If they cannot "isolate" the fixture, then they should instruct all sides to play on Friday night the week before, and play the Origin game the following Wednesday evening. Then back that up by ensuring all remaining weekly fixtures are then played on that Sunday.

that will never happen and the reason why is because its a very sensible suggestion

I would rather drop a regular season game than the Magic Weekend. It is a brilliant event for the fans, that I love going to. Much more so than the Exiles game.

Or better still Bank Holiday Monday.



I would also prefer to drop the Magic weekend and replace it with a mid-season stand alone international weekend. Reebok Stadium (or similar) - England Schoolboys v Aussie Schoolboys, followed by England A v Championship 13, followed by Wales v France folllowed by England v Exiles.

Totally agree. I really enjoy the Magic Weekend, and even though England obviously need testing against the Exiles, the game never really excited me. In the lead up to the game, I was more bothered about none of our players getting injured than England actually winning.

If we can get 25-30k to go somewhere to watch SL, why can't we get them to watch 3 internationals? Be a great advert.

I think Sky might have something to say about that.

Personally couldnt careless for internationals in any form, im only interested in club rugby but if we have to have them then some of suggestions on here are good im in the camp of drop the magic weekend and slot in the exile game instead of current format

drop 2 league games 12 home and away games and the magic weekend, use the 2 spare weeks for 2 england vs exiles games with the knights taking on france 1 week and then wales the other

i was discussing this the other day, my dad and i came up with and idea that would have 3 games over the afternoon/evening.

game 1 : League 1 state of origin match, lancs v yorks

game 2 : championship SOO match

game 3 : International Origin match



I thought this was a top idea, every speccy could have an interest in each match as you dont have to know any of the players in the match to support your county/area.

I'd prefer to drop this than the Magic Weekend. A festival weekend of rugby is a great concept and one I'd hate to lose... Saying that I like the Exiles idea too. It's not ideal, but Wednesday nights would probably be best for the clubs & players but not necessarily the fans.

Maybe this is an argument for getting rid of a couple of teams from the league? That would create a couple of free weekends and it's quite clear from the squad selections in this years game, and a lot of the results so far this year that the talent is not evenly spread among the clubs. Who to get rid of is a tough call, but I don't think we have the strength in depth in this country to support a 14 team league.

Maybe next season the Magic weekend should be excluded and replaced by a day of International RL? The RFL could showpiece two games (as Ian Millward has often hinted at), inc the England v Exiles at a decent Northern stadium - maybe in Manchester or Liverpool. Advertise it as much as possible particularly within the chosen city, ensuring it doesn't clash with the Premier League football season, and you could end up attracting a very healthy crowd. Playing it on a Saturday would be my choice too.



And as people have pointed out, it needs to be a stand alone fixture, of which it will be, should it replace Magic.