edinburgh magic?
Just recovering from a visit to Edinburgh - surely one of the most sociable cities in the British Isles.
Not that it was just an excuse for a day out. The idea was to promote the Magic Weekend at the start of May when all seven Super League games will be played at Murrayfield.
As a promotional event, it was only a limited success. Clubs are told to sxend a player, but they tend to send someone injured, suspended or of limited relevance.
Likewise, the media turn-out was disappointing, although the beautiful day made for some good TV footage.
For all that, the RFL and our new pals at the SRU seem ultra confident that they will top the 63,000 at Cardiff last year and Edinburgh certainly has something extra to offer.
One thing is the much greater enthusiasm of the SRU by comparison with the Millennium Stadium's apathy. Another is the bargain price of the tickets and, as far as I could see, the lack of obvious profiteering by hoteliers.
The biggest threat is the weather. Try as I might, I can't imagine any pitch standing up to seven matches over a weekend of continuous rain. THey tell me there is no contingency play, so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed on that one.
I didn't see the whole of the Harlequins-Warrington game, but the highlights I have seen were truly shocking.
No disrespect to Quins, whose great start to the season is one of its most uplifting aspects, but some of their tries featured defence as soft as you will ever see at this level.
I rather fancy that it will have persuaded Tony Smith that some drasic action is necessary. Changing attitudes might have to come at the expense of getting rid of one or two of their higher-profile players.
They might get worse before the get better, but if that side at The Stoop was not in need of a radical change of direction then I've never seen one that was.
Not that it was just an excuse for a day out. The idea was to promote the Magic Weekend at the start of May when all seven Super League games will be played at Murrayfield.
As a promotional event, it was only a limited success. Clubs are told to sxend a player, but they tend to send someone injured, suspended or of limited relevance.
Likewise, the media turn-out was disappointing, although the beautiful day made for some good TV footage.
For all that, the RFL and our new pals at the SRU seem ultra confident that they will top the 63,000 at Cardiff last year and Edinburgh certainly has something extra to offer.
One thing is the much greater enthusiasm of the SRU by comparison with the Millennium Stadium's apathy. Another is the bargain price of the tickets and, as far as I could see, the lack of obvious profiteering by hoteliers.
The biggest threat is the weather. Try as I might, I can't imagine any pitch standing up to seven matches over a weekend of continuous rain. THey tell me there is no contingency play, so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed on that one.
I didn't see the whole of the Harlequins-Warrington game, but the highlights I have seen were truly shocking.
No disrespect to Quins, whose great start to the season is one of its most uplifting aspects, but some of their tries featured defence as soft as you will ever see at this level.
I rather fancy that it will have persuaded Tony Smith that some drasic action is necessary. Changing attitudes might have to come at the expense of getting rid of one or two of their higher-profile players.
They might get worse before the get better, but if that side at The Stoop was not in need of a radical change of direction then I've never seen one that was.