Anfield?

Apparently St James Park has been gambled on as the next magic venue

Me to but only problem I see with St James' is that there is much room around the stadium. Thinking stadium of light would be a better venue. If it is held up in that area defiantly would be going for the weekend not just the one day.

Gambled on by who?

I'm not sure about Newcastle, I just don't think there's an appetite there for anything except football. I think the Etihad is the ideal place for it and it should stay there long term, though if for some reason it can't for an odd year I understand looking at Newcastle as the stadium is about the right size.
If, as mentioned, the seating at Elland Road wasn't so rubbish I'd be tempted to try it there but as it is, despite being a Leeds fan, I wouldn't go to it because of the seating.

Makron. Get it right Timmy lad.

Move it to London for next season and then the capital WILL have some RL there ................

oof.

SOL does have more room around it, but there is sod all there. At least with Newcastle you are close to a vibrant city with a great night life, especially around the Quayside area.

Macron. Get it right Cat lad.

Emirates Stadium (v near Kings Cross)... with a view to moving to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 or '17 to create another showpiece event in the capital?

Completely biased as I'm at Uni there, but how about the Britannia Stadium? There's food places nearby and it's easy to get to. Only downside really is that the buses from the Station to the ground are infrequent, but for football games they always put on coaches from the Station for away fans, so don't see why the RFL couldn't do that also.

No point picking grounds out of the air. It will go to whichever council or tourist board is willing to stump up the most money.

Cost of tickets are likely to rocket due to stadium hire, costs for a weekend in London are ridiculous (recently done it), especially for a family. Two big events in London is too much and attendances would suffer.

I work in Newcastle a few days a month and stay in the Encore hotel on Gateshead Quay (next to the Millenium Bridge), which is a two minute walk from Newcastle Quays, it is a really nice hotel and it is £67 a night for B&B (£12 extra for a second person in same room). I recently stayed in London in a very old, manky Premier Inn which cost me £144 per night.

Newcastle for me.

You can get cheaper than that in London. I stayed in the comfort inn Victoria for £99 for the room not long ago. Canary Wharf can also be cheaper at the weekends as the hotels there are used more for business in the week.

What we need to look for is a stadium with the surroundings to accommodate all the gumph that goes with the magic weekend. The Olympic stadium would be ideal for that however as a few have stated it's a long trek for most. Handy for me though

Pride Park (Derby) could be a decent shout if we want to take it somewhere new. I think Cardiff should be seriously looked at too.