A total of 62,154 supporters attended this year’s Magic Weekend in Newcastle – 36,821 on Saturday and 25,333 on Sunday.
That is marginally higher than the 60,866 supporters who attended in September last year, when there were 35,104 on Saturday, and 25,762 on Sunday and it is around 4,000 higher than attended the event when it was held in Liverpool in 2019.
But it is still down on the attendance in 2018 at Newcastle, when more than 64,000 people came on the two days.
It seems that our Magic Weekend attendances stubbornly refuse to grow.
I’m certain that Super League and the individual clubs put plenty of effort into selling tickets for the event, and the two Hull clubs should be heartily congratulated for selling the most tickets for the event by the Super League clubs, even though the Sunday figures were, as always, lower than the Saturday ones.
One difference this year is that Toulouse have replaced Leigh in Super League and that inevitably will have an impact on the overall attendance, although probably not highly significant.
The way the fixtures were planned this year ensured that every game was full of meaning for the respective clubs, with the first game of the weekend probably the most significant of all, given its impact on the relegation battle.
The three quick tries scored by Toulouse at the beginning of the second half were eerily reminiscent of the three tries scored by the Catalans last year to win the game against St Helens in the final minutes of that game.
Warrington were the club in green, having enthusiastically adopted the green agenda, and it certainly worked for them, as they gained an unexpected but very convincing win against the Catalans Dragons.
Their fans will hope that their team has now turned the corner and that there will be no more embarrassing heavy defeats at home.
The last game, between the two Hull clubs, was also significant, given how both of them came into the game on a bad run of form, with the Robins having parted company with Tony Smith and the Airlie Birds having lost four matches in a row before facing their bitter rivals, while dipping into the loan market to supplement their player stocks. Ellis Longstaff’s try scoring feats certainly suggested that Hull coach Brett Hodgson was
The most disappointing team at the Magic Weekend in 2021 was probably Huddersfield, who were convincingly beaten by Wakefield.
But the Giants are a different beast in 2022 and they never looked likely to lose on Sunday against an enthusiastic Salford side, who are still one of the best teams to watch in the competition.
Meanwhile, given the way that Newcastle gave us a wonderful sunny weekend this year, I hope there will be no talk of moving the Magic Weekend anywhere else next year or any other year.
Where to now for Tony Smith?
A few weeks ago I was present at the Zoom conference at which Hull KR coach Tony Smith announced that he wouldn’t be staying at the club in 2023.
To say that I was surprised by his announcement would be an understatement.
But that would be nothing compared to the surprise of the club officials, who I assumed must have been told of his decision before he announced it publicly.
But it seemed that they hadn’t, or if they had, they were given very little notice indeed.
I suppose that from that point onwards Tony and the club were always going to be on a collision course and unfortunately it all came to a head after last week’s heavy defeat to Toulouse.
The club announced last week that Tony would be departing immediately and that Danny McGuire would take over on an interim basis for the rest of the season.
Danny spoke very well last week at the press conference to introduce him to the media.
But I can’t help thinking that he has a tough job on his hands.
Naturally he spoke about looking upwards to the play-off positions rather than worrying about what might lie beneath.
But if Toulouse continue to improve and can accumulate more wins, then Hull KR’s position may not be so secure. The Robins need some wins as a matter of urgency and it would be a shame for Danny if they weren’t to get them.
I hope that any pessimism on my part, or on the part of the Hull kR supporters, is misplaced.
Regan’s leap into the unknown
Will Regan Grace enjoy success in rugby union?
I sincerely hope he does when he joins the Racing 92 club at the end of the Rugby League season.
But you can see from his interview in this week’s League Express that he is apprehensive about the move.
On the one hand, I admire his decision to test himself in a completely new environment.
On the other, I still think he had so much to give in Rugby League.
If he discovers that the move doesn’t work, I would be very glad to welcome him back into Rugby League.
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