{"id":70780,"date":"2021-05-13T12:40:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T12:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=70780"},"modified":"2021-05-13T14:59:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T14:59:13","slug":"left-field-magic-round-location-gathers-steam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=70780","title":{"rendered":"Left-field Magic Round location gathers steam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Test Kangaroos halfback Peter Sterling<\/a> has touted a Magic Round<\/a> in New Zealand as a "fantastic" idea, as all 16 clubs zero in on this season's blockbuster edition at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

ARLC chairman Peter V'landys has strong ambitions to expand the NRL competition in the near future, which would likely see New Zealand<\/a> and Brisbane<\/a> land the additional clubs.<\/p>\n

Former NSW Blues coach Phil Gould says 2026 looms as the ideal year for a second club to join the Warriors across the ditch<\/a>, mainly because an 18th team won't be ready to join the NRL until then due to the nature of talent development. Gould also believes the NRL would be smart to use the radically new competition as ammunition in negotiating its new broadcast deals for 2028 and beyond.<\/p>\n

Significant promotion of the NRL would need to be undertaken for another club to thrive in a country dominated by rugby union – and Sterling said the Magic Round concept had tossed up a phenomenal avenue to do just that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"On the opportunity to conduct a Magic Round over in New Zealand – I think it would be fantastic," Sterling said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

"If we're looking to promote the game in New Zealand, as we are – it may not be too far down the track that we have a second New Zealand side in.<\/p>\n

"If we can foster that by taking the NRL over there and displaying it at it's best, I think that'd be a good move."<\/p>\n

Every time Magic Round returns for another year – now for the first time since the inaugural 2019 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic – supporters revel in the 'carnival' feel at Brisbane's Lang Park.<\/p>\n

This year's Magic Round will see superstars like Tom Trbojevic<\/a>, Maika Sivo, Josh Addo-Carr<\/a> and Viliame Kikau suit up across three electric days.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Super League has had its own version, dubbed Magic Weekend, ever since launching at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in 2007. This year's edition will unfold at St James' Park in Newcastle in September.<\/p>\n

The NRL's inaugural 2019 Magic Round drew a collective crowd attendance of 134,677.<\/p>\n

"It's a great opportunity for the fans," Sterling said.<\/p>\n

"To have all the teams in the one venue and to be able to sit down and watch a whole host of different games, whether it be on the one day or going and getting a ticket for all three (days), is great.<\/p>\n

"I'm excited (for Magic Round). I'm flying up on Saturday, I'll be watching most of the games live, it's worked very well in the English Super League and I think it's equally well received here."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Test Kangaroos halfback Peter Sterling has touted a Magic Round in New Zealand as a "fantastic" idea, as all 16 clubs zero in on […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70780"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70780"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70782,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70780\/revisions\/70782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}