2023 RFL Championship

The 2023 season of the Championship, officially known as the Betfred Championship, is a professional rugby league club competition organised by the Rugby Football League as its second-tier competition. It runs concurrently with its first-tier competition, Super League XXVIII, and its third-tier competition, the 2023 League One season. Fourteen clubs – thirteen from England and one from France – are competing to gain promotion to next year's Super League, while avoiding relegation to the 2024 League One season. British bookmaker Betfred are naming rights sponsors for the competition.

2023 Betfred Championship
Duration4 February – 24 September 2023
Teams14
Matches played35
Points scored1,602
Highest attendance4,870
Bradford Bulls vs
Whitehaven
(5 February 2023)
Lowest attendance750
Whitehaven vs
London Broncos
(12 February 2023)
Average attendance2,198
Attendance76,951
Broadcast partnersViaplay Sports (UK and Ireland)
2023 season
Biggest home win Featherstone Rovers 76–4 Whitehaven
(19 February 2023)
Biggest away win Keighley Cougars 0–50 Featherstone Rovers
(6 February 2023)
Top point-scorer(s)Chris Hankinson (32)
Top goal scorer: Chris Hankinson (14)
Top try-scorer(s)Guy Armitage
Gareth Gale (6 tries each)

Teams
Locations of teams competing in the 2023 Championship.
Locations of the 2023 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire
Locations of 2021 RFL Championship teams in France

In the previous season, the Leigh Centurions were promoted from the Championship to the Super League after defeating the Batley Bulldogs 44–12 in the Championship Grand Final,[1][2] while the Dewsbury Rams and Workington Town were relegated from the Championship to League One after finishing eleventh and twelfth on the regular season table, respectively.[3] Toulouse Olympique, who are based in the southern French city of Toulouse, return to the Championship after a single season in the Super League, in which they finished in last place and were subsequently relegated to the Championship.[4][5] Based in the town of Keighley in West Yorkshire, the Keighley Cougars also join the Championship, after finishing their 2022 campaign as champions of the League One regular season, which earned them automatic promotion to the Championship. They last competed in the Championship in 2014.[6][7] The Swinton Lions from Sale in Greater Manchester also return to the Championship after a single season, winning promotion to the Championship from League One after defeating Doncaster in the League One Play-off Final.[8][9]

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Barrow Raiders Barrow-in-Furness Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium 6,000
Batley Bulldogs Batley Mount Pleasant 7,500
Bradford Bulls Bradford Odsal Stadium 22,000
Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Millennium Stadium 8,000
Halifax Panthers Halifax The Shay 10,401
Keighley Cougars Keighley Cougar Park 7,800
London Broncos Wimbledon Plough Lane 9,215
Newcastle Thunder Newcastle upon Tyne Kingston Park 10,200
Sheffield Eagles Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park 3,900
Swinton Lions Sale Heywood Road 3,387
Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500
Whitehaven Whitehaven Recreation Ground 7,500
Widnes Vikings Widnes DCBL Stadium 13,350
York Knights York York Community Stadium 8,005

Rule changes

Changes in the operational rules were announced on 1 February 2023.[10]

On-field, the main change is that teams awarded a penalty for an offence at a scrum can now kick for goal. Previously such penalties were differential precluding the team from kicking for goal. The green card process has been clarified so that if the referee calls "time off" for a player to receive medical attention, the player must leave the pitch for two minutes. Teams will be allowed to name an 18th player (fifth interchange player) in the squad who can play if three or more players are withdrawn due to failing a head injury assessment (HIA).

Off-field the graduated return to play process that applies after a player has suffered a concussion will be a minimum of 12 days (up from 11 in 2022).

Changes have also been made to the disciplinary process where the periods of suspension for the various grade of offences have been reduced but the use of fines increased.[11]

Results
Main article: 2023 RFL Championship season results

Regular season table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Featherstone Rovers 7 7 0 0 334 54 +280 14 League Leaders' Shield
2 Toulouse Olympique 7 5 0 2 226 86 +140 10
3 Sheffield Eagles 7 5 0 2 203 110 +93 10
4 Widnes Vikings 7 4 0 3 147 130 +17 8
5 Halifax Panthers 7 4 0 3 154 166 −12 8
6 Bradford Bulls 7 4 0 3 132 148 −16 8
7 Batley Bulldogs 7 4 0 3 132 157 −25 8
8 London Broncos 7 3 0 4 152 146 +6 6
9 York Knights 7 3 0 4 128 145 −17 6
10 Keighley Cougars 7 3 0 4 162 190 −28 6
11 Swinton Lions 7 2 0 5 80 162 −82 4
12 Whitehaven 7 2 0 5 88 226 −138 4
13 Barrow Raiders 7 1 1 5 98 162 −64 3
14 Newcastle Thunder 7 1 1 5 88 242 −154 3
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2023. Source:

Broadcasting

The 2023 Championship season is the second of two seasons to be televised under a broadcasting deal between the Rugby Football League and Premier Media Broadcasting agreed in October 2021.[12][13] In late 2022, Viaplay Group acquired Premier Media Broadcasting for £30 million, and subsequently took over operations of Premier Media Broadcasting's channels and rebranded them to Viaplay Sports.[14] Viaplay Group are broadcasting the Championship's Monday evening games, along with two Summer Bash games and all five play-off games, via their Viaplay Sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[12][13]

References
  1. "Leigh 44-12 Batley: Centurions seal Super League return with deserved win in Championship Grand Final". Sky Sports. 3 October 2022. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  2. Baxter, Trevor (2 October 2022). "Leigh Centurions promoted to Super League after Grand Final win". Leigh Journal. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  3. Darbyshire, Drew (29 August 2022). "Dewsbury Rams suffer relegation from the Championship". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  4. "Super League : le Toulouse Olympique relégué en Championship après sa défaite face aux Dragons catalans". La Dépêche (in French). 25 October 2022. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  5. "Super League: Toulouse Olympique 14-24 Catalans Dragons". BBC Sport. 25 August 2022. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  6. McKenna, Ben (21 August 2022). "Keighley Cougars promoted to the Championship as Leigh Centurions score 100 points against York City Knights". The Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  7. Shand, Alistair (22 August 2022). "Community leaders pay tribute as Keighley Cougars are promoted". Keighley News. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  8. Oliphant, Sam (3 October 2022). "Swinton Lions promoted back to the Betfred Championship". Salford Now. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  9. Darbyshire, Drew (2 October 2022). "Swinton Lions secure promotion back to the Championship". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  10. "Law changes, new faces and ref-cams – what's new in Rugby League in 2023". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  11. Gordon, James (1 February 2023). "Former Super League ref, GB Lioness & France prop join RFL disciplinary". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  12. Walker, Callum (6 October 2021). "Monday night rugby league set for return from 2022". Serious About Rugby League. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  13. Darbyshire, Drew (6 October 2021). "Championship set for Monday night TV slot". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  14. Whittock, Jesse; Tartaglione, Nancy (18 October 2022). "Viaplay Sets UK Launch Date; Cambodia Oscars Entry; 'Agatha Christie's Hjerson' Drama Sells; Fifth Season Format; 'That's My Jam' Spreads; Antenna Studios Drama — Global Briefs". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
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