Dave Craven: Time to look closer to home to give game the required lift

In fact, I will go one step further and admit I love the place. I think it's one of the finest cities in Europe let alone Britain and can guarantee anyone who heads north of the border for Magic Weekend will have a terrific time.

Indeed, if I was not chained to the press bench reporting back over two days – thank heavens for that Greater Manchester/Cheshire affair between Salford and Warrington offering some sort of interlude – I would be out there making the most of everything Scotland's beautiful capital has to offer myself.

Everyone who ventured to Murrayfield last year declared it a splendid weekend – it was just a pity more did not experience it all.

And there's the rub. Great venue, great idea, great prospects – just no great take-up.

An average of 30,000 per day watched events unfold last season but the RFL faces a struggle to repeat those numbers this Bank Holiday.

Ticket sales have not been hugely encouraging, possibly down to – Huddersfield versus Wigan aside – the lack of any genuinely outstanding fixture but more so because the draw is simply not strong enough.

The image of a sparsely populated Murrayfield stadium does little for the sport's profile on the television and there have been the inevitable discussions about what is the best course of action regarding the now annual event.

Bradford coach Steve McNamara believes maybe the derby element, ditched when it moved from Cardiff to Scotland last year, should be re-introduced to put some of the magic back into Magic Weekend.

Leeds chief Brian McClennan reckons it is fine in essence but should not be shoe-horned into the calendar so soon after Easter and sandwiched between Challenge Cup fixtures.

Warrington counterpart Tony Smith feels it should only really keep going if they get 60,000 fans through the gate each day – we all know that will not happen – while England captain and Leeds forward Jamie Peacock has already said in these pages that the whole concept should be dumped in favour of a move to Wembley and have a seven-game bonanza as the way to kick-off the season.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats coach John Kear suggests all the Yorkshire clubs play at Elland Road and all the Lancashire clubs play at Reebok Stadium on the opening day. That leaves Harlequins, Crusaders and Catalans out of the party but I do see his point.

The deal is up for renewal this time around and, apparently, there are plenty of interested cities, along with Edinburgh, who are willing to welcome all the magic of the Super League fair.

Personally, I am more leaning towards Kear's camp but how about a treble-header opener at somewhere like the City of Manchester Stadium on the first Saturday of the season?

Stage Leeds v Bradford, Hull FC against Hull KR and Wigan facing St Helens back-to-back, quenching McNamara's thirst for an extra derby, and you could quite easily fill out the 47,000 venue.

The rest of the fixtures could be played out the following day. Keep it in the so-called heartlands and more supporters would make the trip, a packed stadium would create a proper atmosphere, the show would suit television while viewers would get real quality rather than quantity.

Granted, Magic Weekend is a nice way of helping the RFL's plans of expansion in Scotland but rugby union is already struggling to compete with football up there so rugby league has little chance to thrive.

Edinburgh's tourism trade gets a healthy boost over the weekend but I don't think the city has much trouble attracting visitors of its own accord with or without the Super League invasion.

Rugby league does need all the help it can get though and that has to start closer to home.