Quote shinymcshine="shinymcshine"In 2006 the original concept was to continue with development of the game in Wales, following the hosting of the Challenge Cup Finals: "The 'Millennium Magic' initiative is the result of a partnership between the RFL and Cardiff Council and follows the sell-out crowds for the 2004 and 2005 Challenge Cup finals in the Welsh capital. Richard Lewis, the RFL executive chairman, said, "We want to build on both the rugby league supporters' liking for the Millennium Stadium and the progress rugby league is making as a sport in Wales." www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/othe ... ic-2313005'" "to build on the progress rugby league is making in Wales" hardly seems like MW is being used as a vehicle for some form of aggressive expansion policy. At the time, Celtic Crusaders were establishing themselves in Wales, but there's not a single suggestion that MW was designed to turn them or any other club into some form of huge 'Super Club'. The big reason we went to Cardiff was a £1m cheque from the Welsh Tourism Board. And that comment is more than ten years ago. We've moved on and, importantly, so has the concept of MW.

Quote shinymcshine="shinymcshine"In 2006 the original concept was to continue with development of the game in Wales, following the hosting of the Challenge Cup Finals: "The 'Millennium Magic' initiative is the result of a partnership between the RFL and Cardiff Council and follows the sell-out crowds for the 2004 and 2005 Challenge Cup finals in the Welsh capital. Richard Lewis, the RFL executive chairman, said, "We want to build on both the rugby league supporters' liking for the Millennium Stadium and the progress rugby league is making as a sport in Wales." www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/othe ... ic-2313005'" "to build on the progress rugby league is making in Wales" hardly seems like MW is being used as a vehicle for some form of aggressive expansion policy. At the time, Celtic Crusaders were establishing themselves in Wales, but there's not a single suggestion that MW was designed to turn them or any other club into some form of huge 'Super Club'. The big reason we went to Cardiff was a £1m cheque from the Welsh Tourism Board. And that comment is more than ten years ago. We've moved on and, importantly, so has the concept of MW.

Maybe, just maybe, primarily it doesn't serve any purpose other than offering supporters another event (because there's only the CC and GF) to go to and mingle with other clubs fans. Obviously the financial benefits play a part.

You say that "We've moved on and, importantly, so has the concept of MW".

I'd suggest that the opposite is true.
Back then there was a plan to expand the game into new areas and attract new fans.
At the time The Crusaders were a SL club, trying to grow their support base and whilst you could argue that we are trying to establish the sport in Newcastle and the North East, Wales was a far more exciting prospect but, like so many other ideas, it has been allowed to, all but, wither and die.

#with the benefit of hindsight, maybe the £1million should have been used to prop up and grow RL in Wales and what we may have had now, if that had happened ??

MW has just become a cash generator for the RFL and we shouldn't kid ourselves that it is anything other than this.
Btw, I'm not knocking the event in itself, just its flawed aims.

The problem is that the £1m was never an RL development cheque. It was an inducement from the Welsh tourist body for the RFL to host an event that would put bums in hotel beds in Cardiff.

When I say we've moved on, I mean that we have moved on from that episode of expansion and it seems to be that the RFL is trying to grow the game more organically. I don't know if it will work any better / worse, but that's where we are.

I've got no problem at all with the Magic Weekend effectively becoming a 'trade conference' for RL, where the game lets individual cities or regions do their best to intice us to their venue. We need more big events, we need more revenue in the sport - Magic Weekend ticks those boxes and we shouldn't let this flawed notion of it being an expansion project be the death of it.

Brierely said that MW doesn't bring new investors to the sport and that it doesn't lead to an RL presence in that market. Newcastle Thunder shows that he's wrong on both counts.

Quote shinymcshine="shinymcshine"In 2006 the original concept was to continue with development of the game in Wales, following the hosting of the Challenge Cup Finals: "The 'Millennium Magic' initiative is the result of a partnership between the RFL and Cardiff Council and follows the sell-out crowds for the 2004 and 2005 Challenge Cup finals in the Welsh capital. Richard Lewis, the RFL executive chairman, said, "We want to build on both the rugby league supporters' liking for the Millennium Stadium and the progress rugby league is making as a sport in Wales." www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/othe ... ic-2313005'" there you go, thats what we were sold failed.

Quote shinymcshine="shinymcshine"In 2006 the original concept was to continue with development of the game in Wales, following the hosting of the Challenge Cup Finals: "The 'Millennium Magic' initiative is the result of a partnership between the RFL and Cardiff Council and follows the sell-out crowds for the 2004 and 2005 Challenge Cup finals in the Welsh capital. Richard Lewis, the RFL executive chairman, said, "We want to build on both the rugby league supporters' liking for the Millennium Stadium and the progress rugby league is making as a sport in Wales." www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/othe ... ic-2313005'" there you go, thats what we were sold failed.

not interested im afraid

yeh newcastle thunder are well on the way to joining super league, just behind toulouse and toronto... we should take magic weekend to them!

or just make it a nines competition

its unfair anyway that some teams get easier games than others playing one team 3 times in a season

If it has to be changed it needs to be a nines competition IMO. Just like the Nines competition in Aus. If the plans are to bring a nines World Cup then we will be left behind.

Well they could have been had the RFL and Hull not had other idea's, same could be said for Sheffield as well.

Call me a traditionalist but I couldn't give a monkeys about any nines comp. It would basically be a 'friendly comp' and a comp 95%+ of proper league fans couldn't care less about. I'm not a big fan of pre season friendlies but at least they're 13 per side!

The Magic weekend currently pulls in around 65,000 over two days, a nines comp imo would be lucky to pull in over 30,000 in two days.

The concept is fine as it is. They may change the timing and I wouldn't be against that but there really isn't much wrong.

The MW concept isn't an issue. The way that the interest it generates isn't properly harnessed to deliver a lasting legacy in the area it's held is an issue.

They need to consider fans more, the hiking of hotel prices is ridiculous when a day trip is not practical, must be bank holiday if kept or Manchester for transport links and central location