Magic Weekend - Cardiff, Edinburgh, ?

[jim]

If what the people on TRL say is true then Wood tried to get it in Dublin for 2011 with no sucess and now it's between Cardiff, Manchester and Newcastle.

Candidates:

Millenium Stadium, Cardiff - 75,000


St James Park, Newcastle - 52,000


Old Trafford, Manchester - 76,000


Wembley Stadium, London - 90,000


Parc Des Princes, Paris - 48,000


Olympic Stadium, Barcelona - 56,000


Aviva Stadium, Dublin - 50,000


Personally I would have liked to see Barcelona or Paris get a go but not to be this time around. Of the 3 supposed candidates I would go Newcastle, new area, new potential fans, club to capitalise (Thunder) and close enough for great travelling support.

The schedule getting thrown around is a game at Gateshead International Stadium on Friday Night, 3 saturday and sunday at St James park and Gatehead Thunder home game on Monday. I like the looks of that.

[HKR AWAY DAYS]

Anfield for me - great night life and stadium of about 42,000 which is ideal. Also, it is just off the m62 so I'd imagine more people would be inclined to go as opposed to Edinburgh. Cardiff was class, Edinburgh was very good but I reckon Liverpool would be out of this world.

[Druzik]

Jun 18, 2010 8:38:08 GMT 10 HKR AWAY DAYS said:

Anfield for me - great night life and stadium of about 42,000 which is ideal. Also, it is just off the m62 so I'd imagine more people would be inclined to go as opposed to Edinburgh. Cardiff was class, Edinburgh was very good but I reckon Liverpool would be out of this world.

Now there is one from left field... yes! Why not Liverpool?

[HKR AWAY DAYS]

Dan, The main thing about these Magic weekends is that it must appeal to people in more way than Rugby can offer. Obviously the common denominator is rugby league - we are all travelling to these places to watch the greatest game but you have to consider location, hotels and nightlife.

For me, the most important thing is trying to fill the stadium. We have not done it at Cardiff or Edinbrugh (Edinburgh was stupidly empty) so by taking a step back and considering a smaller venue (Anfield) we have a much better chance of filling it and because it is just off the M62, people may not have to stay overnight if they do not want to and can get home in good time as well.

We also need to re-evaluate what we are trying to achieve with this weekend. When you think about it, all we have done is created another away game because Cardiff and Edinbrugh locals have not been taken in by the concept and as a result the only people in the stands are current supporters.

I respect the RFL for trying something different but it is not working in it's current format - changes are required.