I apologise I mistook the "icon_lol.gif



" as taking the P. In future when I see it I will know you are just expressing your own views and are not happy about it afterall.



If memory serves me right these fixtures are additional so Leeds wouldn't lose money on a lost fixture, and again (correct me if I'm wrong) the RFL get paid some money from the Edinburgh/Scottish tourist board for this event. If this arrangement doesn't happen anymore then not sure we should do it anyways.
As for reduction in crowd, lets wait until after tomorrow when the average or total can be compared. Though all sports are feeling the pinch at the moment.

The magic was so good everyone dissapeared no wonder fans of other sports laugh at RL.

Personally I have no respect for the RFL as there is no transparency, so yes I was laughing at the RFL. Your statement of clubs not losing money is, if you don't mind me saying, excellent spin which could almost have come from the RFL. Money from the tourist board?? have to say I wasn't aware of that. As for feeling the pinch...10% or even 20% could be put down to the recession, but 33%...even you have to admit that is a big drop in interest.

Tomorrows figures will I fear confirm the trend as there are only 3 games tomorrow. As a marker last year there were 4 games with an attendance of 30000. Lets hope the people of St Helens/Wigan/Cas/Huddersfield/Hull KR oh and Catalan turn out in force. If 33000 turn out for the games tomorrow then I will apologise on here to the RFL

Correct on both counts. I think the biggest scandal is that Ceefax has listed the Leeds game as Wakefield winning 30-28, so I've had the wrong score for the past 2 hours

Don't they pay their players then for the extra game, and the Hotel bills for the players and officials of the club

Players would be paid anyway, would imagine the RFL assist with the accomodation and transport costs.

He used the f word during his interview

Think this will be the last magic weekend as we know it. Nothing's been planned for next year and some coaches are now questioning the reasons for having it.

Why,did he mention Featherstone?

Who gives a S*** anyway



I can't believe the RFL get away with this if I played for a team who'd got a decent home form why would I want to play in a stadium thats a third full max FUBAR'ing your form, this could cause a down slope in your season.

Yet again this is my opinon, I wouldn't want to spend my hard earned cash on pleasing the ar5eholes in Red Hall

Was I the only one who saw the title of this thread and assumed it was about Salford?!




Whilst the attendances do seem to be down for this year's event I still think it's good to have another showpiece event for our sport.

I also think there should be a Championship Magic Weekend.

Changing the derby games as had an adverse effect on attendances IMO.





And why go to a stadium knowing full well you cant fill



The RFL know best NOT

If you average out the attendance to games it is more like a 50% drop, but attendance to attendance it is more 10% than 33%.

Folk can use all sorts of numbers, all I saw was a mostly empty stadium all day which is embarrassing for the game.

There is - at Blackpool!! Encompassing the NR Cup Final, and NR Nines!

And a better 'cheaper' weekend away that 'over priced' Edinburgh

No better place for RL than Blackpool in the sunshine



(or equally Leigh in any weather conditions

)

the magic idea has lost its novelty value, and now people can't be bothered going all that way for a normal league game.

Don't see the point of it anymore. Just play the 26 league games and have an extra week free for internationals or start the season a bit later, or reduce the easter programme to one match instead of two.

We can always try the alternative strategy of holding games at a small stadium in Yorkshire/Lancashire, we can all stand around and stare shiftily at outsiders who we suspect might have not watched the game before



At a time when Union are holding big games at large stadiums and trying to make an event of it, the RFL have quite correctly deduced that we need to do something similar to try and generate more interest. Yet there's almost a palpable sense of glee at the thought of just packing it all in, forgetting about more media exposure and just returning to the heartlands so we can accept the status quo.

Would probably be better to play some BIG games elsewhere as the extra match. Say over 3 weekends in the year play a big game like Wigan v Saints or Leeds v Bradford somewhere with another game as the curtain raiser like Wakefield V Salford or Castleford V Catalans.

Players and coaches alike have moaned for a few years now about the amount of games played. The magic weekend seems the perfect opportunity to reduce the SL season by a game. 26 rounds and an extra week to prepare for the end of season internationals, makes sense to me. Mind you, with Steve McNamara in charge 10 years wouldn't be enough time to prepare.

Rfl need to look at staging the competition in a smaller venue so it does not look so stupid on television,there is no way i would sit and watch 4 games of rugby straight after each other,once my team has played i would most likely go and find the nearest pub,a ground like Bolton (Reebok) or DW stadium would be perfect but the hotel situation could be a problem !!!!

How about just increase super league to 16 teams and have a radical idea of one up one down.....just a daft idea but you never know it might work



All these people in favour of this magic weekend please explain to me why I need to travel hundreds of miles pay hundreds of pounds[to visit a third world nation,you'll know what I mean if you have been there when I can sprall out out on my couch a couple of cans by my side and watch on a large screen in hd?????

Flatcap couch loving tv fan

Because that would be silly.

Those same people across the country have no more opportunity of watching the game in Edinburgh as they have in Wakefield. The thousands of empty seats at Murrayfield, a place where we have been taking the game for nigh on a decade, suggest to me the natives are not too bothered about the game but if the local Tourist Board want to give the game £1m (a claim I have not seen a link for yet) then yes, lets whore our backside to the nearest moneypig.

You could beam the games across the world, anyone tuning in could be easily forgiven for thinking 'what is this minority sport I have not seen before being played in an empty stadium? It cannot be much good if no bugger else is watching it'

I'd prefer the opening round to be played across the country, on the road as it was, Plymouth, Coventry, Wolverhampton, yes Cardiff and Edinburgh too, but at least use stadia we've got half a chance of filling, even if its thousands of schoolkids on freebies.

If the RFL were to keep the magic weekend, why not have it on the final bank holiday in May to avoid clashes with the PL football season and play it at the City of Manchseter satdium? Easy access, smaller stadium and plenty of hotels. Or just scrap it like i said before.