 Peacock thinks Super League needs a set-piece season-opening event |
Jamie Peacock says the Magic Weekend, where all Super League games are played at one venue, should be dropped in favour of a big season-opening event. This weekend sees the 2010 Magic event in Edinburgh at Murrayfield and no venue has been named after this year. "Leeds v Crusaders on a Friday night in Wrexham's no way to start," the England captain told the Yorkshire Post. "We end the season better than any other sport with the Grand Final. We need to start it with a bang as well." Peacock is not the only big name in the game to be expressing doubts or suggesting changes for the future of the May event, which was established following the move of the Challenge Cup final from May to August.  | 606: DEBATE |
Wakefield coach John Kear agrees with Peacock that the competition needs a proper headline-grabbing start. "Rather than entering Super League with a whimper, I would have one date for the opening weekend and make a real fuss of it, whether that means all the Yorkshire teams playing at Elland Road and all the Lancashire teams at the Reebok," he said. Super League first took a whole round of matches on the road in 2007, as the game sought to build up interest in South Wales, after the success of Cardiff hosting the Challenge Cup final while Wembley was rebuilt. After a modest success in 2007, the two-day aggregate attendance in 2008 was an encouraging 63,144. But last year's inaugural Edinburgh Magic weekend drew just 59,749 over the two days, and signs are that this year's event will not be a major box office success. Warrington coach Tony Smith said although he was a fan of taking the sport beyond its heartland to raise awareness, he was not sure if the current arrangements were the best way to do it.  There were plenty of empty seats at Murrayfield in 2009 |
"I think we grabbed some media attention originally but I'm not sure if the benefits are the same now," he said. "If we were getting 60,000 to 70,000 people a day, let's do it. If we're not, I'm a bit sceptical about it. "If it kicked off rugby league in those areas and we are able to sustain it and grow our sport there, let's take it to as many places as we can. "Take it to Birmingham, Norwich, I don't care as long as we get some benefits. "If we're not getting benefits from it, I'd like to see it done locally. I'd like to see the people from the heartland get a chance every now and then - pack out a stadium and play it all in one day."
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