# 2023 NSW Cup season

The 2023 season of the New South Wales Cup was the 117th season of the premier state rugby league competition in New South Wales.

## Season summary

The 2023 season of the New South Wales Cup commenced on the 3 March. Teams played 26 regular competition rounds, with the top five teams qualifying for the final series in September.
Round 10 will be only played at 2 grounds as part of magic round that being North Sydney Oval and HE Laybutt Field

## Teams

There are 13 teams competing in the competition in 2023, with eleven based in New South Wales itself, as well as one in the Australian Capital Territory and one from New Zealand.
| Club | Home ground(s) | Head coach |
| Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles | 4 Pines Park & HE Laybutt Field | Greg Boulous |
| Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium & Raiders Belconnen | Justin Giteau |
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Belmore Sports Ground & Stadium Australia | David Tangata-Toa |
| Newcastle Knights | McDonald Jones Stadium | Michael Monaghan |
| Newtown Jets | Henson Park | George Ndaira |
| New Zealand Warriors | Mount Smart Stadium | Slade Griffin |
| North Sydney Bears | North Sydney Oval | Jason Taylor |
| Parramatta Eels | Kellyville Oval & CommBank Stadium | Nathan Cayless |
| Penrith Panthers | BlueBet Stadium | Ben Harden |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Ironmark High Performance Centre & Stadium Australia | Joe O'Callaghan |
| Sydney Roosters | Wentworth Park | Anthony Barnes |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium & Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | Bronx Goodwin |
| Western Suburbs Magpies | Lidcombe Oval | Wayne Lambkin |

## Regular Season
### Ladder

2023 NSW Cup :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | North Sydney Bears | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 637 | 474 | +163 | 36 |
| 2 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 584 | 533 | +51 | 34 |
| 3 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 630 | 470 | +160 | 33 |
| 4 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 554 | 476 | +78 | 33 |
| 5 | Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles | 24 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 629 | 524 | +105 | 32 |
| 6 | Newtown Jets | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 644 | 511 | +133 | 31 |
| 7 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 564 | 482 | +82 | 30 |
| 8 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 569 | 501 | +68 | 29 |
| 9 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 480 | 683 | -203 | 27 |
| 10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 572 | 624 | -52 | 23 |
| 11 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 508 | 685 | -177 | 22 |
| 12 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 516 | 749 | -233 | 20 |
| 13 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 492 | 667 | -175 | 14 |
Source:

## Finals series

The top five teams qualified for the finals series, with these being Norths, Souths, New Zealand, Canberra and Blacktown.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee(s) | Crowd |
| QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINAL |||||||
| Canberra Raiders | 24 – 22 | Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles | Saturday 2 September, 1:00pm | North Sydney Oval | | 1,000 |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 26 – 12 | New Zealand Warriors | Saturday 3 September, 3:00pm | North Sydney Oval | | 1,000 |
| SEMI-FINALS |||||||
| New Zealand Warriors | 49 – 6 | Canberra Raiders | Saturday 9 September, 1:00pm | Leichhardt Oval | | 3,000 |
| North Sydney Bears | 24 – 30 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Saturday 9 September, 3:00pm | Leichhardt Oval | | 3,000 |
| PRELIMINARY FINAL |||||||
| North Sydney Bears | 28 – 24 | New Zealand Warriors | Saturday 16 September, 3:00 pm | Leichhardt Oval | | 3,000 |
| GRAND FINAL |||||||
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 22 – 18 | North Sydney Bears | Sunday 24 September, 3:00pm | CommBank Stadium | | 10,173 |
| Qualifying and elimination finals | Qualifying and elimination finals | Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| | | | 1 | North Sydney | 24 | | | | South Sydney | 22 |
| | | | | South Sydney | 30 | | | | North Sydney | North Sydney | 18 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 26 | | | | North Sydney | North Sydney | 28 | | | |
| 3 | New Zealand | 12 | | | | New Zealand | New Zealand | 24 | | | |
| | | | New Zealand | New Zealand | 49 | | | | | | |
| | | | Canberra | Canberra | 6 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Canberra | 24 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Blacktown | 22 | | | | | | | | | |

## Grand Final

Both Souths and Norths went into the Grand Final with lengthy droughts, at 40 and 30 years respectively. The two sides also met in a NSW Cup Grand Final for the first time in 97 years (1926).
* Sunday, 24 September 15:00 AEST (UTC+10)
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 22 – 18 | North Sydney Bears |
| Tries: 4 Mitchell 14' O'Neill 32' Carr 51' Munro 75' Goals: 4 Hawkins 16', 34', 76' (3/4) | 1st: 12–12 2nd: 10–8 Report | Tries: 3 Smalley 5' Marschke 25' Porter 68' Goals: 3 Hayman 27', 40', 70' (2/3) |
* CommBank Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 10,173 Player of the Match: Dean Hawkins

## NRL State Championship

As premiers of the NSW Cup, the South Sydney Rabbitohs will face Queensland Cup premiers Brisbane Tigers in the NRL State Championship match.
* Sunday, 1 October 13:20pm AEDT (UTC+11)
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 42 – 22 | Brisbane Tigers |
| | 1st: 12 – 6 2nd: 30 – 16 | |
* Accor Stadium, Sydney Referee: Wyatt Raymond Bunker: Chris Butler Touch judges: Tyson Brough, Cameron Paddy

## Awards

* Player of the Year: Dean Hawkins
* Top Tryscorer: Clayton Faulalo (29)
* Top Pointscorer: Ronald Volkman (197)

### Team of the Year

| Position | Winner | Club |
| Fullback | Isaiah Iongi | Penrith Panthers |
| Wing | Clayton Faulalo | Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles |
| Centre | Kayal Iro | Newtown Jets |
| Centre | Ali Leiataua | New Zealand Warriors |
| Wing | Fetalaiga Pauga | North Sydney Bears |
| Five-eighth | Jesse Marschke | North Sydney Bears |
| Halfback | Dean Hawkins | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Prop | Liam Henry | Penrith Panthers |
| Hooker | Peter Mamouzelos | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Prop | Trey Mooney | Canberra Raiders |
| Second-row | Clay Webb | Canberra Raiders |
| Second-row | Kalani Going | New Zealand Warriors |
| Lock | Zach Dockar-Clay | North Sydney Bears |