge Cup finals in the Welsh capital. Richard Lewis, the RFL executive chairman, said, "We want to build on both the rugby league supporters' liking for the Millennium Stadium and the progress rugby league is making as a sport in Wales." www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/othe ... ic-2313005'" there you go, thats what we were sold failed.

not interested im afraid

yeh newcastle thunder are well on the way to joining super league, just behind toulouse and toronto... we should take magic weekend to them!

or just make it a nines competition

its unfair anyway that some teams get easier games than others playing one team 3 times in a season

If it has to be changed it needs to be a nines competition IMO. Just like the Nines competition in Aus. If the plans are to bring a nines World Cup then we will be left behind.

Well they could have been had the RFL and Hull not had other idea's, same could be said for Sheffield as well.

Call me a traditionalist but I couldn't give a monkeys about any nines comp. It would basically be a 'friendly comp' and a comp 95%+ of proper league fans couldn't care less about. I'm not a big fan of pre season friendlies but at least they're 13 per side!

The Magic weekend currently pulls in around 65,000 over two days, a nines comp imo would be lucky to pull in over 30,000 in two days.

The concept is fine as it is. They may change the timing and I wouldn't be against that but there really isn't much wrong.

The MW concept isn't an issue. The way that the interest it generates isn't properly harnessed to deliver a lasting legacy in the area it's held is an issue.

They need to consider fans more, the hiking of hotel prices is ridiculous when a day trip is not practical, must be bank holiday if kept or Manchester for transport links and central location

What about taking it to Toronto, or Toulouse in the next couple of years?

Move the Challenge Cup back to the start of the season so the final is sometime around now.
Scrap the 23rd game make the season simple home & away
Make the Magic weekend the first week of the Super 8 & Middle 8 comps so there is no 4 home games for some teams, 3 for others

I would have the magic weekend as the last full round of fixtures before the league splits


No pre draw but the teams would pla the following sequence of league positions at the time

The first game on day one would be 12th vs 11th... followed by 10th vs 9th and the day would close with 8th vs 7th


Day two would start with 6th vs 5th ... 4th vs 3rd and close with 1st vs 2nd


Given the closeness of the league in the last two years the teams will be very focussed on their position going into the weekend and could potentially make a significant difference to their closing league position ( another potential might be to make it a double points round... ie four points for the win)

Being the end of the season and so significant to final position would also keep fans interested and have a stake in... in the outcome of other game

9's has value and we will be left behind if we don't get it going, but it shouldnt and can't replace the Magic Weekend.

The magic weekend has a lot of value, there is a lot of publicity around it, its televised and advertised (which isnt the case for most of our rounds) Sky love it and (though somehow some see this as a negative) it makes money.

MW needs to stay, how we fit it in depends on what structure the season has.

it would seem unfair that, if it were still up for grabs, 9th and 10th would have an ostensibly 'easier' game than 7th and 8th to clinch the top 8 places.

Nines has lost interest in NZ as well. The attendance this year was a paltry 44,000, its first year was 89,000. It's a very novelty concept and not withstanding IMO.

The problem with a Nines competition in my view is that to get the clubs to buy into it, you really have to have a strong financial inducement. We actually had a nines competition - there was one at Headingley. But getting the clubs to support it with any real conviction was difficult, and so that made marketing it difficult.

The Auckland 9s hasa $2.5m prize fund. We won't get close to that sort of figure.

$2.5mAUD is only £1.5m GBP. I dont think that is a huge sum, beyond the realms of possibility. Especially when you remember its TV rights have yet to be sold, it could have a separate sponsor and areas are willing to pay decent money to stage the magic weekend.

The biggest issue with 9s is that we need more international RL, we need more games against the NRL, and our season is already at least 5 games too long.

Lets be fair, teams would support a nines comp if prize was a third of that (500k) for the winner. All teams would need decent financial incentive to attend however, but if a team didn't want to attend (ie Catalan), one of the championship teams would love to have a go against the super league teams. After all, with only 9 a side, certainly brings a levelling of the playing field

Now this is an idea that makes absolute sense. The only thing I'd change from the comments above is id have magic weekend in the middle of the Super 8's rather than week 1. Maybe have the summer bash in week 2 and magic weekend week 4 of the super 8's.

Wasn't it pretty much universally agreed that having the CC Final in May was a terrible idea (with some clubs playing in the early CC rounds as their 'preseason' games) and that's why from 2005 they moved it to the August date?

They don't have to be pre-season. The upcoming bank holiday is going to be round 15, plenty of time to fit 3/4 cup games in, or the cup final could be moved to a regular weekend in June/July.

If it's 9s you might as well get all the Ch sides along too. The games will be much shorter and you either go one day or have more rounds.

Last year was scheduled on a festival weekend so that played a factor.. also lot less Australian fans travelled over. Fans have had enough of teams sending over under strength sides.

Hopefully last year is a Wake up call for all involved.