MAGIC Weekend fever has taken hold in both the Betfred Super League and NRL this week, but Hull FC boss John Cartwright believes there is room to expand the concept to multiple times a season.
The former Gold Coast Titans head coach will experience his first Magic Weekend on these shores on Sunday when his side face Huddersfield Giants at Newcastle’s St James’ Park, where the event has returned after being played at Elland Road in Leeds last year.
Super League’s Magic round was in danger of being phased out as part of RL Commercial’s strategic partnership with IMG, but its popularity with the clubs and broadcast partner Sky Sports, not to mention the fans, led to it continuing, and Black and Whites head coach Cartwright wants to go even further in taking rugby league to new cities.
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“I wouldn’t mind a few of these each year,” Cartwright told BBC Radio Humberside.
“I said it back home many times, to be able to take the game to new areas is good for the game, good for the code, the players enjoy big occasions, and playing at a big stadium in an area where want to get some coverage and get people playing and watching the game.
“I think there are nothing but positives and if you could slot another one into the draw, I don’t think you’d get many complaints from players or staff.”
The Magic Weekend concept was launched in 2007 when an entire round of Super League fixtures was played at what is now the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Since then, Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool have also hosted the event as well as Leeds in 2024, but Newcastle has become almost its spiritual home and St James’ Park will host it for the eighth time over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
The NRL, meanwhile, adopted Magic Round in 2019 and will again be holding it at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, while rival code the AFL began holding a Gather Round two years ago at multiple venues in Adelaide.
On the field, Hull FC head into Magic Round having suffered back-to-back defeats to cross-city rivals Hull KR and reigning Super League champions Wigan Warriors, albeit still fourth in the table.
The Black and Whites’ revival under Cartwright’s stewardship after finishing 11th last year has been one of the stories of the season so far.
But despite their W5, L3, D1 record after nine rounds, Hull FC have the fourth-worst points difference in the competition of -33 and a PythagenPat expectation of W4, L5, which is not lost on Cartwright.
“It’s a few reality checks and targets as a team we’ve fallen away from, and that can happen,” the former Australia international second row said, reflecting on the losses to both of last year’s grand finalists.
“While you never knock a win, sometimes winning can hide some things you’ve been doing wrong.
“That’s on us as coaches as well and if we do win a game, to reach levels we need to be at you’ve got to get the whip out.
“That’s easier said than done. The joy of winning sometimes gets in the way of the actual things you are doing on the field and maybe we were lucky to win a few.”
