Magic Weekend is back on June 3 and 4, with all 12 Betfred Super League clubs once again heading to Newcastle's St James' Park for Round 14 of the 2023 regular season; watch all six matches live on Sky Sports. Coverage starts from 1pm on Saturday and 11.30am on Sunday
Sunday 28 May 2023 22:00, UK
The 2023 Betfred Super League Magic Weekend takes place this week and we have put together a guide for everything you need to know ahead of it, including how to follow all of the action on Sky Sports…
Held every year since 2007 - with the exception of the Covid-affected 2020 season - Magic Weekend sees an entire round of Super League fixtures played in one location across two days.
Now firmly established in the calendar as one of rugby league's premiere events along with the Super League Grand Final and the Betfred Challenge Cup final, the format has been copied at professional and amateur level the world over.
This includes in Australia, where the NRL held their first Magic Round in 2019 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium and continues as host venue to this day.
Super League's Magic Weekend is back at Newcastle United's St James' Park, and this will mark the seventh time the city has hosted the event.
Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Liverpool's Anfield home and the Etihad Stadium in Manchester have all played host to Magic in the past as well.
This year's Magic Weekend takes place on the weekend of June 3 and 4.
All 12 Super League clubs are in action over the course of the weekend, which marks the 14th round of the 2023 regular season. Three matches take place on Saturday, with the remaining three on Sunday.
Saturday, June 3: 1.30pm - Salford Red Devils vs Hull Kingston Rovers; 3.45pm - Wigan Warriors vs Catalans Dragons; 6pm - Leeds Rhinos vs Castleford Tigers.
Sunday, June 4: 12pm - Wakefield Trinity vs Leigh Leopards; 2.15pm - St Helens vs Huddersfield Giants; 4.30pm - Hull FC vs Warrington Wolves.
Rugby league fans in town for the weekend can also head to watch Betfred Championship side Newcastle Thunder hosting Bradford Bulls in their now-traditional pre-Magic fixture at their Kingston Park home on Friday, June 2 (kick-off 7.45pm).
Round 14 is the midway point of the 2023 Super League regular season and there is plenty of intrigue in all six games across the weekend as the play-off race and the battle to avoid relegation heat up.
Saturday's first two matches pit sides in the play-off mix against each other. The opener between Hull Kingston Rovers and last year's beaten play-off semi-finalists Salford sees two sides aiming to steal a march on their top-six rivals, while the second pits second against third in Wigan and Catalans.
A West Yorkshire derby which has implications at both ends of the table closes out day one for the second year running. Last year's Grand Final runners-up Leeds, currently eighth, need a win to stay close to the play-off places, while Castleford will be eager to put more breathing room between themselves and bottom side Wakefield.
After losing all 13 of their opening matches, Wakefield go searching for their first win of the year in the opening game of Sunday but face the onerous task of facing the surprise package of 2023 in promoted Leigh, currently in with a superb chance of making the play-offs.
Reigning champions St Helens, meanwhile, are still two points outside the play-off places and face another team who were initially expected to be among the contenders this year, but currently find themselves ninth, in Huddersfield.
Super League leaders Warrington then round out the weekend aiming to get back to winning ways against the mercurial Hull FC, currently six points off the top six.
All six fixtures at St James' Park are once again live on Sky Sports, with coverage of the first day's matches beginning from 1pm live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event on Saturday, June 3.
Sunday's three games are all live on Sky Sports Arena from 11.30am. You can stream all six matches along with the rest of the 2023 Betfred Super League season on NOW TV as well.
Meanwhile, the Sky Sports website and app will have reports, reaction and highlights from all six matches, plus live blogs and video clips of the best moments.
