I agree. IMO the draw has not worked. I would rather see another local derby than have one of the 'highlights' of the season contain poor matches.
I like the idea of a play off formula based on last years table. This would also reward teams that had made great progress in the close season and had moved from near the bottom the previous season to top six in the current season.

Until we have a league where truly EVERY game is unpredictable then these fixtures selected can happen as they do any weekend.Saints/LEEDS or wigan/LEEDS may suit us more but that still leaves the fans of lower in the table clubs a worthwhile fixture to conjure up.
We have whats here and go(AS MOST DIDNT) or go as some enthusiasts did.RECESSION isnt the whole picture,general apathy towards the events has dominated for 3 ocassions is the bigger issue i think.

Would you like to rectify the standings of the Wigan v Huddersfield game please.

Of course, simple typo... they are the other way round! That better?

Wow. This set of fixtures will really draw in the crowds.

Great, so we've had the draw now .... Are we going to have to wait months for the RFL publicity machine to chug in to action and actually tell us :

1) What day the actual game is going to be on ?

2) What time it is going to start ?

Or, are they going to do like last year and let people take their chance making arrangements (some us either can't or don't want to go up there and stay all weekend and certainly from Yorkshire, it is perfectly possible to go out and back in a day) by announcing the precise details a couple of weeks before it all happens.

Then they have the bare-faced cheek to call the fans for 'not making a commitment' to the event.

Scrap it - a complete waste of time where Leeds v Wakey at Headingley will draw a bigger crowd than one of the days at Edinburgh.

If you want to have an extraganza have it somewhere local - all this rubbish about spreading the gospel is just that rubbish. Looking at the attendances of the Scotland internationals the message has not be received

I have been thinking about this and if we are serious about growing RL's popularity and showing people how great our game is we should take it to them!

Ok, I do think the following plan will need a series specific sponsor to make it work and that could be hard in current times but if we are planning for 2011 maybe it is doable.

Every team has to play an additional on the road fixture instead of the fixture they play on the Magic weekend. It is based on last years table, so 1 play 2, 3 play 4 etc. The 7 fixtures are played in the first half of the season and of course there is only one on any one weekend and that would also work out at one every other weekend in total.

These games are taken to places like Bristol, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham etc. Ok, the money bit, these games are totally free to season ticket holder of that club. So if Leeds play Saints in Bristol, it is free for all current Leeds and Saints Tickets holders. Also, the sponsor package would include for cost of local radio advertising packages to promote each match and the admission price of just £10 per ticket and free for all Children under 16 (if accompanied by and adult).

If we get the sponsor(s) it should be designed to break even in terms of overall cost. It does not cost the clubs anything really, other than travel and accommodation for the team. The sponsorship covers the cost of hiring a local ground, stewards etc, as well as a standard local radio campaign. Any money then taken for the £10 tickets is money to cover other costs and put back into the RFL for promotion of the game.

I do think it will need a sponsor(s), but if we are going to have an extra fixture, lets make use of it!

Thoughts?

I'm sure it will be ripped to shreds by people who have more time to think about it than I do, but doesn't sound like a bad idea to me

Sounds a reasonable idea. Would be good to get more on the road games

In someway I agree, but I think a lot of people were getting a bit tired of seeing 4 or 5 "derby" matches in a season as it takes the excitement out of the fixture through overkill. Plus, some of these matches had become a bit one-sided over the years.

Apart from the game involving the club you support there aren't many games that get the juices flowing as a neutral.

If there's a tag tourno again beforehand I'll be there but if not then I'll be saving my cash.

I've got to agree, I think we have little chance of spreading the game to Scotland at the same time as attempting to spread it in Wales, London and France.
Has to be at Cardiff or in London to be worthwhile in my opinion.
I wouldnt like to see it at Wembley because that should be reserved for the Cup Final, but maybe play it at the Emirates? Wouldn't look as bad with less empty seats.

Just remembered something else. The deal would also include these matches NOT been shown on Sky TV and the sponsor getting there exposure through the radio campaign and complete at ground advertising for each fixture (I would hope Sky would see the long term benefit to them in doing so). The idea being that if fans want to see the game they have to make the trip to force the best possible crowd and of course get some locals out to the game. Also, because there is no TV coverage, fixtures could be timed based on location to allow fans to get there and back in the day if they wanted. So Saturday and Sunday afternoon fixtures in general.