Will it be a tasty Magic derby for Black and Whites and Robins?
THE 2021 Super League campaign has only just finished but eyes are already turning to next season.
It won’t be long before the 2022 fixtures will be announced.
Teams will play 27 rounds with each side being asked to play five loop fixtures, including Magic Weekend.
The showpiece event was a huge success in Newcastle as large attendances returned to watch moments that will live long in the memory.
Where Magic will be staged next season is still be announced, but a return to St James’ Park would certainly be one of the more popular choices for fans, given the stadium’s proximity to the city centre.
The fixture list for the weekend is still to be revealed, too, but the formula used in previous years allows us to make a prediction of how it could look.
A simple system was used to determine the Magic fixtures at Anfield in 2019 and, although it was cancelled due to Covid, in Newcastle in 2020, with the previous season’s league positions being used.
The league was spilt into three groups of four - top, middle and bottom - with the odd-placed team playing the other odd-placed team in that group. The same applies then applied even-placed teams. For example: 1st v 3rd, 2nd v 4th, 5th v 7th, 6th v 8th and so on.
The 2021 Magic Weekend line-up was slightly different with fixtures re-formatted from the cancelled 2020 event to ensure teams played on the same day, in acknowledgement of the supporters who had retained their tickets.
However, there has been no indication to suggest the previous system will be not be returning for 2022 and if it was to be used it would throw up some tasty fixtures.
The derbies are the standout games, with Hull KR playing FC, while St Helens would take on Wigan.
Catalans Dragons, would be given the challenge of seeing off Warrington, and Leeds would face Castleford in another derby.
Toulouse could play Wakefield and the two remaining sides
Huddersfield and Salford would be pitched against each other.
POTENTIAL MAGIC FIXTURES: Catalans (1st) v Warrington (3rd); St Helens (2nd) v Wigan (4th); Leeds (5th) v Castleford (7th); KR (6th) v FC (8th); Huddersfield (9th) v Salford (11th); Wakefield (10th) v Toulouse.