Leeds must break six-game losing streak at Magic Weekend in relegation tussle
It’s unlikely that anyone had London’s clash with Leeds down as the game to watch at Magic Weekend at the start of the season, but all eyes will be on their match-up at Anfield on Sunday.
London’s win at home to Wakefield brought them level on points with the struggling Rhinos, who parted company with coach Dave Furner recently and have since been dumped out of the Challenge Cup by Bradford.
The two sides sit on eight points along with Hull KR, who play Salford also on Sunday.
Depending on how things go, Leeds could end the weekend bottom of the Super League table.
Leeds at Magic Weekend
2007 – W 42-38 v Bradford
2008 – W 40-26 v Bradford
2009 – W 32-16 v Catalans
2010 – W 34-30 v Wakefield
2011 – W 32-28 v Bradford
2012 – W 37-22 Bradford
2013 – L 16-20 v Wigan
2014 – L 14-18 v Wigan
2015 – L 12-27 v Wigan
2016 – L 8-40 v Wigan
2017 – L 18-29 v Castleford
2018 – L 10-38 v Castleford
History at Magic Weekend doesn’t point towards success either. The Rhinos have lost on their last six outings at the annual event, their last win coming against Bradford in 2012, 37-22, which was their sixth consecutive win since the concept started.
In their defence, they have faced Wigan (four times) and Castleford (twice) in that run.
London are playing at their first Magic Weekend since 2014, having earned promotion from the Championship last season.
They have lost on their last three visits, though did win four times in five years prior to that. They played in the first ever Magic Weekend game back in 2007, beating Catalans 32-28 to open up the first Millennium Magic.
London at Magic Weekend
2007 – W 32-28 v Catalans
2008 – L 16-18 v Catalans
2009 – W 24-16 v Salford
2010 – W 25-8 v Hull
2011 – W 11-4 v Catalans
2012 – L 18-42 v Catalans
2013 – L 18-46 v Catalans
2014 – L 22-24 v Catalans
Broncos full-back Alex Walker said: “It’s only going to be a good thing for us (that all eyes are on the game). Hopefully a lot more fans stop and watch us, create a nice big atmosphere.
“The neutrals will hopefully be backing us.
“The belief has never left us, we always knew we could get results, and now we’ve got the win over Wakefield we can build on that.
“You always dream of a kid to be playing out here at this stadium, and it’ll be a great occasion for us.”
Walker revealed that even though he is a Liverpool fan, his family are Tottenham fans, creating divided loyalties ahead of next month’s Champions League family.
He added: “All the family are coming up to watch. The final will be a weird one as my dad will be supporting Spurs and I’ll be supporting Liverpool!”