: Tue May 05, 2009 11:57 am  

AdmiralHanson wrote:

7 ) I hope with the proceeds the SRFU buy a mower to trim the playing surface to a reasonable level next year ... And how about a return to an RFL logo being mown in to the turf ? (Remember the 'Love The Game' logo at the 1999 Cup Final ?)

Given the drainage issues at the stadium and the fact it was hosting 7 games in two days I thought they got it absolutely spot on.

If they'd mowed it on the Thursday/Friday and it had subsequently peed it down then the whole weekend would have turned into a mud wrestling contest instead.

Compared to the ice rink that Cardiff turned into with the roof shut I thought it was a good call by the groundstaff to leave the grass a little longer - it's not like football where the ball spends so much time on the floor the surface needs to be like a carpet.

: Tue May 05, 2009 4:19 pm  

Yes a good weekend out, but I am begining to question the whole Magic Weekend idea. The original concept was to promote the game and have the fans watch other games as well as supporting their own team. I am not sure this now works as the stadium never looked full (capacity 66k approx) therefore with a lower than average attendance per match than a normal SL round it must mean we are losing most of the income to bodies outside RL. Many fans only went to their own fixture. If we cannot get a larger attendance than the Cup Final for 7 SL matches then something is wrong.

As for promoting the game to give away 6000 tickets looks to me a very expensive way to try and win a few new fans. On the same weekend the big RU matches had larger crowds. It will be interesting to compare the Sky audience figures for the Magic Weekend and the RU matches.

Of course the Sky people keep selling it but they would wouldn't they. IMO the whole event has a feel of overkill and seems past its sell by date.

If we want to expand the game then we could achieve the same result by playing a top fixture every so often around the country.

: Tue May 05, 2009 5:18 pm  

Juan Cornetto wrote:

Yes a good weekend out, but I am begining to question the whole Magic Weekend idea. The original concept was to promote the game and have the fans watch other games as well as supporting their own team. I am not sure this now works as the stadium never looked full (capacity 66k approx) therefore with a lower than average attendance per match than a normal SL round it must mean we are losing most of the income to bodies outside RL. Many fans only went to their own fixture. If we cannot get a larger attendance than the Cup Final for 7 SL matches then something is wrong.

As for promoting the game to give away 6000 tickets looks to me a very expensive way to try and win a few new fans. On the same weekend the big RU matches had larger crowds. It will be interesting to compare the Sky audience figures for the Magic Weekend and the RU matches.

Of course the Sky people keep selling it but they would wouldn't they. IMO the whole event has a feel of overkill and seems past its sell by date.

If we want to expand the game then we could achieve the same result by playing a top fixture every so often around the country.

59749 over two days to watch seven matches gives an average for each match of 8535, I'd say thats pretty good for a stadium thats at least 200 miles away from any major fan base and required either a very long day or an overnight stay for most.

The RFL are saying only that they had SALES of 6236 tickets in Scotland, no mention of freebies, but even if the whole of those had been given away then what is the problem ?

Part of your idea for taking the whole round of games to an area of the country where you may want to promote your game is to promote it to the locals, your fan base pays for the event and you get to give away tickets to your target market, as an advertising concept its brilliant in its simplicity, the only thing they did wrong was not to give away 20,000 tickets to the Scots.

Advertising is very expensive for any business, the customer who is not yet a customer is the most expensive customer you'll ever have to speak to - MM is an ideal opportunity to give them a sampler while your regular clientele enjoy the weekend away - win/win.

: Tue May 05, 2009 5:32 pm  

The seven exact fixtures have already been played in SL earlier this season, although not in a single round on an all pay basis or at a neutral venue in another country.

FWIW they attracted an aggregate attendance of 74,532

: Tue May 05, 2009 5:41 pm  

I really enjoyed the weekend. The games were pretty good, and the stadium is great. I can't moan about the beer prices as I took my own in.

The town itself is smashing, with a great array of pubs and such. I hope they have finished the tram project by the time of next year's event. That will make a big difference.

The worst thing about the weekend (apart from the group of drunken 20 year old Braford fans telling every pub on Rose Street how they hate the gays, the IRA and the Leeds scum) was how the wind hits Murrayfield. We were seated in the upper tier on the camera side, and entering the stairwell became known as braving the 'Murrayfield Artic Tunnel Of Doom' it was so cold. Every time I went to use the toilet, I kept my hands under the hot air dryer for two full cycles, just to try and thaw them out.

: Tue May 05, 2009 9:06 pm  

Question to the FC fans (and we all know how much we all adore our excessively digitised Hull friends) – why did you all appear for your game then feck off straight after the final hooter?

Why travel 200+ miles, buy a ticket that allows you to watch (at least) 4 top flight rugby games but only bother with your own clubs game?

If there is a more insular breed of Brit than your average Hullian I have yet to meet them.

: Tue May 05, 2009 9:16 pm  

EmmaMur01 wrote:

We have just got back from a great weekend in Edinburgh.

A few points.....

1). We really liked Edinburgh as a city. Some great pubs, restaurants, and lots to do and see.
2). A lot of Edinburgh 'locals' and people who worked in the city obviously didn't know about the rugby league. A number of taxi drivers asked us what was going on and had no idea or no interest in it.
3). The facilities around the ground were crap. I saw little to do for the kids and I can understand that they must have been bored.
4). Why did the city council not get their act together and put on a shuttle service from the city centre to Murrayfield? If they had charged say, £1 per person, (and the ticket was valid all day), they would make a killing, the shops etc would have more RL fans throughout the day, and it would have also meant that you could have picked and chosen your games. For people who find it hard to walk, (like my auntie and uncle), it was hard going doing the walk.
5). I said to Danny on the way back today that it is a shame that we did not meet up with half the people we had said we would, BUT everything was just too spread out.
6). The scottish RFL missed a great opportunity for marketing. Why not give away a load of things associated with Scotland, or produce merchandise for people to buy to do with Murrayfield and the magic weekend? I saw little merchandising available! To be honest as well, we could have been in any city in the world.
7). Great weekend, but Cardiff by plenty.

There were plenty of buses at £3 for the day you could hop on and off at will, and when you wanted to go to Murrayfield they stopped right outside the ground.

: Tue May 05, 2009 9:23 pm  

Giantscorpio wrote:

There were plenty of buses at £3 for the day you could hop on and off at will, and when you wanted to go to Murrayfield they stopped right outside the ground.

Indeed – but you’d have to know which busses to catch and where from – being one who subscribes to the school of thought that suggests that busses are for poor people and I would never trouble myself with actually finding out which bus was going to actually get me to the ground.

Much simpler to have Castle to Ground shuttles – I may have even caught one knowing that I wouldn’t be mixing with the general bus catching populous.

: Tue May 05, 2009 10:00 pm  

Unfortunately I was unable to attend Murrayfield due to circumstances at home . Watched it on the telly and loved every minute of it . Yes the pitch wasn't 100% , but it got some hammer over the weekend . Saints say they couldnt play in the sunshine . Soooooo .... they can't play in the sunshine ,or in the rain
Why can't we have a few more 'magic weekends' over the season ?
There are enough football grounds on the M62 corridor that have the capacity to host us . Can almost guarantee that said grounds would be filled to capacity on each weekend .
Keep THE magic weekend as and where it is , but add extras .

I'd go to them . Would you ?

: Wed May 06, 2009 9:20 am  

With regards to why the hot water - my missus drinks black tea and yes you have guessed - we had a tea bag at the ready.
So, the big question I have asked them all is why does hot water cost the same as tea and coffee bearing in mind there are no ingredients and far less overheads in a cup of hot water!
As previously stated they dont charge for hot water at the motorway services.