: Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:50 am  

Ski wrote:

Debate amongst a section of the community.

Plenty time for debate after the event, rather than putting a downer on something that is due to take place in 5 days.

Graham has a propensity for shooting his mouth off - blasting the RFL for trying to take RL to other regions p*sses me off.

No doubt if the RFU had a similar event their players would hype it up rather than badmouthing it and we'd all look on enviously and whinge that the RFL doesn't have the balls to do something similar.

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:00 am  

saint billy wrote:

I agree with Graham. I'm not a fan of MM.

Its a lot of money for a regular fixture, and its also an extra fixture which isn't needed. IMO, every team should play each other home and away and that's it before the play-offs.

I suspect that it actually makes money for the game, rather than costing anything. Cardiff were rumored to be paying £500k to the RFL for the right to host it, Edinburgh are probably paying more. Add in the 30k ticket sales (around £500k), the extra tv revenue from having a big event and it is actually quite a big money spinner for the game as a whole.

I do agree on the uneven fixtures part of your comments though.

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:17 am  

saints35 bulls0 wrote:

I suspect that it actually makes money for the game, rather than costing anything. Cardiff were rumored to be paying £500k to the RFL for the right to host it, Edinburgh are probably paying more. Add in the 30k ticket sales (around £500k), the extra tv revenue from having a big event and it is actually quite a big money spinner for the game as a whole.

I do agree on the uneven fixtures part of your comments though.

I meant for the fans. It's a lot of money for the fans for just a regular fixture. If it didn't make the RFL money then there is no way they would do it.

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:21 am  

saint billy wrote:

I meant for the fans. It's a lot of money for the fans for just a regular fixture. If it didn't make the RFL money then there is no way they would do it.

its not compulsory to attend you know

at the end of the day, they have put some great deals on tickets so they have made it as accessible as possible. 7 games for £20 for me, cant really complain about that - bearing in mind that a normal game costs around £20 these days.

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:35 am  

Ottoman Saint wrote:

I agree with him.

There is absolutely no publicity for it up here, I live within 30 minutes of Murrayfield, the only Scots who seem aware of it are the ones I have invited through work. Strikes me as a no more than an excuse for the rugby league fans to go and get ruined for a weekend away.Graham could be seen as coming across as a 'complete tool' or 'utter weapon' here though, I don't see what he achieved by opening his mouth.

we need an excuse

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:52 am  

FearTheVee wrote:

Plenty time for debate after the event, rather than putting a downer on something that is due to take place in 5 days.

Graham has a propensity for shooting his mouth off - blasting the RFL for trying to take RL to other regions p*sses me off.

No doubt if the RFU had a similar event their players would hype it up rather than badmouthing it and we'd all look on enviously and whinge that the RFL doesn't have the balls to do something similar.

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:01 pm  

Personally Im against the MW for a couple of reasons

Due to the fact and like others its the credit crunch and I seriously cant afford to go to Scotland for what only is when it comes down to it another Super League game.

Secondly the amount of games over Easter is unfair on all the players in Super League. If we were to scrap the extra game over the Easter period and the Magic Weekend maybe this could help England in the long run by not having to play two extra matches. The players are knackered and they should be the ones that the RFL listen to along with the coaches of all 14 clubs. Is it any bloody wonder we can never compete with Australia and New Zealand when we run our best players into the ground.

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:03 pm  

Joynty11 wrote:

Personally Im against the MW for a couple of reasons

Due to the fact and like others its the credit crunch and I seriously cant afford to go to Scotland for what only is when it comes down to it another Super League game.

Secondly the amount of games over Easter is unfair on all the players in Super League. If we were to scrap the extra game over the Easter period and the Magic Weekend maybe this could help England in the long run by not having to play two extra matches. The players are knackered and they should be the ones that the RFL listen to along with the coaches of all 14 clubs. Is it any bloody wonder we can never compete with Australia and New Zealand when we run our best players into the ground.

So we'd still be left with only playing one side once? How's this for a radical suggestion?

We play each team, home and away, twice. The team at the top, wins the league.

As soon as the season is over, the best players go and train for a few weeks to get into the England spirit. Hell, without the extra few weeks at the end we could even have a couple of internationals mid season.

Bring the sparkle back into the CC by making it rugby league's weekend away again.

Regression for progression...

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:35 pm  

all these are wonderful and delightful ideas....but who is going to pay for it?

- SKY want Playoffs and a Grand Final;
- SKY want the Magic weekend;
- All the clubs want the revenue from a bank holiday home game at Easter;
- The public has shown thier lack of interest in the Challenge Cup with rubbish attendances for years;
- International RL is not attractive to sponsors or broadcasters, therefore it is relegated in importance.

In the real world...he who pays the piper, picks the tune. SKY are holding the game up, paying wages and bringing in sponsorhip.

The players need to be careful what they wish for, or else they may just find themselves playing as part timers again.

: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:49 pm  

Went to Cardiff last year and must agree that it was a great weekend. I only managed to watch a game and a half of rugby, but i probably spent half my monthly wage on ale. There is so much going on immediately around the ground that the whole weekend felt like a carnival.

So then it moves to Murrayfield.

I've never been to a rugby game up there, but i have been to an ice hockey game, and the ice rink is basically attached to the main stadium.

Murrayfield's surrounding area isn't a patch on downtown Cardiff. I just can't really get my head around how the fans are all going to fit in the 4-5 pubs near the ground.

I realise that the event goes where the big money offers come from, but moving away from a bustling Cardiff centre to the outskirts of Edinburgh seems ludicrous.