So Magic week is here...

Sales looking solid but not spectacular so far (no top tier open on the Saturday like some previous years) anyone in Newcastle to comment on the local marketing?

Sunday lineup looking very iffy with an out of form Salford taking on a slightly improved Catalan before a rematch of this weeks Hudds-Hudds-Wakey game and a Hull Derby that currently has more players at the hospital or at Redhall for the disciplinary than it does fit and available players!

Hopefully Saturday brings the magic and sun predicted for the weekend at least!

Some dull looking clashes for the Sunday. Would've loved it if they'd pick the games based on league position maybe 2 weeks before

The Saints vs Widnes fixture is the real blunder for me. It’s basically a bye for the best side in the comp currently and if they’d have jigged the fixtures around it would’ve been easier to spread big fixtures between Saturday and Sunday.

Saints could’ve played Wigan, Cas verses Wakefield, Leeds verses Warrington and the Hull derby would’ve made it four really good fixtures that then could’ve been spread two per day. I know the RFL don’t gave a crystal ball but Saints vs Widnes being a damp squib can’t be that difficult to predict.

Clashs with the FA cup final, massive blunder. And a royal wedding. Not that either of those interest me personally. But any national media coverage will be one step above nill.

The FA Cup clash has happened a lot and can be avoided you’d think. There isn’t much they could do about the Royal wedding. I suppose Big Nige could’ve had a word in the queens ear before he left to see if they fancied shifting it but he was off quicker then Usain Bolt with his pay cheque.

Exactly. I have no idea who came up with the fixtures this year but they are shocking.

Regards

King James

To be fair, last year it was St's v Hull and it ended up a blow out.

There's something in the back of my mind about either Wigan or Saints (or both) requesting that they don't play each other at the magic weekend?
The RFL obliged which is why we have the fixtures as they are.

I also seem to recall the Hull sides making a similar request, which was turned down. (I'm not sure how true this is though).

Anyone else remember this or am I going mad?

But at least the fixture would’ve pulled people in to the stadium to see it blow out.

The nuetrals in attendance for that Saints game Saturday will be very few in number IMO.

As a Hull fan I get annoyed with all the derbies these days. We play a pre-season friendly against them then we play them 3 times in the league before super 8s where we could play them again then either the top 4 play-off or grand final and a challenge cup game. That is a potential for 7 derbies in 1 year which I think takes away from the 'magic' of derby day.

I am not against magic weekend at all, I have been a couple of times and I love it, great party atmosphere, mixing with other fans, having a couple of drinks but I would much prefer it if the games were random rather than manufactured, actually do a draw for the games or something. To be fair though I would rather be playing KR this year than Saints given what happened last year...

Hull KR did request not to play Hull which was turned down. As a Rovers fan we are clearly not at the same level as Hull at the minute. Been the case for the last few years so it never seems fair that we get a harder game when teams around us get to play each other.

It’s ridiculous that Saints have an easy win this year.

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