Is anyone going to the magic weekend this weekend? i'm going tomorrow morning.

Was going to but we had an important Reserve team game at Whitehaven.

Didn't go myself this year mainly because I don't think Edinburgh is the best location for it.

Only 50000 there over the weekend so maybe this raises questions about the future of the Magic Weekend?

The logistics of getting people to Dublin or Barcelona would prove too difficult I think so maybe that leaves......

Cardiff again
London
Glasgow
maybe Paris

Paris is a good idea now it's easier to reach

I think Edinburgh is becoming a no no,The ground looks embaresing when its only a quarter full,Get it at Our new home,35,000 capacity over two days it would be full both days and look better,closer to the heartlands and great location and a stones throw from city centre and train station,why flog a dead horse.

"Sheffield Magic"

nahhhhhhhhhh

One thing that IS good about Edinburgh is the public transport system, at least Lothian Transport buses. Me and Neil went to Scotland A v France A at Currie RFC on Friday night, and from where we were staying, in Musselburgh to Balerno, where Currie play, a distance of approximately 14 miles, cost £2.40 return. They operate a flat fare of £1.20 per single journey, and the drivers are so helpful, unlike First in Sheffield. They go out of their way to help people find their way around, and the buses have automatic ramps for the use of wheelchair users and prams, again unlike First in Sheffield. And they run about every 10 minutes EVEN ON SUNDAYS. Yes, the venue is older than the Millennium Stadium, but having been scheptical of the move from Cardiff at first, my two visits to Edinburgh have been very enjoyable. Hope they don't drop the concept, but they might. This weekend's attendance was 10,000 down on last season.

In all honesty the problem is that fans don't have the money as much now to travel such a distance for that. Saw Murrayfield on the tv and looked a joke half full tbh.

Don't him the idea but have it somewhere a bit more close to home.

Nottingham? Derby? Bolton? Liverpool?

The biggest gainers from this weekend are the Edinburgh hoteliers, the train companies and the breweries.

I am not sure what it was like this year but last year there was hardly any publicity in the city for this event. The locals we spoke to were all aware that “something to do with Rugby was going off” but weren’t exactly sure what and they didn’t know much about Rugby League.

It’s a big city and as Marty points out it has good transport links to the peripheral towns so not difficult for locals to get there.

Agree with EB that the Lane would be ideal or failing that let’s get our division sorted with 12 clubs and get one of these weekends sorted out for the Championship – I think that the Sheffield Spectacular has a nice ring to it. Let’s have a big event east of the Pennines.

It was cold enough in Sheffield this weekend so it must have been literally freezing up there.

How about Middle Eastlands (Man City)?

Beaut stadium too.

But west of the pennines.....

The SL Grand Final, the Championship Finals and the NRC Final are all over there.

I cant think of anywhere any good this side tho.

Newcastle?

The thing is, in deciding where to have an event like this, you have to consider where people will want to spend a weekend, and, with all due respect to the places involved, a weekend in Derby, Bolton or even Sheffield, would probably not appeal to folk as much as a weekend in Edinburgh or Cardiff. The thing that might work is to have a weekend close enough to the heartlands of the game so that people can go, come back, and then go again the next day. Even this might not work though. Part of the attraction of something like this, for me, is that it's in a place you don't normally see rugby league in, so it's like a mini holiday. If it was somewhere like Manchester, it wouldn't really be unusual, because people can go there any time. Money is obviously an important factor, but if enough notice is given, people would have a chance to save. Newcastle is an interesting choice, but would there be enough hotel rooms? Dublin would be good. Paris has been done. And London has the Challenge Cup Final. Or how about the Midlands? There's never been many big games there. Anyone of the Walsall Weekend? And yes, HL, it was bloody freezing.

Maybe it should be moved to a later date. The idea of a similar event involving Championship sides is also interesting. The could call it "Championship Challenge".

I'd love for them to come up with a Championship version but in all fairness they'd probably be flogging a dead horse with the average gates Championship sides get, it'd probably end up being at Field Mill or somewhere. Newcastle is an interesting one, although I liked St. James's there was something a little strange about it. Maybe it was because the away enclosure is miles away from the pitch and I was cream crackered by the time I'd climbed the twelve flights of steps to get up there

also the fact the stands are on different levels. Could work though.

Scrap it and have a England, Ireland, Wales and France double header, in a good stadium where the natives actually know what rugby league is.

I went up on saturday and came back on sunday night. It wasnt as good as last year. There is a good carnival atmosphere to it but not many people as youd hope. At least it wasnt affected by the volcano. Hopefully the 9s will be better this year in blackpool. Hillsborough lad has a good idea, but isnt that happening at leigh next month?

Me & the missus drove up on Friday & came back early on Monday. We stayed at a cheap motel near Falkirk & took the train to Haymarket both days - then a steady amble to the ground via the Roseburn & Murrayfield bars. This worked out a lot better than last year, when we stayed at a B&B on the south side, 2 buses via the city centre, a lot of walking & very knackered.
I agree with Marty, it was absolutely perishing, but a good atmosphere.
Me & Tina both think that Cardiff was far superior - Train Station, Bus Station, Stadium & High Street full of banks, resturants & brill pubs serving copious amounts of Brains Dark; all within 1/2 Mile! Perfect!

Leigh has England V France next month. Awful public transport links and within minutes of the game finishing England football team are playing in the World Cup!

Could be an awesome day