Its very fair based on the fact that Wigan beat Saints and lost to Widnes this season!

Odem definitely went to Wembley last year as he was sat infront of me.

My point is that the fans moaning about empty seats are often the ones sat at home.

I have been to every single magic weekend since 2008 and have loved every single one. 3 or 4 games each time for less than £20. What Rugby League fan wouldn't want that?

Rugby league fans are the ones holding rugby league back, but they would rather blame it on the choice of stadium, the fixtures, the RFL or anything else they can to justify something being a failure. The fact of the matter is, this wouldn't be a failure if rugby league fans bought the tickets for a sport event which is the best value for money in this country.

I actually couldn't believe my eyes when I got back from the England game at Wembley to see a thread on the VT to see hundreds of fans on here moaning that the whole top tier was closed! I bet there was people spending £30 in a pub for a night out moaning about the empty seats when they could have been there themselves as well!

Fans on here seem to think the RU marketing team is some sort of magic group... actually they just have a target audience who are willing to buy into the events they put on. RL fans don't.

Go back to 2007 when the magic weekend was first announced. Most on here thought it was an awesome idea, that was untill they saw all the empty seats and thought it looked bad for the sport.

My personal recommendation for the magic weekend is to give it to the championship 1 clubs, I bet they would buy into the concept for a big day out. Have it a reasonable stadium in a town/city centre and it will bring more relative success than the super league version.

Been to all the Magic weekends and loved them all except Cardiff last year . Pissing of rain and freezing cold , no before / after matches atmosphere on the main streets of Cardiff. Everybody either sat in one pub , went back to their hotels or just went home.
Just the excuse for the non believers to knock the concept .

I blame Jamie Peacock .

Good post Odem!

I have enjoyed the MM events and i like a weekend away socialising and watching RL, its great value for money and its dissapointing it has not caught the imaginations of more fans. If you cannot afford to go don't go; if its not "your thing" don't go, but don't treat those that do and support the concept as mugs; we have not swapped our cows for magic beans we have paid for and enjoyed what we love RL.

Whether its a poor idea or not, a day or rugby and large amounts of ale and banter = a good day out every time I've been.. Gets you out the house for a bit doesn't it?

You make some fair points but as frustrating as it is for you that some people choose not to attend you also need to appreciate that some people also have other commitments that are more important than a game of rugby with little at stake.

Personally i feel that more supporters would attend if more was at stake.

He was right that we need something big to start off the season to be fair. But IMO, it should be the challenge cup.

We could see some great upsets in awful weather when the super league teams are not quite up to scratch yet.

Play two rounds of the challenge cup before the first super league game, with the WCC breaking up the two weekends.

The play the rest of the rounds at REGULAR SLOTS untill May when the final should be held.

Whilst I don't hold the RFL responsible for the current shambles of where a particular match shall or shall not be held. I do think we need to compress the CC into a more watcherable period for the casual watcher of the game. Or provide some event to advertise the game in it's best light on TV.

Union give back to back weekends with the 6 nations that people buy into whether they watch union or not.
Wimbledon for Tennis
World Championships for Snooker
Same for darts

We are spread far too thin for the casual watcher to come back for more.

My comment is more geared towards a close entertaining game of rugby. I'm sure if that was a success then the crowds would increase in the cup. RL fans have been starved of any action for months so they are more likely to spend money on a mis-match at the start of the season than they are in the middle of the season when they get used to watching the best players every week.

This is also how I think it should be structured, though I don't like the WCC in February.

I don't think you should have a cup game as the first game of the season. It devalues the competition imo.