Ok, feel free to file this under VT crackpot ideas

, but following this year's magic weekend and the intensity of the Wigan v Leeds match - billed as League Leaders v Champions by Sky - maybe we could up the ante by making the fixture a regular feature of magic weekend, with a sort of Charity Shield at stake?

It would make the early to mid season rounds more meaningful and intense, add another piece of silverware into the mix to play for as a one off game, and give Magic Weekend that extra pizazz with a special top billing.

Thoughts?

The problem would be you wouldn't know who you were playing until the week before

Yeah I did think that, and maybe the logistics of it would be too problematic. Still, that doesn't rule out a more traditional Charity Shield format, eg. Champions v Challenge Cup winners.

Edit: I wonder whether Magic Weekend could be timed to fall the weekend after a challenge cup round so that the current league leaders v champions fixture could be organised? I just think this format would give Magic Weekend an interesting build up as teams would be vying for the top spot for a chance to win a trophy.

Challenge Cup winner vs Grand final winner from year before would be good. If it's the same team then grand final loser or regular season winner could do it. Not a bad idea. Could be played the final game on the Sunday as a big build up occasion.

There needs to be a settled way of deciding all the fixtures IMO, some seem pulled from nowhere. CC winners v SL champions is a good idea for the "main event" or repeat the previous year's grand final.

For the 2014 MW they simply replayed the games from 2013, which left a couple of odd fixtures (Hudds as last years league leaders against relegation candidates being one). If they are going to persist with it as an extra fixture then there needs to be more clarity about how the fixture list is put together.

The first day went well, if we could've seen Hudds vs Cas and Wakey vs Bradford instead it would've been spot on over the full weekend.

Yeh I agree to an extent, but when the fixtures were first released I thought it was a bit disrespectful to Hudds as they clearly weren't being classed as one of the "big teams" despite finishing 1st last season. It seems at the minute the Hull derby, Wakey v Cas and 2 games featuring Leeds/Saints/Wire/Wigan are set in stone and the rest of the fixtures are cobbled together with the teams that are left. If there was a clear system that put the fixtures together then there can be no arguments about certain teams getting easier fixtures, particularly now relegation is an issue.

Should be based on the previous seasons league standings. 1v2, 3v4 etc

That is too similar to the playoff format. GF v CC winners is probably the way to go, with a trophy awarded to the winners!

They'd tried something along those lines in 2009. The line up was based on the previous season's final league placing (with the addition on two new teams though)

Harlequins (9th) vs Salford (Promoted)
Bradford (5th) vs Wakey (8th)
Saints (1st) vs Wigan (4th)
Hudds (10th) vs Crusaders (Promoted)
Hull (11th) vs Castleford (12th)
Leeds (2nd) vs Catalans (3rd)
Warrington (6th) vs HKR (7th)

From memory I think people criticised it for not being the most exciting line up of matches.

It doesn't need to be an additional fixture. Make it game one after the leagues split, featuring the top 8 and the middle 8, two games from each division on each day, with the fixtures decided by the finishing positions after the initial 22 games.

We're already going to have a situation where teams play each other 3 times a year, before potential playoff and cup games, why add another fixture to a congested calendar?

What date they have Magic weekend should be thought about next year given the spilt. I'd try and have it as close to the spilt as possible so more tension about whose finishing where with so few games remaining.

Obviously if still held at Manchester City's ground it might depend on when the stadium is available, they have quite a few concerts there over the summer months too.

I'd be swinging from a rope now if we'd been thrashed by Bradford! I'm pretty sure that's how the result would've gone.

Perhaps they should re-introduce the Lancashire & Yorkshire Cups, competed for at the Magic Weekend by the 2 highest placed teams in each pre-determined regional group from the previous league table.


i.e.

Yorks - Hudds (1) v Leeds (3)
Lancs - Wires (2) v Wigan (4)

I like that idea

If you didn't have Rovers vs Hull you wouldn't have their supporters scrambling around securing tickets from London, Hudds etc because they've sold out their own allocation, and they wouldn't travel all the way across the country in the same numbers, putting some of the Lancs clubs support to shame, to watch a match that doesn't have the same meaning.

Not to say I don't agree with having the derby - as a Rovers supporter it would be nice to have the 2 points from a less physical battle against London / Bradford / Wakey (and I also worry that the amount of Hull derbies played now is diluting the occasion), however it wouldn't create the same atmosphere or gate receipts which are important to this event.

To be honest, I don't see how, in a season where 2 points can now make a significant difference in which 'league' a club plays in when the split happens, that this concept can be done in a fair way that will also generate the same interest.

I know what you mean. We have the Easter derbies and then a few weeks later the Magic Weekend, which seems to have similar fixtures a lot of the time. Whatever the rest of the fixtures though I really think a Charity Shield for the top billing would add something to the event.

I wonder if there is a configuration other than local derbies that could be pitched as grudge matches? Thinking of Wigan, a game against Leeds or Warrington could easily be pitched as a grudge match. I reckon similar pairings could be found for most teams, like a narrow defeat or a cup knockout, with magic weekend billed as potential "revenge" for the losing side. It would just need Sky to really emphasise that angle.

How about a variation on the much maligned 'club call', where the top 6 after X number of rounds get to pick who they play (in order of their ranking - so top team picks first, then second team... etc until all matches are chosen). This would:
a) Give an extra incentive for getting early season results and reward relevant league positions
b) Create a grudge match out of every match because the 'chosen' team will always feel they've something to prove

As I write this I already think it's a bit gimmicky... but hey, it's just another idea.

Top would pick bottom though wouldn't they? You'd potentially end up with a weekend of poor fixtures. Even if all the other fixtures remained as they are now, ie. derbies, the showpiece should be a charity shield-esque match.

Personally I'd brand it as rivalry round and make games, were possible against teams with the biggest rivallaries.

Wigan v st's
HKR v hfc
Leeds v hudds (presuming Bradford are gone next season)
Cas v wakey
Wolves v widnes
Salford v cats (someone's got to play them)

Could have special kits representing the biggest games against the clubs ie HKR/hfc play in replica 1980 CC final kits etc

In 2011 Wigan ended up playing Saints 6 times (H+A, Magic, Cup and twice in POs) and it completely takes the gloss off the derby games IMO. The new structure means it is likely Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Wire etc are already going to have a 3rd league fixture against each other, this is another reason I am so adamant that MW should definitely not be an additional league fixture. We've tried playing derbies at MWs several times now anyway and you end up with too many mis-matches, plus you end up cobbling together whoever's left after the obvious derbies are put together (like you have ended up with Salford v Catalans).

The thing with the MW fixtures is that, if they don't have a good number of "derby" fixtures, there will be far less interest in terms of spectator numbers, which is a risk that nobody is prepared to take.
Also with relegation back on the agenda (especially when we drop to 12 teams), the additional fixture COULD have a significant influence on the teams fighting for the top 8, which could be deemed "unfair".

Yeh drop the hull derby and you can probably wipe off a few thousand fans from each club, the me tends to throw up the most interesting of our derby fixtures.