: Mon May 04, 2009 4:04 pm  

JWP wrote:

Putting the stadiums thing to one side, I'm just not convinced by it at all. As a TV viewer, I found it so difficult to maintain the enthusiasm game after game, I mean, I watched every second of every game, but man alive, I felt like I'd played, really tough. As someone who literally sits in work, and thinks "Great, Castleford v Leeds tonight" on a Friday, I just found it overload, and a bit of a turn off in truth.

As for the standard of rugby, it's weird watching it, I don't know how to explain it, there's something sort of 'testamonial' about it. It doesn't seem real somehow, it normally hurts like hell getting beat, home or away, but somehow this doesn't, I can't explan it really. The atmosphere, it's like your watching Rugby Union 7's on SKY, at Twickenham, when there's patchy support, the odd roar, when a Fijiaan jinks his way through from his own half past the entire Army side.

Difficult to explain, but everything I love about RL gets lost in tranlastion at this somehow.

i know where you're coming from, someone could have bagged my misses on the half way line and don't think i would of been upset by it.

A huge stadium with more seats than people doesn't help either. if the stadium had been full and the atmosphere electric then im sure it would have been different

: Mon May 04, 2009 8:07 pm  

Rob Wire wrote:

That was rugby league showcasing its game to the nation, if you were a major sponsor thinking of getting into rugby league then you would be thinking twice right now as you wouldn`t want your product to be associated with a two thirds empty stadium. Sky did its best to conceal how few people were at the magic weekend with some clever camera work but even they couldn`t hide how few people had turned up.

I wanted the magic weekend to be a success from the moment it started in Cardiff but you have to face upto facts here, the only real winners are the cities that stage the games as Edingburgh made around £10 million from the event and also the RFL who got a few quid in its back pocket.

The image of our game is the most important factor here and it took a massive knock in Edingburgh, if they are going to continue with the magic weekend then they need smaller stadiums to stage the event in as the atmosphere gets lost in a ground thats two thirds empty and its embarrassing to our game to have a stadium so empty for such a major event with the nation watching on and possibly the world if it went out to Australia.

The thing is, people are not stupid, they know what this event is. It is a festival, where fans are in and out of the stadium, so people expect to see empty seats. All the sponsors will have been well aware of what crowd to expect, and will no doubt have been pleased with an overall figure of 60k.

This isn't a cup final, it is a unique event, and will always look like this.

: Mon May 04, 2009 8:35 pm  

Dave T wrote:

The thing is, people are not stupid, they know what this event is. It is a festival, where fans are in and out of the stadium, so people expect to see empty seats. All the sponsors will have been well aware of what crowd to expect, and will no doubt have been pleased with an overall figure of 60k.

This isn't a cup final, it is a unique event, and will always look like this.

This is what I don't get about people decrying the fact the stadium wasn't full. Everybody would have had to sit still for at least five and a half hours, it will never happen.

: Mon May 04, 2009 8:38 pm  

Millennium Magic is a novelty weekend its not our Games "Showpiece" event.

If Wembley and the Grand final were played to half full stadiums then i'd worry....

Magic Weekends are for fans that like a weekend away and a bit of Sauce in a different city..... its not my cup of tea so i havent been...but i wasnt embarrased about the empty seats at all i think Magic weekend is a great idea which some people love, others dont, and some arent bothered either way.

and it hasnt been shown to the nation.....its been on SKY TV which I presume means it was probably watched by... and I'm spit balling here, a couple of hundred thousand.....?

I didnt see it get 10 seconds on BBC or ITV News like the Challenge cup final gets

anyway you should all Wait Till Wires and Wigan Get to Wembley then you'll all be panicking about getting your tickets for this sell out showpiece event and making sure some bandwagoners don't get first dibs at tickets which should be for true fans only....

: Mon May 04, 2009 8:49 pm  

Not a fan of Edinburgh this year at all lovely city dont get me wrong but just not as good as cardiff last year atmosphere this year was poor ! that place is more for sight seeing everywhere was too spread out ! we was in bed asleep for midnight sunday night, last year we was still singing and dancing in the street in cardiff ! will not be goin back next year for the full weekend maybe just the wire match

: Mon May 04, 2009 9:33 pm  

Half-empty stadiums or $hitty little tin pot grounds like The Willows and Belle Vue on sky every couple of weeks?

: Mon May 04, 2009 9:38 pm  

Jesus Of Suburbia wrote:

Half-empty stadiums or $hitty little tin pot grounds like The Willows and Belle Vue on sky every couple of weeks?

Which are also half empty most weeks.