The magic Weekend

Please, move Millennium Magic weekend to the last match of the regular season, Rfl, Please.

I was speaking with my Step dad, Roy, at the first home game at the HJ about the magic weekend and why he had chosen not to go.  Roy is an avid fan, and rarely misses a game or 'event' like the grand final, magic weekend etc.

It has since been playing on my mind, and have decided to vent my views through this blog.  Would it not make a lot more sense to move the RL weekend to the last match of the regular season?
There were 3 main reasons why i think this would be better.

1. Teams have something to fight for (IE Not the first game, a game that has implications to the league table)
2. Its in summer, which will ultimately make it more marketable and appealing to fans
and 3. It would be a great prelude to the Playoffs.

Look at the amount of people that travel to Wembley in summer for the challenge cup final.  85,000 came to one single game, as opposed to the 30,000 per day that travelled less distance to watch 3 or 4 games that the magic weekend offered.  74,000 can pack into the Millennium stadium, and for all but Quins (and maybe Hull) fans, it is a closer.  Thousands travel to London for a one off game, and this could only be rivalled if there was some kind of prize at the end of that game, and if it took place in summer months.

Im sure alot more fans would turn up if it makes the difference between 1st and 2nd, or 8th or 9th in the regular season.  The run up to the event could then be built up more, to make the regular season more of a competition than a formality, and crowning the regular season winners at the Magic weekend would encourage more to stay to the end of the day, which has been a problem in recent years.  Rivalry's such as Wigan/Saints, Hull/Hull would have additional spice when spectators know that a win or loss could move them in or out of playoff contention.  I know i would much rather watch a game that has implications to the league table and there are still possibilities to have it around school or bank holidays.


Each year the weekend is put down as a 'Astounding success' or words to that affect, but when the average attendance is less that of a normal super league game, why is it?  Wigan and Leeds have the largest attendances, and Warrington still regularly get 15k in there stands.  Crusaders get on average 11k this year and they have the lowest attendance.  Yet still only 30k went to the Sunday of the Magic weekend, when Warrington and Leeds were on, among the 6 other teams.


Get your heads screwed on and make it happen RFL! It makes so much more commercial sense that i cant understand why it has not been considered already.  Its for this reason that i felt compelled to start a blog and write about rugby ... we will see how much i actually do but i liked putting my ideas onto the screen so hopefully it shall continue !

Paul Leatherbarrow
FortyTwentyBlog