Here are some of the recent letters from our readers that have appeared in the League Express Mailbag

MAGIC VENUE – BEWARE THE TRAINS
I have no qualms about Everton as a venue for Magic Weekend but some thought has to be given to access to Liverpool itself (and I suspect the same would apply if still held in Newcastle) via Trans Pennine Express.
Our party booked train tickets for the second Test many weeks before the game. But we noted the day before travel that our 11.10 direct train from Huddersfield had been cancelled.
As it is an alleged hourly service, we therefore went for the 10.10 service, arriving at the station to find the platform awash with supporters from Huddersfield, Wakefield, Halifax and Dewsbury and maybe others.
The train duly arrived, with no thought apparently given for extra carriages, and folk were already bursting out of the doors, so that well over 90% of travellers were left on the platform.
Amid much discussion on the way forward overall, we all jumped on the following train to Manchester Victoria, again leaving no room and bursting again out of the doors.
Being aware of travel in Manchester, I got our lot onto the tram to Piccadilly, where we found many others waiting but managed to get onto another bursting train, which stopped at almost every station to Liverpool, only arriving at about 1pm.
We had booked the return train for 7.55pm and noted the next train an hour later was another cancelled one.
Luckily, we got to the front of the queue and managed to find seats, but it was absolutely packed and the toilets were not working. I think we had three stops before Manchester, and on each occasion doors were being held open by passengers to allow folk to get off and relieve themselves (fortunately not me), so that it arrived in Huddersfield 35 minutes late. I shudder to think what station staff found when they arrived for work the morning after.
Now I appreciate the     government gave big pay rises without gaining anything reciprocal in working practices, but it surely wasn’t beyond someone’s ability to increase the number of carriages. They must have had a record of the numbers booking.
And there is no argument for “carriages being in the  wrong pace for the following day” as they could have been got back on the Sunday for Monday working.
I therefore write this diatribe to draw it to the RFL’s attention and for them to ensure pressure is brought on TPE for any future event, such as Magic Weekend next July.
Neil Hinchliffe, Huddersfield

ST JAMES’ PARK IS STILL THE BEST MAGIC VENUE
I attended the second Ashes Test match at Everton’s new Hill Dickinson stadium last month.
The ground is very impressive and ideal for holding a Test match.
However, I have my doubts about its suitability for the Magic Weekend.
Transport to the ground from the city is not good. You can walk to the ground, but it’s a near two-mile walk from Lime Street station and city-centre accommodation.
There is very little around the ground, with no eating places and only one pub. Fans will spend the weekend in the ground, or more likely, just come for their team’s game.
Contrast this with St James Park, Newcastle, which is located in the heart of the city, within easy walking distance of the railway station, hotels and 174 pubs.
Previous Magic Weekends held there have been a huge success, in every way. And in recent social media posts asking where fans want the 2026 weekend to be held, the vast majority said Newcastle.
If, as is rumoured, Newcastle Utd have tripled the cost of the stadium, they have only themselves to blame for losing the weekend. If this rumour is unfounded, then the RFL has chosen to turn their backs on one of the few success stories of the last twenty years.
Meanwhile, I see that we have decided not to take next year’s World Cup seriously.
With no time for the squad to play a game throughout next season, no warm-up game, and no preparation time, it looks like we’ve thrown in the towel already.
In the unlikely event of us winning the World Cup, it would be a miracle.
If we don’t win, don’t blame Shaun Wane or whoever has the unenviable job of succeeding him.
Mike Worthington, Hexham

WORLD CUP FLAWS
The 2026 World Cup format has a major flaw.
The three-team Groups B and C form a combined table after each team has played three matches. The top two teams progress to the semi-finals.
However, it is possible for three teams to win all their matches, meaning that a team finishing in third place (on points difference) in the combined table would be eliminated even though they won every game.
Meanwhile the top two teams progress from four-team Group A, despite it being possible to finish second in that group (on points difference) despite potentially only winning one game.
This is absurd, and has presumably been formulated so that there is a strong likelihood of Australia and New Zealand meeting in the final.
The problem can be overcome by tweaking the format so that in the event of a team in Groups B and C winning all its matches but still finishing third, it should be given precedence over the team that finishes second in Group A.
Of course, the real solution is to have 16 teams in four groups of four and to dispense with contrived formats entirely.
Michael O’Hare, Northwood, Middlesex

WHERE ARE THE NEW CUSTOMERS?
Looking at the ages of many fans at my local club and many other clubs, I wonder whether it is time for the Rugby League and clubs in general to take a fresh look at how they view their future, particularly considering this demographic?
Clubs are businesses and any business needs a constant supply of new customers or it inevitably goes backwards for any one of many reasons.
Sport in general and perhaps Rugby League in particular is susceptible to this, but while football has a constant flow of young people being attracted to it, this does not seem to happen with our sport.
Gone are the days when dad took his son to Watersheddings, where the lad threw a ball about on the terraces and grew to love the game as he got older.
Schools rugby is far from what it was, although still very important.
Take perhaps a typical Championship side with an average attendance of 2,000.
Even if they have a poor season and are relegated to League 1, it is a good bet that 85% of these will turn up next season because they are fans or supporters. But has the game placed reliance on this for too long?
In society in general loyalty is not what it used to be and perhaps we should not be relying too heavily on it.
Gone also are the days when Rugby League was the only alternative to taking the wife shopping.
If we drop the fans and supporters terminology and call them customers, then no business would be happy to be in this situation. Instead it would be trying to bring in new blood by letting them know about this great game of ours. But I see little sign of this.
While I don’t pretend to know the answer, it is perhaps worth a thought.
But I do not believe that IMG are the answer.
Of the clubs currently in trouble, at least two, Salford and Featherstone, have been accused of spending beyond their means.
Does this mean that running a successful club now requires more money than the club brings in?
Oldham could not have achieved their turnaround without the generosity of Bill Quinn. But surely this can never be a long-term solution.
Using Oldham again, they have a superb communication with their followers but this is generally only seen by regular attendees and  95 per cent of the population of the town are only vaguely aware of what is going on.
I am still asked in local pubs if they are still playing at Boundary Park and this in what is considered to be a rugby town.
As I said earlier, I do not have an elixir but feel that if the sport continues to be somewhat incestuous it will not survive.
How many Salfords and Featherstones will it take to bring the whole lot down?
Jack Butterworth, Oldham

IN SUPPORT OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP
In last week’s issue of League Express your correspondent James Gordon wrote an article under your ‘Straight Talking’ banner in which he criticised the fixture format for the newly merged Championship competition in 2026.
Mr Gordon points out, quite rightly, that the new format is not perfect, given that some clubs won’t play some others who they would probably like to play.
But let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
The 21 teams that will contest the Championship (including, I hope, Salford and Featherstone) will all play 24 fixtures over a 26-week season, and they will also have fixtures in the Challenge Cup and 1895 Cup. Ten of them (which is arguably too many) will also feature in the play-offs.
So it’s clear that the clubs that were in League 1 last year that had too few fixtures will certainly not have that problem in 2026.
The way the fixtures have been created has cleverly kept the stronger and weaker clubs apart, unlike if every club played every other club, therefore minimising the risk of too many blowout scorelines.
And we are already seeing evidence that some weaker clubs, such as Newcastle, are strengthening their squads to take advantage of a favourable draw to try to climb up the table.
As someone who enjoys watching Championship matches, I am looking forward to this season more than most.
And finally, I also agree with Martyn Sadler in his ‘Talking Rugby League’ column last week, that the RFL have made a mistake in scheduling the Championship Grand Final on the same weekend as the Super League Grand Final.
Put it on a week later, and it will have the stage to itself.
Is there still time to do this?
Bill Rees, Wakefield

IS THE RFL OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE GRASS ROOTS?
As one who watches amateur Rugby League during the summer once the non-league football season has finished, I think that the new structure, foisted on clubs by the RFL with apparently very little consultation, is nothing short of a disaster in the making.
To dismantle a competitive and well run National Conference League that would have been celebrating its fortieth year is a retrograde step as clubs in the bottom two divisions find themselves back where they started in regional leagues.
So how can that be defined as  progress?
The Football Association introduced a pyramid that encompassed non-league clubs back in 1982 and, with a few adjustments, it has proved to be a sustainable structure, whereas the RFL has imposed a setup that very few clubs seem to want.
The four-division NCL should have been recognised as the flagship competition at the community level with regionalisation being introduced at the Yorkshire and North West Men’s Leagues together with the Barrow and Cumbrian Leagues.
But the RFL obviously know better than the clubs themselves, who I think ought to be looking to establish their own competitions and structures outside of those put forward by the RFL who, as with the IMG gradings, have proved themselves to be out of touch with the clubs, the leagues and most of all the supporters.
John Clements, Bradford

WARM WELCOME AT ODSAL
It was interesting and somewhat alarming to read Neil Hinchliffe’s letter (Mailbag, 22 December) about the horrors of his and others train journeys to and from Liverpool for the autumn Ashes Test Match at Everton.
Certainly Newcastle is the favoured and proven best venue for Magic Weekend, all things considered.
However, I am assured that if Neil visits the “muck heap”, as he calls Odsal Stadium (Mailbag 27 October) this coming season, he will find much improved toilet facilities and a friendly, warm welcome, as always at the Bulls.
Maybe though it might still be a tad cold on a snowy, winter’s day down on the terraces.
Mike Foster, South Cave, East Yorkshire