I've just remembered Manchester Magic is a Basketball team, though the name looked familiar.

Aside from my basketball observation, I don't think this is an awful decision by the RFL.

Manchester is a great city and one of the best, if not the best outside London, for hosting events. I've not been to the stadium before, but it looks pretty good. All that is near there is an Asda though and not a very nice housing estate, but there's lots of room for some 'fan zone' type things.

Manchester has a SL team in Salford a couple of miles away, as well as Swinton, Rochdale and Oldham in the periphery of the city. But actually within the city boundaries, there is nothing. It was always a nice surprise seeing someone walking around town in a RL shirt. I went to the University there and Rugby Union shirts at the uni were far more common than league. Plus Manchester is a world famous football city and near where I'd live 9/10 times the kids would be playing football, the other times basketball.

Manchester is arguably the second most important English city in terms of business, BBC Sport are now based there and the Magic Weekend could be a real opportunity to get people and businesses so close to the 'heartlands' into rugby league. It may appear to be lacking in ambition, but if this event is a success it could stand to gain RL a lot more than previous magic weekends.

Fingers crossed!

Maybe they could commit to taking it around the country, a different place every years, we've all banded out stadiums and areas, maybe somewhere new every year from Newcastle to London possibly even France and Spain during better times.

Do we know if there were ever any figure produced on the number of 'locals' that went to the matches or were they all people from the heartland that travelled. From my point of view I can justify going to watch a days rugby where no accomodation is involved.

There were figures published I think. From what I remember the number of locals was pretty low. The RFL had an issue with the people organising it in Cardiff (either the stadium people or WRU or someon) about the lack of marketing. That's why they moved it to Edinburgh I seem to remember. Certainly the couple of times I went to Cardiff for MM I hardly saw any posters or anything.

Edinburgh was no better for marketing. They showed it on Boots n All where they asked locals about it and most of them knew nothing at all about the sport or the fact there was this event on in the city over that weekend.

Personally, I'm in favour of expansion. Because the game needs to be spread to help improve it because the further the game spreads, the more people will watch and take part in the game. We therefore get a bigger player pool and more interest from sponsors. More sponsors mean more money in the sport. More money in the sport means more interest from the media.

Expansion beyond the M62 so far has failed beyond 2 teams; London and Catalans. London has it's well documented problems along with it's gypsy like status of being moved on every few years. Catalans has the obvious problem of away support, it's bloody expensive to go from the south of France to Manchester/Yeadon every other weekend. And vice versa, it's hard to get good away crowds flying down there, not that they don't do their best.

So with that in mind, why don't we focus on making the heartlands of the sport as strong as we can before we spread out beyond it. Therefore, having the Magic Weekend in Manchester is a better chance of getting a sellout than it would be in Cardiff or Edinburgh and makes the game much more of an interest.

I suspect you'll be right about Manchester getting more support, if only because it's easier (and less expensive) to get to.

If it had been in Cardiff again I would have given it a miss; too far and too long on the coach for a day out and neither me nor the wife really fancied the weekend in Cardiff as it just isn't really a 'destination' city with lots of attractions like Edinburgh. I do think the cost is becoming more of a problem too with the way things are. The annual trip to Perpignan is.., well, I was going to say sacrosanct, though that's probably putting it a bit strongly, and if it came to the crunch then it would have to be given a miss, but it is very enjoyable and I would hate to miss it, so if it comes down to cost cutting MM would go first for me.

All in all it's difficult for the RFL to bring in initiatives in a recession and whilst the move to Manchester will, no doubt, be called a retrenchment back to the M62, it's a sensible move to me.

The thing is, (and the marketing people at the RFL, who have been organising stuff with some very decent success of late, will clearly know this), they will always end up getting called, whatever they do, so they might as well just get on with it. They could get a 200,000 crowd while England thrashed Australia in Paradise Stadium with free admission, food, drink and transport for all, you would still get whingeing.

Personally I think MM has become a fixture, it is one rare upmarket, positive event which attracts a bit of wider publicity, and I am sure the fact it is in Manchester is a merciful and wise nod to the recession and people's wallets.

Well done RFL.

think the rfl need to focus on areas close to heartlands ie. brum south yorks and cumbria.

before moving back on with the magic gubbins in cardiff, london and edinburgh

What sized economic margin are we talking when comparing the income from the magic weekend and, say, an 8th-place play off qualification?

I still think its a development event. After all there are no Rugby League clubs in the city of Manchester.

This is a polite request for someone to fall into my trap.

I didnt say winning away games, one step at a time with both developments, the Bulls and the game. On the Bulls, fighting talk from Platt and Donaldson in the T&A today, so I wish that it turns into good games for them both this season.