My Magic Weekend review

With Magic Weekend done and dusted for 2024, here’s a personal account of my experience at Elland Road. For clarity, I was only in attendance on the Saturday, so I’ll just gloss over the Sunday.

The matches

This is what really counts, isn’t it? First up was Hull FC vs London Broncos, and this was the game I had been looking forward to most. The quality on show wasn’t great, but that’s what added to the intrigue, and the Broncos were outstanding. As for Hull, even though they had a lot of senior players missing, the performance was abysmal.

Wigan v St Helens was up next, and for the first time I can remember, this didn’t really feel like a Wigan-Saints game. Maybe it was having it at a neutral venue and being surrounded by Leeds fans, or maybe it’s because Saints had so many big-name players missing. Credit to Wigan though, who were outstanding, and missing some players of their own of course. But take a bow, Jack Farrimond, who proved such an able deputy for Harry Smith that he might just be taking his number 7 jersey on a permanent basis sooner rather than later.

The last game of the day was Warrington v Leeds, and I was impressed with the Wire again. The game was much tighter than the scoreline suggested, but they always looked the more likely to hold on and see the game out once they’d taken the lead. The Rhinos dug in well and stayed in the contest for the most part, but it looks as though their season’s over now.

In Sunday’s first game, Leigh were highly impressive against Salford and kept their play-off hopes alive.

The middle match saw Hull KR destroy Catalans Dragons, and if anyone’s still in any doubt about how good the Robins are, this should make them think twice. Personally, I still think they’ll fall short against Wigan or Warrington when it gets to knockout rugby, but no one will want to play them right now with their form the way it is.

The final game of the day was a bit of an odd one to have as the main event. Granted, when the fixtures were announced, we weren’t to know where everyone would be in the table, but it’s safe to assume that Huddersfield and Castleford probably wouldn’t be the top two. Still, the Giants picked up a solid win over their Yorkshire rivals.

The stadium

This is what’s really been causing a stir around Magic Weekend, and yes, Elland Road is not a great ground to hold Magic Weekend at. It’s old, tired, run down and there’s not much going on around the ground, but we knew all of this anyway.

Personally, I enjoyed my experience, although if it had been full then the lack of leg room and cramped seats would’ve worn thin long before the third game kicked off.

I can still see the logic of holding the event here for one year at least, but next year I’d like to see Super League think bigger. I’m still in the camp that having Magic Weekend anywhere is better than not having it at all, and for that reason Elland Road was alright by me. However, I’d be surprised if they can’t find a better venue in 2025, even if it means trying it overseas.

The fanzone

This is another talking point to come out of the weekend, and before I went, I couldn’t picture where the fanzone was going to be. I’d been to Elland Road a couple of times before, and I didn’t think there would be space outside it to have a fanzone…and I was right.

For once though, I think Super League got it right when it comes to merchandise. There was a whole van selling #MagicWKND hoodies, t-shirts, balls and hats, and it had a few of the club’s shirts as well. Another stall had some NRL and England merchandise, the stage with Alex Simmonds and Wayne Godwin was a hit, and there were plenty of places to get food and drink.

The only problem was, it was all so confined. Not a bad effort though, and more variety for once than I’ expected I’ve got used to seeing.

The atmosphere

Overall, this was great and aside from seeing one person get thrown out, there was the usual good-natured and carnival atmosphere that I expect at Magic Weekend. That being said, there are times when it feels like a small spark could set something off, but all in all, I felt safe and comfortable watching all three games. Special mention to London Broncos as well, who had more fans there than I’ve ever seen at any previous Magic Weekends.

The attendance

This has been another big talking point in the aftermath of the weekend, given that this was the second-worst attended Magic Weekend in history.

Having said that, I don’t think it’s as disastrous as that sounds. Firstly, there were almost 31,000 fans in there on Saturday, which means the stadium was around 81% full. If we could get Wembley 81% full again for the Challenge Cup Final, we’d be over the moon, so a bit of perspective is in order.

Clearly, Elland Road wasn’t an ideal venue in terms of size as much as anything, although as it didn’t sell out anyway, maybe the event is suited to a stadium of around 40,000.

Secondly, the fixtures on the Sunday did nothing to draw in the neutrals, and surely that’s something that will be looked at next year. From a selfish point of view, I was delighted, as it meant I could go on Saturday, then head home and not even be tempted to stay for day two. Had they arranged for the Hull derby to take place on Sunday though, or even just switched the Rhinos game to day two, I think we would’ve seen a bigger crowd.

The cost

As with most RL events, this was 10/10. I know some fans will complain about the money, but to watch three Super League games for under £30 is unbelievable value in this day and age. When you consider how much a Premier League ticket costs, Magic Weekend is an absolute steal. It’s not just the cost of the ticket either. The programme for the whole weekend was just £5, which makes the matchday ones at most clubs look outrageous at £4 a pop, while food and drink inside and outside the ground wasn’t extortionate either.

The verdict

I had a great time, and if Magic Weekend was held at Elland Road again in 2025 I would definitely go again. It wasn’t a great venue, and it should be taken somewhere else, but for less than £30 to watch three Super League games back-to-back, I’d go to just about any stadium in the country and make the most of it!