Sir Kevin Sinfield

Given Robert Elstone has said we have not yet reached the break even figure for Anfield, I think it’s fair enough to assume previous magic weekends have only returned a small profit, for each of the Super League clubs. Given the poor financial state of many clubs, if they do make say £20k-£30k out of magic weekend that could be vital to some of the Salford/Wakefield like clubs. Magic weekend also receives additional exposure for the game, people like attending events and it’s a vehicle to introduce new fans to the game. Holding it in Newcastle has certainly helped the game in the North East.

I agree with the idea of changing to double headers but Blackpool is not the venue. We need to be going for big cities, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Barcelona. I also think it shouldn’t be an additional fixture, each club should give up one of their extra loop home fixtures. The events could be spread across the season with the big clubs playing in several of them.

So nearly 8000 tickets were sold to Spanish locals, a figure most Super League clubs are unable to achieve. We need more events like this

I don’t think Toulouse will gain promotion this year

Brilliant, hopefully it can become an annual event, but that’s probably down to Barcelona FC. Catalans v Leeds next year please.

Salford have been very lucky to have so few injuries

Surely if we get the record crowd for a Super League game it will be a success?

It’s all about making money. I’m guessing the Brisbane local authority have paid to host the event, expecting to take a lot of tourist dollars in return over the weekend. On top of this you have ticket sales. In the UK we have additional tv exposure with every game shown, that’s not different down under as they show every game from every round on tv anyway.

Compare this marketing to Toronto Wolfpack’s. They are in the same league. That’s why expanding the game, rather than sticking with the same old dead wood, is the right thing to do.

The NRL magic weekend looks to have been a success today. Not seen any games before today, will be interesting to see what cumulative attendance figure they manage and if they repeat the concept.

Not that surprising when it’s a Thursday game, Leeds are now the most expensive in Super League and we are playing terrible. Launching a half season ticket would be a good move now the stadium is fully open, if this doesn’t happen at the Cas game they will be really missing a trick.

1 match bans just show we are not taking violence in the junior game seriously.

This is never going to happen, the NRL clubs didn’t even want to play top 3 v top 3.

The midlands seemed to be developing well with a number of amateur teams including a really strong Nottingham Outlaws and an academy. What happened, why were the development officers removed?

I bet Nou Camp and Anfield have similar attendance figures. When Spain has no Rugby League clubs, and virtually all clubs are a short drive from Liverpool, you have to question if magic weekend could do better.