There are always byes at MW, in the name of a stupidly manufactured 'Derby' theme; it's grossly unfair, and creates some truly dire non-spectacles.

For me, the games should be based on league position, or drawn a couple of weeks before.

Precisely Bren. These games are ‘extras’ and should be made relevant to sorting out final league positions. Each game should be ‘4 pointer’ - 1st v 2nd, 3rd v 4th etc. Sts/Widnes on one hand, Cas/Leeds and Wigan/Wire on the other - how is that fair?

Although it could still create the same type of fixtures as now, to launch the event each year, there could be a "magic" draw, in Challenge Cup style.
There may be some poor fixtures but, you'd expect 3 or 4 decent contests

That's the way I'd like to see it done.

The organisers seem to work on the premise that having some semblance of proximity for the team will increase attendance figures. This may have a small influence but in the interest of the competition, surely it would be better to have 1st vs 2nd from the previous season, 3rd vs 4th etc?

Lowest attendance at Magic could be on the cards.....52k?????

Quote Call Me God="Call Me God"Lowest attendance at Magic could be on the cards.....52k?????'" Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.

Quote Call Me God="Call Me God"Lowest attendance at Magic could be on the cards.....52k?????'" Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.

It'a a concept that is totally pointless, why is it always at Newcastle ? Didn't the RFL introduce this to promote the game at different outposts in the UK to help our game prosper. They will never admit it, but now they have given up on the idea. I know, let's have the 2019 magic weekend in Toronto, the Canadians love their Rugby League.....even though they don't have their own league !

Quote ThePrinter="ThePrinter"Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.'" Little Cas playing poor but taking 2nd most fans. Not bad.

Quote ThePrinter="ThePrinter"Could be the biggest difference between the Saturday and the Sunday given the lineups. https://mobile.twitter.com/SuperLeague/ ... 6651759616 Going by those ticket sales by club then 5 of the top 6 are playing Saturday.'" Little Cas playing poor but taking 2nd most fans. Not bad.

That would be mint and if we are serious about growing the game then yes, we should have a magic weekend over there. I would be well up for that, I love the beautiful city of Toronto.

Regards

King James

You're joking but it was only a few days ago that I was reading an article about the magic weekend attracting overseas interest...

No, but it doesn't stop people making this argument so they can brand the idea as a failure.

It may have been a throwaway line in a press release, but it was never the intention to use Magic Weekend to expand the game. The intention of Magic Weekend is to make money.

The RFL sells the concept to local tourist authorities (Visit Wales paid the RFL £1m for the first one, IIRC). Since then, we've had tourist boards / local authorities in Edinburgh, Newcastle-Gateshead and Manchester all paying to support Magic Weekend.

I get that the typical tight- RL fan objects to the game being played anywhere beyond the boundaries of their bus pass, but we really shouldn't be paying too much attention to those kinds of people.