I really enjoy the magic weekend and it does get the game some good press and hopefully some money. WHAT ABOUT A SECOND MAGIC WEEKEND with the 4 challenge cup quarter finals games spread over two days at a different ground to te magic weekend. BETTER THAN The SAME LOCAL DERBIES every year. Teams will always change around.IT DOES NOT ADD ON AN EXTRA round and may increase the average crowd as neutrals would be likely to attend.COULD HOLD THE GAMES in a smaller stadium say Sheffield Sunderland Birmingham.

You could then have the semis as a double header somewhere too. I know it takes a cup round away from the clubs but I think it could lead to more media interest/sponsorship having the quarters and semis as a bigger event.

How about having it as the return fixture so none of that playing one team three times stuff, but no one losing home advantage. Problem is when as with the "split" would have to be before that.

Would love to see the world club challenge turned into a magic weekend. Straight up top 6 of SL of the previous year taking on the top 6 of NRL.
Maybe to a neatural country.

I said before that you could change the Challenge Cup into a "Premier League Darts" style grand prix circuit and have each round in a new city (especially under the new format).

Sixth Round (16 teams, including top 8 SL clubs, 8 games) - Cardiff in May.
Quarter Finals (8 clubs, 4 games) - Newcastle in June.
Semi Finals (4 clubs, 2 game double header) - Manchester in July.
Final (2 clubs, 1 game) - Wembley in August.

They're not exactly far (other than Cardiff). Those rounds don't exactly attract huge crowds so there's no comparison to SL crowds. Everyone can plan in advance. It negates home advantage for the entire cup run so no unfair advantage.

These would also attract more neutrals. You know where your next round is. You could sell a Cup season ticket.

No, to much of a good thing.

Still think there is some mileage in the War of the Roses or similar. Don't ask me how but taking it seriously would be a start.

Good apart from thr last bit -maybe Paris or London.

Decent idea but people will want to see competitive games - which they aren't at the moment. Extending it to top 6 will only likely make the gap even wider between the SL team and the NRL team

Plus, the individual games sell quite well as a standalone so they would keep them as they are. The sum of the parts is probably bigger than the whole.

I think this is a brilliant idea!

I agree.

The challenge cup idea is a belter. It's desperate for a revamp and we'd be stupid to scrap it because we really need the final. This is a great way to increase the profile and attendance of the qualifying rounds. If the RFL aren't working on this already perhaps Marwan has a point.

The only change I'd make is to the venues. The earlier rounds would need to be closer to the heartlands. Also TV coverage & contracts would be an issue with it being split between BBC and Sky and all four games being shown in the quarters. A solution could be to use 2 venues in the same city.

e.g. Round 6 in Sheffield: Day 1 at United and Day 2 at Wednesday.
Quarters at Liverpool/Everton over 2 days.
Fewer people would stay for the weekend, but RL fans' pockets are only so deep.
The semis may have to stay as they are unless the BBC can be persuaded to show 2 games on one day.

I haven't calculated the total attendances of the cup, but this would surely beat that as well as consolidating overheads. The smaller clubs who make it to round 6 would benefit the most, if the profits are shared equally, giving an attainable target for many of them.

As usual Sky wanting Thursday/Friday games will probably scupper it, but the RFL need to make it happen.

I really like the Challenge Cup idea but think it might prove a bit too much for some fans in terms of travel expenses, and this might scupper the attendances.

So perhaps just stick to using neutral grounds around the M62 corridor and it might just work.

I'd do something like:
6th Round - Nottingham - 1 day at Forest, 2nd day at County
Quarter Finals - Liverpool - Day 1 Anfield, Day 2 Goodison
Semi Finals - double header at Etihad
Final obviously at Wembley.

Stick £40/£50 or so on top of the regular season ticket and get entry to any cup game (even if your team isn't playing) from 6th round to semi finals.

That's ok but can't see using 2 grounds in the same city being economically viable. 2 lots of set up costs each weekend - pitch branding/stewarding/cameras etc. I'd just use the 1 ground at each location (like Magic)

I like the idea for the challenge cup as it definitely needs a revamp, but I'd probably only use it for one of the rounds. Quarter final seems like the best round to use for this - 4 games played over a weekend.

But in round 6 now you have 8 x set-up. The only reason for 2 grounds is because there are 2 TV companies so it would be difficult for them to use the same one.