Wigan have recently said they are going to take a fixture on the road down to London.

Could we do more of this? Currently in the super 8's 4 teams will have 4 home games and 4 will have 3 home games. Most teams have said if they have a 4th home game it will be a free game for season ticket holders, so they are not going to bring in much extra revenue for clubs.

Why not give all clubs 3 home games, then take 4 fixtures on the road. London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff, Edinburgh etc, councils could be asked to tender bids to host games like the magic weekend, and bring in some $$$ to the sport plus showcase our game to new audiences

It's not that London has any RL presence at all is it

Birmingham , Norwich, Portsmouth, Southampton even Amsterdam Brussels, Dublin (at a pinch) Dusseldorf, Cologne, Riga etc could be good games on the road as transport links are there and relatively cheap. If the game TRUELY wants to become European and the fully international it needs to consider it's options or is the RFL becoming an off shoot of UKIP being anti Europe

Time for vision by the whole of the RFL fraternity in "Europe"

I'm not opposed to the idea, and since I live nearer to London (and Cardiff, Birmingham, and Nottingham!) than I do the M62 (but still quite some distance away), it wouldn't hurt me personally.

But it's not the Magic Weekend. I don't see it as a case of councils tendering for it; what's in it for them? Anyway, councils (by and large) don't own stadiums, football clubs do. So the issue becomes, find a stadium where they'll let you play in the middle of the football season.

10000/15000 people visiting and spending money in the local pubs, bars, restaurants, shops, hotels etc who would not otherwise be there. Councils are not going to pay mega money, but it's worth something to the local area.


Not an issue at Wigan, Huddersfield, Hull, Elland Road, Reading. Your only talking one game.

10K - 15K people ! If we finish in the top 4 and get 4 "home" games one of which will be in London ( QPR, Brentford, Fulham for example ) and could be a Thursday night , thanks Sky, there is no chance of that crowd, even a Friday night or a Saturday. crazy idea.

Lets not pretend Wigan's 'on the road' games are there to develop the sport or even Wigan the club. It's because they know there will be dates where their rental property won't be available to them. Times like when Wigan FC have a home game against Shorpe or Fleetwood, or a wedding or even a bar mitzvah. It would be embarrassing for the rugby club to come out and admit they've been told to play somewhere else, so make up an excuse about developing the game and they will probably qualify for some extra funding or cap exemptions on the back of it as well.

Is it time Wigan RLFC got a ground of their own? Could they not develop their training ground into one?

you really do talk $h1te

He does but on this occasion I wouldn't be surprised if there's more than an element of truth to the suspicion that this has as much to do with avoiding playing at Leigh as it does spreading the word.

Will be interesting to see whether Latics are at home on the weekend of this "expansion" game. . . . . .

Seeing Wigan knocked out of the CC partly because they had to give up home ground advantage was funny as. I'm sure their fans are overjoyed at the prospect of them playing at the other end of the country.

Looks like the " tics " only have 2 Saturday home games during the super 8 " season " 15th Aug v Doncaster and 19th September v The Cod Army , sold out signs not expected, as Sky are doing Thurs and Fri nights for this round of matches I don't think football will be the problem, the grass needing to grow might be ! but as ever with our sport it is as clear as mud, nobody yet knows who and when they will be playing for any of the fixtures we will have to wait for Sky TV to decide as they run the whole lot.
Which makes it even more of a joke in our case.

Wasn't the issue that rugby couldn't be played 24 hours before football, meaning they couldn't play on the Friday?

Can't remember if this was a Premier League rule or a DW stadium rule (or both).

Think I am right in saying it was never a Premier League rule, as for DW stadium the income streams will be somewhat different to the " Premier League " days so we might find a bit more common ground ! hopefully but the CC fiasco didn't help matters .

It isn't and never has been a Premier a League rule. As for on the road games, this idea may work for Wigan who have a famous 'brand name' but for the rest opportunities are limited. Saints may get some success playing in Liverpool, and Catalan have had success playing on the road elsewhere in Catalonia, but for the rest of teams either they don't get big crowds at home anyway, or for the Hull clubs, are geographically out on a limb so there isn't a nearby town/city to target.

Leeds in Newcastle is a possibility and Kingston Park would be of a reasonably-sized ground. Better yet, the Newcastle/Gateshead club is starting to pick up following years in the doldrums. Double-header?

Double-headers with championship1 games could work and be good exposure for some of the new clubs. Something like, Leeds play in Newcastle, Wigan in Coventry, Warrington in Wrexham and Hull in York.