Magic Weekend of Illusion

I don’t mean to be negative, and this is my first negative / controversial article, but what exactly is the point of the Magic Weekend?  I don’t agree with where the so called “Magic Weekend” was held this year and the extra fixture it creates.

Let me start with the first point, the location.  Last year (2012), this year (2013), and next year (2014), the location of the Magic Weekend is Manchester City Football Clubs home ground, The Etihad Stadium, in east Manchester.  I haven’t got anything against Man City, in fact Wigan Athletic beat them 1 - 0 in the FA Cup Final in May 2012, I have got an issue with the location of the Magic Weekend being in Manchester.  Manchester, the north-west of England, which is already saturated with a number of Rugby League clubs.  Manchester, the north-west of England, which is within the heartlands of Rugby League.

When the Magic Weekend was first created back in 2007 the concept was to promote rugby league to a wider audience, to brand new fans, thus making more people interested in the sport, grow the audience of the greatest game of all and create rugby league clubs away from the M62 corridor.  

Therefore in 2007 Millennium Magic (as it was called then) was held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.  Millennium Magic was also held in Cardiff in 2008.  In 2009 and 2010 the weekend was rebranded the Magic Weekend as the event moved to Edinburgh and was held at Murrayfield.  Murrayfield should hold a place in every Wigan Warriors fans heart as it as here where in 2002 Wigan Warriors beat St Helens 21 - 12 in the final of the Challenge Cup!  In 2011 the weekend moved back to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

In the 5 years from the initial idea in 2007 to holding the weekend in Manchester in 2012 I believe that the RFL have lost focus in the concept and now just stage the event purely to make money.  Don’t get me wrong I know that money makes the world go round but when did sport become business?  The RFL shouldn’t be concerned with turning a profit, they should just be concerned with breaking even.  Where does the profit go?  I certainly don’t think it gets ploughed back into the game, it probably makes fat cats get even fatter.

My opinion is that the weekend should be held away from the heartlands, to revert back to the original concept of introducing rugby league to brand new fans.  I would love to see the weekend being held in Newcastle for example.  St James Park holds 52,387 and it is in the middle of the city centre.  The north-east hasn’t got a team in the Super League, rugby league isn’t very well known over there but I’m sure that the Geordies would go mad for the game.  To me the Magic Weekend should be all about promoting rugby league in new areas to new fans.

If the statistics are anything to go by the fans currently don’t want the concept either in its present state.  On Day 1 the attendance was 30,793.  The corresponding fixtures produced an attendance of 41,286 and that’s including a London Broncos home game.  On Day 2 the attendance was 32,953.  The corresponding fixtures produced an attendance of 28,702 which is higher but how many of the fans had purchased a weekend ticket and how many fans had purchased a ticket who had never seen a rugby league game before?  My guess is that most of the day 2 fans had also attended on day 1 and 99.9% of them had seen a rugby league game before.  I would love to see the number of individual ticket sales instead of just seeing the total attendance figure of 63,746.  I’m sure it would paint a very different picture.

My other bug bear in that the Magic Weekend creates another fixture in an already crowded fixture list.  I believe that rugby league players in this country already play too many rugby league games and they also play more games than their NRL cousins.  I know that they all full time athletes and this is their job but in how many other jobs are there collisions to the equational of a car crash every 10 seconds?

The Magic Weekend fixture should be part of the regular 26 weekly rounds.  I don’t think that there should be an extra fixture created just for it.  I love watching Wigan Warriors play, and 9 times out of 10 beating, St Helens but in recent years we have had to play them up to 5 times a season and even to the most die hard of fan that tens to drum down the only official derby in the world of sport, apart from the Epson derby of course.

I know that people will complain and say that it will be unfair to half of the super league teams that their side will lose a home game.  But it will only be every other season, the other half of the super league teams will also lose a fixture the alternative season so I’m sure we can all argue on that.  More so when Wigan Warriors lose a home game for the Magic Weekend then the season ticket price would be cheaper, bonus!  Or another idea would be to include the Magic Weekend fixture as part of the season ticket, and thus getting into St James Park for free, belting!

Why do Championship rugby league sides miss out on the Magic Weekend?  I don’t think that’s fair.  If the Magic Weekend concept is to showcase the sport to a wider audience then I think it should also include the Championship sides.  I went to watch Leigh Centurions play on day 2 of the Magic Weekend, I’m not two faced, and I didn’t think that it was very fair for the club and their fans for them to be playing on the same day.  What if their fans wanted to go to day 2 of the Magic Weekend?  Then they would of had to of chosen between their own club and the concept.  I certainly would of known where my priorities lie.

As the Magic Weekend is normally played over a Bank Holiday weekend then I don’t think it would be a problem for the RFL to include the Championship sides.  They could play the 14 rugby league games, which includes the Championship club games, over 3 days.  5 games on the Saturday, 5 games on the Sunday, and 4 games on the Bank Holiday Monday, thus allowing fans to get back home for work the next day.

Until the RFL revert back to the original concept of the Magic Weekend which is to promote the sport to a wider audience by moving it out of the rugby league heartlands and it stops becoming a money making exercise by being an extra fixture in the super league diary then I’m afraid I’m out.

#AgainstModernRugbyLeague

Club or Country in Rugby League?

It’s the age old question, club or country?  Do you just want the rugby league club you support to be successful or do you also want your country to be successful also?

Do you wince when your club players are picked for a mid season international and hope that they don’t get injured for the business end of the season?  Are you club over country?

Or are you happy when your club players get picked for international duty?  Isn't playing for your country the pinnacle of sporting achievement for players?  Doesn’t everybody wants to see their club players playing for their respective countries?

I understand that the clubs pay the players their wages and of course they don’t want to see their players out injured but players can also get injured playing for their club week in, week out.  

I’m all for international rugby league as I believe for the sport to grow in this country, and world wide, then of course we need the sport to be played on the biggest stage.  Growth in international rugby league is more important than growth in club rugby.  After the international game has grown and been promoted to a wider audience then I believe club rugby and the game in general will grow more as a result.  It’s the whole chicken and egg argument though, some people will argue club rugby needs to grow before the international game.

Supporters need to take off their blinkers and see the bigger picture.  The club you support isn’t the be all and end all of rugby league.  There are other games out there being played, other competitions than just the ones your club are involved in.  International games are the prime example of how to promote the game to a wider audience.  

TV viewers that have never sat down to watch a rugby league game before are more likely to watch England v Australia than say the likes of Castleford Tigers v Hull KR.  After they have an interest in the sport then they may watch the mediocre games on TV and then attend games themselves.  This would increase attendance and money coming into the sport, for which we are in dire need of.

I believe we should all be behind international rugby league more than ever this year as, I’m sure you already know, the Rugby League World Cup is being held on these shores in October.  For England Rugby League and for the World Cup to be a success in this country then I believe that we have to win the thing, or at the very least get to the final, nothing else will do.  I’d give up Wigan Warriors winning anything this year for England to win the World Cup!

We must raise the profile of the rugby league game in England and get much more exposure, and money, otherwise I fear that rugby league will be a semi-professional dying sport in less than 15 years time.  As you can see by my comments above it’s my point of view that rugby league needs international games to grow.

Come October I’ll be pulling on my England Rugby League shirt and roaring the lads to success.  In 2025 there may not be a World Cup, there may not be international games, there may not be rugby league .......

What Wigan Rugby League Means To Me

Wigan RL to me isn't just a team, it's a way of life.  I got my girlfriend (now the missus) into Wigan RL.  Both of our daughters are also massive Wigan RL fans.  All four of us are season ticket holders and we love going to the DW Stadium to watch Wigan RL.  We even moved house so that we could be closer to the ground.  It's something that we all enjoy together as a family.  Win, lose or draw we come away with smilies on our faces after watching our home town club play.  Wigan RL is the greatest team in the greatest game of all!

*** This article first appeared in issue 3 of Cherry & White (a Wigan Warriors Fanzine).  You can follow Cherry & White on twitter @CherryWhiteZine and purchase the fanzine here :- cherrywhite.bigcartel.com ***

Wigan Warriors 2012 Super League Stats Review

As we are now in full swing of the 2013 Super League XVIII (18 for those without a Latin ‘O’ Level) season I thought it would be a bit of fun to look back at last years regular season stats.

You will be well aware that we finished top of the Super League with 42 points, 1 point clear of second place Warrington Wolves, and with a massive points difference of 545!  Wires points difference was only 370, giving Wigan a large margin of 175 points over them.

Wigan Warriors were the best in attack AND the best in defence in Super League in 2012.  We scored 994 points and only conceded 449 points.

But where did all these points come from, who made the tackles, who made the metres, who scored the tries I hear you ask.  Well, with a few fancy graphics and charts please let me show you.

I’ll start with tries.  Who scored the most tries, how many and who else were big try scorers in the Warriors team.

As you can see Josh Charnley topped the Wigan Warriors super league PIE chart with 31 tries followed very closely by Sam Tomkins with 28 tries.

Next we’ll look at tackles made.  As you can see Micky Mac made a massive 746 tackles, that’s on average almost 28 tackles per game.  Second was H with 584, a big 162 tackles behind Micky.

Sam Tomkins made the most metres with a mammoth 3438 metres made.  Jeff Lima was second with a very impressive 2910 metres, he will be missed by Wigan in 2013.

As you can see from the simple table above Josh Charnley was Wigan's top points scorer.  Pat Richards was second, missing a huge chuck of the season with a knee injury.

I hope these simple stats show how Wigan Warriors were a force to be reckoned with in the Super League 2012 season.

*** This article first appeared in issue 3 of Cherry & White (a Wigan Warriors Fanzine).  You can follow Cherry & White on twitter @CherryWhiteZine and purchase the fanzine here :- cherrywhite.bigcartel.com ***

Banish the Exiles

England v Exiles, what’s that all about?  England v NRL rejects more like.  Don’t get me wrong Super League has some good Australian / New Zealand rugby league players that either used to play in the NRL and / or could play in the NRL.  Unfortunately those players are very few and far between now due to the increased NRL salary cap. I could probably count on one hand the players I am referring to that are in this years Exiles squad.  In my opinion they are Pat Richards and Joel Monaghan.

The ex NRL rugby league players now that come over to the Super League either can’t get a game in the NRL anymore or are the end of their careers and just want a big final paycheck before they retire.  In most cases it’s both of the above.

If I had my way I would like to see a return of the old Lancashire v Yorkshire rugby league War of the Roses games.  Player eligibility for the War of the Roses was based on the player's region of birth.  Even players born outside of Lancashire and Yorkshire were also eligible for selection, based on the region where they first played rugby league at a professional level.

Why not go back to the historical and traditional War of the Roses rugby league games?  They were first played back in 1895 and were only stopped as recently as 2003.  If Lancashire v Yorkshire doesn’t suit anymore what with rugby league now being played in every county in England then an England v England rugby league game would be the preferred option in my belief.

In an England v England game you would see 34 English players all vying for an England shirt come the World Cup.  You would see not just one full back in say Sam Tomkins but you would see two in a Sam Tomkins v Zak Hardaker or Greg Eden full back battle.  Competition for places is what we need in for a competitive England squad.  Not just picking the same old players, with some of them playing out of position, year in year out.

At stand off and scrum half you could see Danny Brough and Richie Myler v Jonny Lomax and Matty Smith.  You would see four centres instead of two, two loose forwards instead of one, you would see 34 English players instead of 17!  To me the idea is a no brainer.

Another thought is that the two coaches of the two sides takes it in turns to pick their English players, like the captains did when you were playing football / rugby league growing up.  My only concern is that Ryan Bailey might spit his dummy out big time and take it out on a smaller rugby league player when he’s picked last!

Now where’s the phone number of Nigel Wood so I can put my ideas to him, I might even tempt him with a meyt n prater pie, or 5!

Forty-20 Magazine Talking Rugby League Forum

I was searching twitter looking for an UK RL fan club fans forum event after reading, in the May issue of Forty-20 magazine, about the fan club and the forum that it recently held in Bradford.  

Unfortunately there isn’t a date set for an UK RL fan club fans forum, for the right side of the Pennines, set yet.  I was disappointed but would keep my eyes peeled for the information when @Forty20Magazine popped up in my mentions stating that it wasn’t an @UKRLfanclub event but would a Forty-20 Talking Rugby League fans forum do for me?

I read the link Forty-20 sent me and it sounded like just the event I was looking it.  The link declared :-

It was an opportunity to hear and question a panel of expert writers about Rugby League.  Phil Caplan, the chair of the panel, is co-director of Scratching Shed Publishing and the founder of the Rugby League Magazine “Forty-20”.  Dave Hadfield, is the Rugby League journalist for the “Independent”.  Ray French is a well known commentator and former international player both for Rugby League and Rugby Union.  Tony Hannan is a journalist and author of several books on Rugby League.  This is the first of several panel events that will be taking place this year.

The forum was organised by Try Reading which is a new project for public libraries.  It aims to celebrate and promote the sporting event of the year - the Rugby League World Cup 2013.  At the same time TRYing to get more people into reading and writing.  The project is being funded with an award from the Arts Council England which meant that the forum was free, even better.  I’m sure that just a normal evening with Ray French as an after dinner speaker would cost a pretty penny so for this forum to cost nothing was a bonus indeed.

The forum was held in Urmston Library, Urmston, Trafford, Manchester.  As I over estimated the traffic on the M61 and the M60 my mate and I arrived in Urmston with just over an hour to spare.  With never venturing to Urmston before the only way to kill time prior to the forum starting was to head to the nearest pub!

We stumbled upon The Chadwick which could have been lifted directly from the set of Coronation Street as it felt just like The Rovers Return as soon as we stepped inside.  Everything from the Mancurian accents to the locals who knew each other to the decorate reminded me of the Rovers.  Gutted when I realised that Newton and Ridley wasn’t on tap so I had to settle for a pint of Courage, Dave Hadfield would have been proud.

After finishing our ale, and without being beaten up by the fierce locals (which is always a bonus) we made our way to the library, which is a new build in the heart of Urmston.  We were guided into a light and airy function room by a stereotypical librarian who once everyone was settled down introduced the event.  When she was finished Phil Caplan introduced the panel and himself, which included as a poor mans Jack Dee, which caused the room to roar with laughter.

The panelists then read an extract from their books, with the expectation of Tony Hannan who read a piece he had written about the internet in 1997 for the Rugby League Express newspaper.

There followed a question and answer session where Phil Caplan asked the panel in turn a number of rugby league questions including about the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, referees and their experiences in Rugby League.

After a very interesting and informative Q & A Phil Caplan opened questions to the floor.  Thoughtful questions were asked regarding commentators, which parts of the world the panel would love to see Rugby League being played, who the panel thought was the young Rugby League player of the year so far, to name just a number of the questions that were asked.

Phil Caplan then wrapped up the forum and invited the audience to purchase a number of books that the guest had written.  I bought Down and Under by Dave Hadfield and What’s a bear to wear by Tom Palmer (for my daughters).  My advice to you readers of this article, attend as many of these Try Reading events / forums as you can, an excellent evening was had by all and take plenty of money, you will want to buy every book that the panel has written.  Truly brilliant speakers and writers. 

Rugger in the Ring

On a bitterly cold Wednesday night in late February I was queueing up outside the Premier Suite of the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, to watch “Rugger in the Ring”.  Rugger in the Ring pitted eight ex rugby league players together to take part in a prizefighter style boxing bout to find the hardest man in rugby league.

The ex players were :-

•   Tim ‘The Timebomb’ Street (Leigh, Swinton, Oldham, Hull FC and Lancashire Lynx),
•   Mick ‘Butch’ Cassidy (Wigan, Widnes and Barrow), 
•   Keith ‘The Chief’ Senior (Sheffield Eagles and Leeds), 
•   Lee ‘Raging Bull’ Radford (Hull FC and Bradford), 
•   Paul ‘The Saint’ Sculthorpe (Warrington and St Helens), 
•   Ian ‘Real Steel’ Sibbit (Warrington, Salford and Bradford), 
•   Sean ‘Wild Cat’ Casey (St Helens, Whitehaven, Swinton), 
•   Alan ‘The Assassin’ Hunte (St Helens, Wakefield, Hull FC, Warrington, Salford).

The competition constituted of quarter finals, semi finals and a final.  The quarter finals and semi finals were three one minute rounds and the final was three one and a half minute rounds.  In the first quarter final bout Mick Cassidy beat Tim Street.  Bout two was won by Lee Radford who beat Keith Senior.  Lee Radford was the favourite heading into the competition.  Boxing bout three was won by Paul Sculthorpe who beat a very unlucky Ian Sibbit.  The last of the quarter finals was won by Sean Casey who beat Alan Hunte.

After a short interval in which the ex players were able to catch their breath, a few of them were blowing heavily and I wasn’t surprised as they were really going for it, and the punters were able to recharge their plastic pint pots the semi finals started.

Lee Radford beat Mick Cassidy in a great battle which both boxers didn’t deserve to lose.  I was gutted as I wanted Mick to win the competition and pick up another trophy.  Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.  Radford, the favourite, was in the final.

In the second semi final Sculthorpe was up against Casey.  Scully got a good couple of shots on Casey nose and the blood began to flow.  This was another epic bout in which both boxers didn’t deserve to lose.  The so called ‘Saint’ did enough to win and was through to the final.

Following the semi finals an auction took place in which the 1200 crowd could bid on a number of items including a meal for four with Paul Sculthorpe at a restaurant of their choosing (not exactly a prize I would want), a rugby league team training day with Sean Long and Martin Gleeson (beat you could of picked up a couple of betting tips also) and the last lot was for a box at the rugby league World Cup final at Old Trafford in November!  Regrettably it was out of my price range as it finally went for £2,100, bargain!?!

A short video about Joining Jack (which the evening was raising money for) was shown on the big screen.  It was a very humbling film in which Andy Johnson talked about his sons battle with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  As the film was being shown you could of heard a pin beingdropped, everybody stopped what they were doing and watched.

The final was between Paul Sculthorpe and Lee Radford.  The first two rounds were very close but I felt that Radford just shaved them.  In the third and final round Sculthorpe needed to pull something out of the bag if he wanted to win the cup.  And pull something out of the bag he did.  He hit Radford with a cracking left hook that put him on the canvas with an almighty thud.  As soon as Radford him the deck the crowd were on their feet.  It really was a fantastic punch any boxer would of been proud of, never mind one who had only been boxing for the last 12 weeks.  The referee gave Lee a standing eight count, in which he did well to clear his head with, and then he went back for more punishment.  The fight didn’t last much longer when the ref stopped it again to save Radford from further pounding and declared  Sculthorpe the winner.  All in all the third round only lasted a mere 38 seconds.

It was a brilliant night, well done to all the fighters, but especially (and I hate to say it) congratulations Paul Sculthorpe on winning Rugger in the Ring and being crowned the hardest man in rugby league.

*** This article first appeared in issue 3 of Cherry & White (a Wigan Warriors Fanzine).  You can follow Cherry & White on twitter @CherryWhiteZine and purchase the fanzine here :- cherrywhite.bigcartel.com ***