Deep in the bowels of St James’ Park, Daniel, 8, waits patiently.
It is minutes before the first game of Magic Weekend 2016 and his excitement upon entering the staff-only area has become a nervous hush.

Ducking his head to see past the scattering officials, he can see glimpses of the lush green pitch as the noise of the crowd rushes down the tunnel towards him.

Deep breath. He only started playing rugby league a few months ago and is now set to be the first mascot on the pitch at this year’s event.

A door opens and a smiling Kevin Brown walks towards him.

“Ready? You excited?” asks the Widnes Vikings captain who then takes his hand and before he knows it, they are out on the pitch. The volume escalates amongst a whirlwind of flags and TV cameras.

Photographers satisfied, Daniel rushes back to the safety of the sidelines and back to his seat in the stand alongside his fellow mascots. The whole process has taken less than two minutes but will stay with him for life.

With another record attendance at this year’s event, amongst the crowd, camped on halfway for the entire weekend was renowned local amateur club, Cramlington Rockets. With 560 tickets sold for this year’s event the Rockets once again took it upon themselves to welcome the whole rugby family to their home turf.

With hundreds of club members dressed head-to-toe in orange, including Daniel and the rest of the club’s Under-8s, everywhere you turned, the orange stood out.
Friends from across all twelve teams were made as the Rockets danced their way through the crowds and into the hearts of the travelling faithful.

“We love the experience of Magic Weekend and for us Rugby League has always been about experiences” said Chairman, Jeff Ball.

“What we do on the field is as important as off it and it does not get better than having something like Magic Weekend on your doorstep.”

By the end of the weekend, countless fans from Leeds, Wigan, Hull and beyond could be seen leaving St James’ Park adorned with a much sought-after orange Rockets visor, a badge of honour to show they had encountered the cheery Cramlington bunch.

No other community club has ever embraced Magic Weekend like Cramlington Rockets.

A flagship club for the sport and the most northerly in England, their enthusiasm for rugby league, coupled with an innovative approach and award-winning volunteers has seen the club swell to 230 players in Northumberland from tots to adults thanks to the efforts of its Community team, the only set up of its type in the UK, and its army of volunteers.

Their love of rugby league is tangible.

When Sam Tomkins and Michael Shenton travelled to the elegant Tyneside Cinema to launch Magic, the Rockets were there.

When Sean O’Loughlin made the trip to the local Dacia dealership with Chris Hill and the Super League trophy, the Rockets were there.

And when Widnes Vikings launched their Magic Weekend shirt for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation in the company of Newcastle United legend, Peter Beardsley, the Rockets were there.

Based in South East Northumberland, the trip to local side Newcastle Thunder is a short one for them and one that hundreds of Rockets made for Magic Friday, the official warm up to the main event when York City Knights visited the North East’s only professional outfit.

“The players here now are the future of our sport” said Thunder Chairman, Bill Midgeley in his pre-match speech

Super League within a decade is the ambition for Newcastle Thunder.

“We want 80% of the squad to be local by then and that means these guys here” added Head Coach, Mick Mantelli, pointing to the gathered juniors eagerly listening.

The roots of this plan are already starting to permeate and a number of ex-junior Rockets have already made their first team debuts.

Fittingly, with the famously-productive Nissan factory in the region, producing a conveyor belt of rugby league players by adding a new junior team every year has been the simple but effective mantra for the Rockets for over a decade.

In the build up to Magic, some of the newest recruits were joined by Newcastle Thunder’s Evan Simons and Cook Islands international prop Vincent Rennie, who spent the evening with the club’s juniors as part of their roles as head coaches of the club’s adult section this season.

“The lads are great to have around the club” enthused Ball.

“Both are family orientated which mirrors the atmosphere at Cramlington.

As they were talking to our U12s, I could not help but think back to when I met Inga Tuigamala when I was their age and the impact it had.

Like then, Vincent in particular was towering over them and as they craned their necks to look up at him and listen, you could tell they were in awe of having someone like that wanting to spend time with them and give them advice.”

Ball continued: “We spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a Rocket and to be involved in rugby league. Even if some of the newer lads do not know who Vincent is, it clearly makes an impression and is the first step in getting them hooked.”

In a weekend of impressions, the biggest was undoubtedly made on the juniors like Daniel and his fellow Under-8s and Under-10s who were chosen to be mascots for the opening match.

However, it was not just the youngsters that got involved. Forty-five more Rockets, some of which were plucked from the crowd on the day, were given the chance to be flagbearers on the Sunday.

Rocket mams and dads disappeared into the soaring Milburn stand and emerged pitch side shouldering one of the massive team flags that magically appear and disappear before kick-off.

“I don’t know who enjoyed that more” beamed one parent, having unexpectedly joined her husband and son on the pitch to help present and remove the flag with military precision.

2015’s roar of support that Newcastle should be the long term residence of Magic Weekend has become deafening in 2016 and another record crowd sets up the enticing possibility of 2017 completing a Geordie trilogy.

If the RFL needs evidence of why it should return then they should look no further than Daniel and the rest of the Cramlington Rockets.