totally agree! got to see all games as a true fan of the game thats wot its all about

I think the excitement level is increased by the fact that everyone is unveiling new squads, so it is less predictable than having the event mid-season.

Got back late last night, just unpacked my suitcase and haven't read any reports or threads so I thought I'd share a few thoughts about the weekend without any external influences.

CARDIFF - a wonderful city, keeps getting better; STADIUM - magnificent

THE EVENT - mixed, really: the concept is pretty good but not sure February is the right time - too cold and damp for fans to mingle much in the centre of Cardiff. Standard of 'entertainment' between matches and at half-times was pretty abysmal and done on the cheap. Didn't stand a chance when arrogant Leeds players gatecrashed the pitch at half-time in the Salford/Crusaders match. (And why the love-in with Leeds when their toss was the only one televised on the big screen?)

STANDARD OF RUGBY - pretty poor on the whole

BEST TEAMS (in my opinion) - Huddersfield, Crusaders

WORST - Salford, Catalans, Quins

BEST PLAYERS - Sam Tomkins, Brough, Brown, Chase, Witt (note: all halves(ish))

HAPPIEST COACHES - Nathan Brown, Iestyn Harris

UNHAPPIEST - all the rest

All teams were pretty rusty which makes you think that SL needs an alternative as a launch of the season. And it's a long way to go if you have to go to work next morning. Luckily I don't have to; has to be linked to a bank holiday weekend.

HULL FC - started brightly but faded badly, too many elementary errors. Went downhill once O'Meley was subbed; also issues of fitness with some players, notably Longy, Turner and Briscoe. Sam played well and Sharp was enthusiastic, always looking for the ball. Question the effectiveness of Fitx's (sorry, my keyboard won't work with the last letter of the alphabet on this forum!) captaincy: with his experience, he shouldn't have got dragged into that punch-up; we weren't the same after that. And he didn't get the pack to form the scrum to stop the clock on numerous occasions. It seemed as though we didn't care about winning - he should have sorted that.

Still, you have to say its' the start of the season and we'll improve. But I can't help thinking it might be a long hard season. Then again, on the evidence of the weekend, fans of most clubs will be thinking the same...

What was the gate?
Anyone know? RFL must have lost a fortune, On TV looked embarrasingly small, not a good advert for the game imo, time to knock it on the head.

If the current deal is anything like the last one, the RFL were actually paid to hold the event.