fevnut's blog is absolutely delighted to have received permission to bring you a regular column from Gareth Walker.
Gareth is a top rugby league journalist who has one very exceptional distinction. He chooses to write about matters pertaining to the Championship and League One.
Although this blog is devoted to Featherstone Rovers it is always good to read opinions about matters relevant to us, but not specifically about us. We hope you enjoy reading Gareth's column each week.
More
important than Magic?
IT’S that time of
year when the great Magic Weekend debate airs.
But
this is also the time of the Championship’s Summer Bash, and a chance to
reflect on what that brings to the table each year.
Last Saturday
was the first time this writer has attended the event - despite a passionate
interest in the sport outside the top flight, work has always prevented me
attending before.
But
this season presented a first opportunity to join the seaside fun, with my four
year old son and his cousin in tow for their Summer Bash debuts as well.
In
short, we loved it.
From
pulling up in the car park and seeing fans from a host of clubs eating their
packed lunches and throwing balls around, to seeing those same shirts wandering
around the pier fairgrounds rides with their children, it felt every inch a
rugby league festival type of event.
The
location of the stadium - which a hot topic when talking about Magic weekend
venues - adds to that.
A
short walk from Bloomfield Road and you can be on the seafront, with plenty to
do for kids, and pubs housing large groups of fans mingling happily together.
Wary
of the attention span of aforementioned four year olds, we arrived shortly
before our chosen game of Rochdale versus Swinton, and were pleasantly
surprised to see the number of neutrals inside the ground, who had just enjoyed
the opening Toronto-Toulouse clash.
There
was significant debate over whether or not to take the Bash back to Bloomfield
Road this year, but alongside its close proximity to outside activities, the
stadium lends itself to a good atmosphere even with a relative fraction of its
capacity inside, with the corners all enclosed.
Blackpool
is also definitively a weekend away venue, where fans can have a night or two
on the coast that they wouldn’t normally enjoy while watching rugby league.
That
appeals to many - and with all due respect to the alternative venues discussed
such as Bradford and Doncaster, they simply wouldn’t provide that.
This
is the Championship’s big weekend out, and as such needs to be different from
the norm to make it attractive.
And
its importance to the players and coaches involved shouldn’t be underestimated
either.
This
is a weekend on a bigger stage for them - Sky Sports’ screening of all seven
matches is crucial in that, offering a shop window they are rarely afforded
otherwise.
Players
and coaches at this level - the majority of them part-time - speak passionately
about being able to play in bigger events like the Summer Bash.
In
that respect, it’s arguably more important to those involved to keep it going
in future years than Magic Weekend is.
And
for this writer, it should be here to stay.
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