I've never seen it before so it's never been posted. I doubt very much anyone ever had a good idea before me.

there is one primary objective - ££££££££££££££
there appear to be several secondary objectives which are nice bonuses, bringing games to a new area, putting out feelers for new clubs, bringing attention to existing clubs and development in expansion areas, gaining national press interest through an "event" that a normal round doesnt get, increasing the number of "events" in the calendar and spreading them evenly through the season

the RFL needs money and fans to attend these kind of events, the world cup in this country will only succeed if people attend, there is an unfortunate culture in Rugby league to look for an excuse not to attend, not attend games, and moan about low attendances
another is to say this event or that event has not "worked" becasue it it is not perfect straight away, if you dont persist and give up then it has failed
in what way has Magic not worked/failed?

look at interstate/origin in Aus and how it was very poorly attended at first, they tweaked it and it is seen by many as the pinnacle of the game and a massive draw, in the UK we had a few years of it, it had higher atendances than most club games and mid season internationals from the start, the games were entertaining and it was scrapped

Isn't that what we've been discussing? Tweaking it?

Isn't the idea of a round of playoff games/cup games retaining the concept but tweaking it? Would a host city pay more for higher profile, meaningful games that are likely to be much better attended?

BTW, whilst I agree that rugby fans don't attend international rugby in sufficient numbers, I don't think that you can compare a World Cup with a third league fixture against Wakefield.

My criticism is for the combined posts of several years of VT threads, some of which have been repeated here



on some aspects yes if they reveal why they didnt attend, on other aspects like the suitability of a stadium then no, Murrayfield is perfect for this kind of event (easy access in and out between and during games, several rugby pitches within the complex for other types of entertainment and varied food/drink options) but it has been heavily criticised by those who didnt attend and dont know that



higher profile more meaningful games? the challenge cup? sorry that isnt in line with the attendances in rugby league towns, never mind many miles away, the uncertainty of who was playing would mean advance ticket sales would be reduced too

i was thinking of attendances from 2000, just trying to point out that some other events have been catastrophes and carried on and others have been wiped out before they got going

I did the first year


...thats why I didnt go this year, poor venue

Having watched RL at Cardiff and Murrayfield, I think Cardiff is by far the better venue. The trek to and from the city centre is too much, and means that once you go there you stay there, and half of Edinburgh wouldn't even know anything was on.

If the RFL are trying to take the game on the road to develop it then they have just missed a massive opportunity with the cup semi - instead of Widnes, they may as well have played the Wolves game at the Halliwell Jones. That game should have been played in France or at least the Stoop.

Murrayfield hasnt done it for me like Cardiff did. If it is to be Murrayfield again, then I for one wont be going. For me lets have 26 rounds of superleague and the free weekend - why not play the French???

If you use a round of playoff/cup games you risk the fact that less will attend due to the uncertainty of those taking part. It can be an expensive weekend and most fans who travel (IMO) only do at as they are certain to see their team play. I can't see as many willing to shell out in advance on the off chance there team will be there.

If you were taking a cup round then I would suggest the first round with the SL teams (3rd?) would be best as it guarantees all the SL teams will be playing and they are likely to provide the bulk of the attendance. You could also make a big deal of the draw being made in the city the event is to be held at as additional promotion. The only drawback with this is the number of games being played may be overkill.

Why is it a poor venue? Is that the only reason you didnt attend?



Both have their advantages, but Murrayfield is walking distance from the train station, hardly a trek. In Cardiff the parking area is a longer distance from the stadium and it was quicker to walk than take the bus (neither would stop me attending in future)
staying at the venue was fine by me, and there were plenty of things to do outside murrayfield if you get bored of the rugby, there wasnt a long enough gap in the schedule for me to get bored
the marketing is an issue, local recognition was a problem in both cities, although it may be is slightly easier for a person in cardiff city centre to know "anything" is on at the Millenium, but if they knew what it was, I am not so sure. Edinburgh was filled with replica shirts on the morning and evening of the games, locals must have known something was happening there too

I agree with most of that, I guess the train / bus option was just too busy when I was leaving the ground, so walking was the quickest option.

Hasn't there been over 6 weeks between the quarters and semis? Leeds versus Saints got 20k plus last year in the 1st round. Throw in another game and I see no reason why the attendances at this year's magic event couldn't be beaten, easily - 26k for four games on the 1st day of this year's magic event.

This I can wholeheartedly agree with. One of RLs strengths is that it's innovative. One of it's weaknesses is that it ditches good concepts very early if they don't achieve overnight success.

possibly a longer gap than that
im not sure if your suggestion is to replace magic with a double header semi final or one of the rounds of the cup or a round of the playoffs?
but in any of those events the maximum ticket sale period is much less than the present system, an advantage that magic should keep in my opinion

Leeds vs saints got 20k because it was free, i know you know the levels of attendance a regularly priced cup game (a magic game would likely attach a further premium) will get becasue you made comment that the Leeds Wigan game attendance this year would be around 10k with a capacity restriction or not, cf the most recent league game
that massive dropoff is the issue you need to look at (cup or playoffs), there is another dropoff when you travel, effectively it is an away fixture for every fan
26k at Magic cf the four attendances for the same games in the league -> much smaller attendance due to distance travelled
take the cup games which already have low attendances and move them further away and its even worse, the challenge cup semis are unfortunately very likely to demonstrate this

Well we didn't go this year as there wasn't enough intrest from group we go to games with, previous year hadn't won us over, wasn't much around the ground, facilities inside the ground were tad akward and expensive (having to go outside to drinks & food etc)

Least with Cardiff if you wasn't fussed by a game you could leave the stadium and have a wander around the city very easily, that option wasn't really viable

Quarter finals idea

For
NL1 possibly NL2 teams involved so they get a little bit of the action

Against
Forward planning (is my team going to be there)
Cup attendances are not the highest

Playoff idea

For
Big teams, more intensity.

Against
What's the point in finishing high up if it's not rewarded with a home tie ?