Re: Newcastle Magic : Thu Nov 20, 2014 10:18 am  

NickyKiss wrote: Nice to hear somebody not bag the fixture list. I have no issue with any of them. The games on our day this year were all superb and here's hoping for more of the same next time. If that Leeds game is anywhere near as good as this time we're in for a treat. Thinking about the fixture list. We do seem hung up on the fairness of it all. In the NRL they play 24 games and in a 16 team league that means they play 9 teams twice and 6 teams just the once. Home advantage seems to count for little. Very few teams play at just the one home ground. I find this odd, but NZW play at about 4 different grounds. The Bulldogs play on the road quite a lot, even playing one home game in Perth. The ANZ stadium seems to be home ground to at least 3 teams. Heaven knows how they sell season passes. Also it's much harder to travel away. I don't expect many Gold Coast fans travel to Melbourne for example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:NRL_Grounds

NickyKiss wrote: Nice to hear somebody not bag the fixture list. I have no issue with any of them. The games on our day this year were all superb and here's hoping for more of the same next time. If that Leeds game is anywhere near as good as this time we're in for a treat. Thinking about the fixture list. We do seem hung up on the fairness of it all. In the NRL they play 24 games and in a 16 team league that means they play 9 teams twice and 6 teams just the once. Home advantage seems to count for little. Very few teams play at just the one home ground. I find this odd, but NZW play at about 4 different grounds. The Bulldogs play on the road quite a lot, even playing one home game in Perth. The ANZ stadium seems to be home ground to at least 3 teams. Heaven knows how they sell season passes. Also it's much harder to travel away. I don't expect many Gold Coast fans travel to Melbourne for example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:NRL_Grounds

Re: Newcastle Magic : Thu Nov 20, 2014 10:43 am  

Finfin wrote:

Whitley Bay is a s--t hole, think Morecambe but 10 times worse. Luckily Tynemouth is just 2 miles down the coast.

Yes, I know Tried to get in at the Grand in Tynemouth but was fully booked as were other guest houses there. So Whitley Bay it is.

Re: Newcastle Magic : Thu Nov 20, 2014 10:43 am  

Hotels in Newcastle suddenly become available if you are willing to stay 3 nights and pay £150 a night for a double . Heading the same way as Cardiff . A competition to see which hotel can rip the fans off the most . Saturday night in the Toon usually is quite expensive but they are having a laugh . Got 3 nights booked in a City Centre Hotel for £234 for a twin . Think i will change to travelling down Saturday morning and home Sunday PM . Been to every Magic Weekend but i think its getting close to its sell by date . Regards , EW http://www.trivago.co.uk/?aDateRange%5B ... map=false& Friday to Monday http://www.trivago.co.uk/?aDateRange%5B ... map=false& Saturday to Monday http://www.trivago.co.uk/?aDateRange%5B ... map=false& Saturday to Sunday

Hotels in Newcastle suddenly become available if you are willing to stay 3 nights and pay £150 a night for a double . Heading the same way as Cardiff . A competition to see which hotel can rip the fans off the most . Saturday night in the Toon usually is quite expensive but they are having a laugh . Got 3 nights booked in a City Centre Hotel for £234 for a twin . Think i will change to travelling down Saturday morning and home Sunday PM . Been to every Magic Weekend but i think its getting close to its sell by date . Regards , EW http://www.trivago.co.uk/?aDateRange%5B ... map=false& Friday to Monday http://www.trivago.co.uk/?aDateRange%5B ... map=false& Saturday to Monday http://www.trivago.co.uk/?aDateRange%5B ... map=false& Saturday to Sunday

Re: Newcastle Magic : Thu Nov 20, 2014 10:54 am  

I would prefer to see it turned into a 9s comp similar to the Auckland comp.
Play it over a bank holiday 3 days include more teams, you'd attract way more fans and neutrals.

Re: Newcastle Magic : Thu Nov 20, 2014 11:07 am  

Wire Yed wrote:

I would prefer to see it turned into a 9s comp similar to the Auckland comp.
Play it over a bank holiday 3 days include more teams, you'd attract way more fans and neutrals.

I reckon SL teams would play their reserves if no league points were at stake. Also not sure fans would travel for what would surely be seen as a Mickey Mouse Cup. IMO they have the right idea putting league points on the line and pitching evenly matched teams against each other. The only issues I have with it are:

It makes the league uneven - why not pitch evenly matched teams against each other from the top and middle 8's after the split? That way it's fair and gets rid of the extra home/away fixture issue as well

Some years they have held the events at places where there is no regular professional rugby league to watch - 90 miles to Workington or 96 miles to Leeds if you are from Newcastle and decide you want to start watching Pro RL regularly. Same issue when they have held it in Cardiff and Edinburgh.

When it is in Manchester, why aren't they encouraging clubs to put offers on to encourage new fans to watch a regular season game the week after? I'd give a voucher to each fan who buys a full price weekend ticket entitling them to buy one get one free to their favoured team's next home fixture (or a tenner off the price, whichever). That way there is more of a link between the event and actually getting more fans in regularly