# 2023 Featherstone Rovers season

In the 2023 rugby league season, Featherstone Rovers competed in the RFL Championship and the Challenge Cup. In the Championship, Featherstone won the League Leaders' Shield having lost only two regular season games, but suffered a 36–22 upset in the play-off semi-final against London Broncos.

## Season review

In October 2022, Sean Long was appointed to succeed Brian McDermott as head coach. Featherstone began their Championship campaign on 6 February with a 50–0 win over newly promoted Keighley Cougars. Featherstone moved to the top of the league on 19 February following a 76–4 win over Whitehaven. On 12 March, Featherstone were knocked out in the third round of the Challenge Cup when Halifax Panthers came from behind to win 22–18. The following week Featherstone resumed their unbeaten run in the Championship with a 34–6 win over Swinton Lions in Round 6.
On 16 May, it was announced that James Ford had been appointed as the first Director of Rugby at Featherstone. On 27 May, Featherstone faced one of Ford's former clubs, York Knights, at the Summer Bash where four tries by Gareth Gale sealed a 46–4 victory. The run of league wins was extended to 13 games with a 64–6 win over Barrow Raiders in which Featherstone had ten different try scorers. On 10 June, Featherstone suffered their first league loss of the season when Toulouse Olympique defeated them 36–18 in Round 14. Following the defeat, Featherstone announced several changes to their backroom structure which included the departure of assistant coach Leon Pryce. A second league defeat for Featherstone came in Round 21 against Halifax. The match, which was scheduled for 7 August, was moved to a day earlier as Halifax were playing in the final of the 1895 Cup the following weekend. On 7 August, Sean Long was sacked from his role as head coach and succeeded by James Ford.
Featherstone secured top place in the table at the start of September with a 16–8 win over Bradford Bulls at Odsal. On 23 September, Featherstone defeated Widnes Vikings 62–10 in the final round of the regular season. After the game they were presented with the League Leaders' Shield having ended 12 points ahead of second-placed Toulouse. As league leaders, Featherstone had a bye in the first round of the play-offs before facing London Broncos in the semi-finals. London had finished fifth in the table, 18 points below the Featherstone, but were in good form having won 42–0 against Sheffield Eagles in the eliminators and they ended Featherstone's season by defeating them 46-22 before overcoming Toulouse in the Grand Final.

## Results
### Pre-season friendlies

W Win D Draw L Loss
Pre-season results :
| Date | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

### RFL Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Featherstone Rovers | 27 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 1079 | 295 | +784 | 50 | League Leaders Shield and qualify for semi-finals |
| 2 | Toulouse Olympique | 27 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 834 | 385 | +449 | 38 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Bradford Bulls | 27 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 677 | 572 | +105 | 33 | Eliminators |
| 4 | Sheffield Eagles | 27 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 780 | 560 | +220 | 32 | Eliminators |
| 5 | London Broncos | 27 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 600 | 552 | +48 | 32 | Eliminators |
| 6 | York Knights | 27 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 557 | 557 | 0 | 30 | Eliminators |
| 7 | Batley Bulldogs | 27 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 506 | 519 | −13 | 30 | |
| 8 | Halifax Panthers | 27 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 690 | 572 | +118 | 29 | |
| 9 | Widnes Vikings | 27 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 619 | 654 | −35 | 26 | |
| 10 | Swinton Lions | 27 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 426 | 739 | −313 | 18 | |
| 11 | Barrow Raiders | 27 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 471 | 672 | −201 | 17 | |
| 12 | Whitehaven | 27 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 481 | 809 | −328 | 16 | |
| 13 | Keighley Cougars | 27 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 506 | 837 | −331 | 16 | Relegation to League One |
| 14 | Newcastle Thunder | 27 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 415 | 918 | −503 | 11 | Relegation to League One |

#### Championship results

W Win D Draw L Loss
Championship results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

#### Play-offs

Play-off results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

##### Team bracket

| Eliminators | Eliminators | Eliminators | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Featherstone Rovers | 26 | | | |
| 4 | Sheffield Eagles | 0 | 5 | London Broncos | 36 | | | |
| 5 | London Broncos | 42 | | | | 2 | Toulouse Olympique | 14 |
| | | | | | | 5 | London Broncos | 18 |
| | | | 2 | Toulouse Olympique | 38 | | | |
| 3 | Bradford Bulls | 22 | 3 | Bradford Bulls | 20 | | | |
| 6 | York Knights | 8 | | | | | | |
    Sources:Rugby League Project

### Challenge Cup

W Win L Loss
Challenge Cup results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

## Players
### Transfers

Gains
List of players joining Featherstone :
| Player | Club | Contract | Date |
| Chris Hankinson | Toulouse Olympique | 1 Year | October 2022 |
| Mathieu Cozza | Catalans Dragons | 1 Year | October 2022 |
| Thomas Lacans | Newcastle Thunder | | |
| Elijah Taylor | Salford Red Devils | | |
| Riley Dean | Warrington Wolves | | |
| Caleb Aekins | Leigh Leopards | 2 Years | November 2022 |
| McKenzie Yei | Queensland Capras | 1 Year | December 2022 |
| Kyle Evans | Wakefield Trinity | 1 Year | January 2023 |
| Brad Day | Newcastle Thunder | | |
Losses
List of players leaving Featherstone :
| Player | Club | Contract | Date |
| Ben Hellewell | Salford Red Devils | | |
| Adam Cuthbertson | Retired | | |
| Jesse Sene-Lefao | Sheffield Eagles | | |
| Callum Field | Widnes Vikings | | |
| Jacob Doyle | Dewsbury Rams | | |
| Morgan Smith | Wakefield Trinity | 2 Year | October 2022 |
| Brett Ferres | Doncaster | | |
| Loui McConnell | Doncaster | | |
| Ryley Jacks | Released | | November 2022 |