Absolute kak.

No mention of where the WCC and the couple of fixtures that get re-arranged as a result of it will fit in with this. Don't Quins and the team playing in the World Club usually get one of the regular weekly matches moved out to the start of the calendar to accomodate fixtures against the visiting NRL champs? I hope if the RFL are making the Magic Weekend the 'curtain raiser', they don't balls the impact of it up by having a couple of matches taking place the weekend before.

The dates they've given are a week later than this season started, and two weeks later than Leeds and Quins' first matches (against Crusaders and Wakey) - that may cover it for this to be the first round of games for all teams?

Fingers crossed things don't backfire with the weather too, as clearly someone's forgotten that this Super League season kicked off in Wales with a match in the snow!

How much rubbish can the RFL pile on our game?
In Summer the stadium looks only a quarter full, what it will be like in the middle of winter is anyone's guess.
Remember February this year with snow, roads and rail lines blocked and airports shut. Never mind fans not going, if it's anything like last year the teams won't even make it!
The silver lining could well be that it's such a disaster that it will be the final one.
Then we can have a League fixture list that makes sense with fourteen clubs and twenty six games where each club plays each other twice.

No there isn't which is why it should be scrapped.

Is the 2011 Millennium Magic actually an extra fixture though? The BBC says SL will kick off with the first round at Cardiff which implies to me its the first regular fixture and not an extra round.

Dave

It wont be any colder than Murrayfield was even if it is in February. That place was just freezing! I will be going, Cardiff is a great place imo.

It's the Magic round normally played in May brought forward to the first week, so it is the extra fixture.
It's also the second week of the Rugby Union six nations tournament, anyone expecting to watch the other RL games in the pub and then watch their game at the Millenium Stadium is going to be hugely disappointed.

Shame the hotel prices have doubled as usual in the city centre and most hotels are fully booked. I have had to b ook a hotel 3 miles outside of the city centre to get a good hotel and price.

The RFL needs to have a 5 year plan in place so people can plan these weekends away better, the tickets are not even sale yet!

I like the idea. So what if its cold? Where the appropriate clothing. I remember we started the season at Quins the other year and we took a good few down there. Everyone will be buzzing for the new season by then and i think it will be more successful than the last couple of seasons.

Get some big fixtures on like Wigan v Wire, Saints v Leeds, Hull Derby. Personally I never sit through the other games anyway so it will be just like a normal away game with the added bonus of being in a top city and a decent stadium. Good decision I think.

firstly, i'm sure there will be plenty of pubs around Cardiff that will be happy to accomodate a few hundred people that want to watch the RL, regardless of what else is on the telly.

secondly, i've never understood why anyone would want to travel all the way to Cardiff / Edinburgh to watch games on the TV in a pub, when they have a ticket to watch the game 'live'.

I certainly echo these sentiments.

That was like a mid summers day.. if the weathers like that we'l be in our skimpies.

I really dont know what to think of this idea, im leaning towards the opinion that its a bad one.

Ill be there whatever the weather it may be feb but its the start of SL so fans by then mite need thier fix of SL live.

The part of this whole announcement that I cannot make sense of is the RFL saying they have listened to fans and that this is what the majority want.

I can't think of anyone wanting to choose a weekend in the middle of winter that hasn't a Bank Holiday Monday to make it more of an event.I could have understood moving it to Whitsun but not February.

It's pure madness and in lean financial times for most families I can't see even half the crowd we had this year bothering to travel.

Not sure standing outside a Cardiff pub in Feb will feel the same as in May but nevermind

Hotels for Saturday already crazy, will pay for w/end for Catalans away. Not sure about this and the weather in Feb.