EDINBURGH has emerged as a potential alternative venue for the Super League's weekend away, despite the success of the second 'Millennium Magic' event.
Rugby Football League officials were delighted with a turn-out of 63,144 over the two days in Cardiff, which represented an increase of more than 4,000 on the inaugural event in 2007.
They are committed to repeating the event in 2009, but not nece
ssarily at the same venue, with Edinburgh and Belfast thought to have made rival bids. The event is believed to generate around £10million for the local economy and representatives of both the Irish and Scottish Tourist Boards attended the engage Super League round 13 matches over the weekend. The RFL have a three-year agreement with the local authority in south Wales, but they are privately disappointed with the stadium company's lack of promotion for the event.
The availability and price of hotels in Cardiff, compared to Edinburgh, will also become a factor when the League sit down to consider their next move.
"Not surprisingly, a number of cities are looking at staging this event – the economic benefits are massive," confirmed RFL spokesman Craig Spence.
The RFL also plans to look at the format of the event, with a planned expansion of Super League to 14 clubs creating an extra fixture, and it is almost certain that the derbies will be scrapped in favour of a seeded draw to ensure more competitive matches.
Although fans witnessed a scoring feast, with the six matches producing 352 points and 61 tries, three of them turned out to be disappointing one-sided affairs. The League plans to undertake a consultation process with supporters in an effort to build on the success of the first two years.
Murrayfield, which hosted the Challenge Cup finals in 2000 and 2002 during the re-building of Wembley, will almost certainly stage next year's away weekend if Cardiff is ditched.
But one man firmly against such a move is former Wales international hooker Keiron Cunningham, who led St Helens to a 57-16 victory over Wigan in the final match of the weekend.
"I think it would be a shame," he said. "I understand they want to put their fingers in different pies, but we've got a real push in Wales and the Celtic Crusaders are doing a good job and aiming for a franchise."
"There is no reason why we shouldn't keep it here. If Crusaders did get in, they could be playing in the Millennium next year."
The full article contains 426 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
