Spotlight On… Magic Weekend Legend Sam Luckley

After all the excitement of the build-up, Magic Weekend 2023 is finally upon us. Two days of top-level rugby league thrills as twelve Super League teams go head-to-head at St James Park. Ahead of the action, we spoke to Sam Luckley – the Geordie lad now part of the Hull Kingston Rovers squad – about how it feels to be playing back in his hometown.

Image: Sam Luckley

Sam grew up in North Shields in a family that was football through-and-through (Newcastle fans, of course) and rugby league wasn’t an obvious choice. “I was a bit of a late starter to rugby, I didn’t really get into it until I was 15. I did every sport under the sun but ended up playing football.” he explains. He turned out for various youth teams and ended up playing for North Shields. “But as I got a bit bigger and a bit slower, I turned my hand to rugby!”

Sam’s potential was obvious and after various scholarship teams and a sports apprenticeship at Gateshead Academy, he was picked up by Newcastle Thunder in 2016 and stayed with them until moving to Salford Red Devils after lockdown. He moved to Hull Kingston Rovers earlier this year but also plays internationally for Scotland: we asked him to explain how a lad from North Shields ended up playing north of the border. It turns out his dad was in the navy, stationed in Rossyth where his mum happened to be working – they met, Sam was born and lived there for two years before they moved home to Tyneside.

Image: Andrew Dixon and Sam Luckley with the Super League trophy

Sam clearly can’t wait to get home for Magic Weekend. “It’s a big occasion for my family, they all turn up, all my mates too. So we love Magic Weekend, we all pencil it in the diary as soon as we can. I’ll get to spend the day after the game with them at home as well, catch up with everyone.  Get my Geordie powers back!”

Sam thinks the location of St James' Park in relation to the city is part of the reason Magic Weekend works so well here, and also the people: “They’re warm, welcoming and friendly, we love sport, especially rugby league, and it’s a chance to showcase our sport off to people who aren’t necessarily fans of rugby league. It’s physical and fast paced, there’ll be some great nail-biting games. And it’s a big event a lot of people can get behind!”

Image: Sam Luckley

Sam will be playing in the first game of the weekend again his old team Salford in what is being predicted to be a crucial showdown. “I’ve played them before, the second game of the season, so it won’t be weird, and I’ve still got a lot of mates there. But it should be a good game, we’re on the same points so I think it’ll be quite a pivotal game in the season.”

While he wouldn’t be pinned down on the final score, he seems confident Hull will win. “If you don’t go in thinking you’re gonna win, what’s the point of lacing your boots up, you know? But it’ll be a tough contest, they’re a great team!”

Image: Rugby fans at Magic  Weekend

Magic Weekend 2023 runs from Saturday 3rd to Sunday 4th June at St James Park, with six matches across the weekend and lots of other events in a real festival of rugby. There are still day and weekend tickets available here.