How many were given away in that figure though Lawrie?

how the **** am i supposed to know?!

It's irrelevant how many were free, the point is 6236 locals went. They should give more away to the locals so they can experience the game. It's about expasion.

I prefer Edinburgh to Cardiff for the following reasons:

1. It's a nicer city
2. There is more to do and see in the city
3. It's easier to get to from Leeds, no matter what transport you take
4. There is a better range of accommodation
5. The castle is better
6. They actually managed to sell tickets to the locals/bothered to advertise it to the locals (all the ones I spoke to at knew why we were there, including the ones in the pubs in South Queensferry)

I prefer Cardiff to Edinburgh for the following reasons

1. The stadium is smack ban in the middle of the city centre
That's it, that is the only thing Cardiff has going for it, everything else was better in Edinburgh but than again I think Edinburgh is the best city in the UK so I would rather go there.

prove it

Brilliant will be off again next year.

I didn't go. Couldn't afford it. Watched it on the box - got bored turned it off (apart from our game and wigan saints).

I must say it didn't look the best on tele, no atmosphere came across at all on TV and the pitch looked shocking. Wouldn't say it was a great advert for the game all in all. Having said that, hopefully we'll get some continuity now and it wil improve.

Also can we please have some better commentators on SKY for goodness sake.. bloody bill arthur and ben proe are shocking so is terry o'connor.

Given the drainage issues at the stadium and the fact it was hosting 7 games in two days I thought they got it absolutely spot on.

If they'd mowed it on the Thursday/Friday and it had subsequently peed it down then the whole weekend would have turned into a mud wrestling contest instead.

Compared to the ice rink that Cardiff turned into with the roof shut I thought it was a good call by the groundstaff to leave the grass a little longer - it's not like football where the ball spends so much time on the floor the surface needs to be like a carpet.

Yes a good weekend out, but I am begining to question the whole Magic Weekend idea. The original concept was to promote the game and have the fans watch other games as well as supporting their own team. I am not sure this now works as the stadium never looked full (capacity 66k approx) therefore with a lower than average attendance per match than a normal SL round it must mean we are losing most of the income to bodies outside RL. Many fans only went to their own fixture. If we cannot get a larger attendance than the Cup Final for 7 SL matches then something is wrong.

As for promoting the game to give away 6000 tickets looks to me a very expensive way to try and win a few new fans. On the same weekend the big RU matches had larger crowds. It will be interesting to compare the Sky audience figures for the Magic Weekend and the RU matches.

Of course the Sky people keep selling it but they would wouldn't they. IMO the whole event has a feel of overkill and seems past its sell by date.

If we want to expand the game then we could achieve the same result by playing a top fixture every so often around the country.

59749 over two days to watch seven matches gives an average for each match of 8535, I'd say thats pretty good for a stadium thats at least 200 miles away from any major fan base and required either a very long day or an overnight stay for most.

The RFL are saying only that they had SALES of 6236 tickets in Scotland, no mention of freebies, but even if the whole of those had been given away then what is the problem ?

Part of your idea for taking the whole round of games to an area of the country where you may want to promote your game is to promote it to the locals, your fan base pays for the event and you get to give away tickets to your target market, as an advertising concept its brilliant in its simplicity, the only thing they did wrong was not to give away 20,000 tickets to the Scots.

Advertising is very expensive for any business, the customer who is not yet a customer is the most expensive customer you'll ever have to speak to - MM is an ideal opportunity to give them a sampler while your regular clientele enjoy the weekend away - win/win.

The seven exact fixtures have already been played in SL earlier this season, although not in a single round on an all pay basis or at a neutral venue in another country.

FWIW they attracted an aggregate attendance of 74,532

I really enjoyed the weekend. The games were pretty good, and the stadium is great. I can't moan about the beer prices as I took my own in.

The town itself is smashing, with a great array of pubs and such. I hope they have finished the tram project by the time of next year's event. That will make a big difference.

The worst thing about the weekend (apart from the group of drunken 20 year old Braford fans telling every pub on Rose Street how they hate the gays, the IRA and the Leeds scum) was how the wind hits Murrayfield. We were seated in the upper tier on the camera side, and entering the stairwell became known as braving the 'Murrayfield Artic Tunnel Of Doom' it was so cold. Every time I went to use the toilet, I kept my hands under the hot air dryer for two full cycles, just to try and thaw them out.

Question to the FC fans (and we all know how much we all adore our excessively digitised Hull friends) – why did you all appear for your game then feck off straight after the final hooter?

Why travel 200+ miles, buy a ticket that allows you to watch (at least) 4 top flight rugby games but only bother with your own clubs game?

If there is a more insular breed of Brit than your average Hullian I have yet to meet them.

There were plenty of buses at £3 for the day you could hop on and off at will, and when you wanted to go to Murrayfield they stopped right outside the ground.