It's a terrible event in a terrible location with some terrible matches on show. I've not been to one of them since they started in Cardiff and I don't see any reason to start now.

actually i think renault based their team tactics on this under briatore in 2008

Can't believe how miserable people are, Edinburgh is a brilliant city I had a great time last year.



And too cold?? I got sunburnt!

Great city, crap event.

Totally agree. Wont ever go to a magic weekend. Nothing magic about it. 7 games and no main event? Pointless and needs a major rethink.

wtf is a main event?



what more can they do other than play rugby league?

Think he means some kind of final.

If you haven't been to one, how can you know whether it's good or not?



I've been to every single one and loved them all. The fixtures this year are pretty pants though.

It's time for this to be used to showcase the challenge cup, doubt the BBC would give it the coverage as sky do.

This is the problem , it has to be Sky therefore superleague. I wish people would give it a chance. We are so impatient as a collective of fans.



The RFL will get it right, they have to however, be given a chance to do so.

been to all the previous ones - but probably not bothering this time. I suspect this year will see its lowest crowd yet.



Perhaps holding it every 2 years would help. Build a bit of anticipation to it - they could do the derby games every time then.

The "last 16" would make it interesting, but wouldn't work for two main reasons:

1. most people are not going to plan to go to Edinburgh if they are only going to get a couple of weeks notice that their team is there.

2. BBC have the rights to the Challenge Cup, and they are not going to show eight games. In fact, they wouldn't even show four.



However, it would give the Championship teams something to play for in the earlier rounds, as some luck with the draw could see them with a big day out.

The thing is the BBC *COULD* theoretically broadcast 7 or 8 games. BBC3 and BBC4 don't start until 7pm - there is bandwidth available and they could also simulcast on BBCHD which shows bog all during the day.

exactly, the red button service managed to broadcast hours of winter Olympics throughout the 2 weeks that it was on...they could do it if they wanted to. There isn't even a need to show all 8 games live on TV...it might encourage more people to attend if they couldn't watch it on TV.



if it was the last 16 of the cup, I would definitely go - regardless of who Saints were playing. You would be guaranteed a number of all Super League games, plus the x-factor of being knockout games and potential upsets.

I went to the 2 in Cardiff and was due to go last year but in the end couldnt.



Really wanted to go this year. But I left it too late to get somewhere cheap to stay.



I was going to do a day trip but the last train out of edinburgh is at 7pm



I loved it in Cardiff as it was so close to the city.

I think the main stumbling block is your first point. At the moment, the fixtures fall as follows:







Only 3 weeks between the 4th and 5th Rounds. And again another 3 weeks between the 5th and QF. You'd probably need at least 6-8 weeks to get a decent sell, which could be done by moving the 4th 3 weeks earlier.



Something else which I've noticed (that also happened last year) is the large gap between the QF and SF. Why not hold the SF as a double header and mix it in with a 7s or 9s weekend for the clubs that didn't make it?

Carrying on with the idea of the Challenge Cup and Magic Weekend...



One of the major draw factors about having the CC as a Magic Weekend style event is that at the end of the weekend you can hold the draw live in front of all the fans there. You could in theory have a Magic Weekend on every round of the cup from the 5th Round onwards with an announced stadium from the season before, and with every round you progress to you would know when and where you were going regardless of who you're playing.



For example...



4th Round (last weekend in March) - Home/Away as usual

5th Round (May Day BH Weekend, 4 games Sat, 4 games Sun) - Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Quarter Final (Mid June, 2 games Sat, 2 games Sun) - Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Semi Final (first weekend in August, 2 games on Sat) - Bramall Lane, Sheffield

Final (August BH weekend, 1 game Sat) - Wembley Stadium, London



That would make the Challenge Cup as fair as possible from the 5th Round onwards, with no home advantage to anyone (unless Sheffield manage to make the Semis).

I've told you before plenty of times. It should be 'WWE Royal Rumble' style.



Draw the first two names out of a hat at 12.30pm on day 1 (drawn by celebrities Toby Anstis and Anneka Rice), those two teams go out at 1pm.

Follow this step until all 14 teams have played.

Brilliant. Pure genius.

So how do the teams get eliminated?

as a player steps or gets tackled into touch he is eliminated.

and every season since it started!

I'm talking more specifically about the "Wacky" thing. It's already been talked about.



The merits of the Magic Weekend get discussed all the time. For me, unless they bring back the derbies, they might as well use it for the Challenge Cup.

I like the idea of playing the last 16 of the Challenge Cup on this weekend. I think it's much better than the current situation, which IMO is gimmicky and crowds could start to fall as the novelty value wears off, especially with the current, ill-thought out set of fixtures.



Speaking of gimmicky ideas, what about Rugby League 20/20 style?



16 teams (Super League + Championship Grand Final Winners + Northern Rail Cup Winners (or Grand Final Runners-Up)) playing in a straight knockout cup competition played over 2 days. Each game lasts 40 minutes (20 minutes per half). The first round is on day one, and the Quarters, Semis and Final on day two. That's 15 games of 40 minute rugby over 2 days.



The finalists would need to play 160 minutes of Rugby over two days, so obviously fatigue would be a factor. So teams can take 30 man squads to the event, and can name 20 man squads for each game with x number of subs allowed each game. A structured format would need to be put into place to maximise the time between the games that winners would have to play.



*Ducks for cover*

To be honest, that's not too bad an idea, but like you say, the main stumbling block would be the amount of game minutes in two days.