# 2022 RFL Championship

The 2022 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played in England. It is the second tier of the three tiers of professional rugby league in England, below Super League, and above League 1. The sponsors for the league are the bookmakers, Betfred and the league will continue to be known as the Betfred Championship.
The league was won by Leigh Centurions who beat Batley Bulldogs 44–12 in the Grand Final to win promotion to Super League in 2023. Leigh also won the league leaders shield by finishing top of the regular season league table. Dewsbury Rams and Workington Town were relegated from the Championship to play in the 2023 League One.

## Rule changes

The RFL approved three rules changes for 2022. On 20 January 2022, The RFL confirmed that scrums will return to all competitions, having been suspended as part of the game's COVID-19 response in 2020 and 2021. Scrums are only being reintroduced for errors (knock-on, forward pass or accidental offside) in the first four tackles of a set. Other cases, where previously a scrum would have been awarded, for example - ball into touch on the full, ball kicked or passed into touch, incorrect play the ball; will result in a handover.
The ball steal law will revert to the 2020 rule where the ball can only be stolen in a one-on-one tackle and not during a multi-person tackle where the additional tacklers have peeled off the tackle before the steal. Finally, injured players will be required to leave the pitch for treatment, if possible, following complaints that stoppages for injury spoil the speed and flow of the game.

## Teams

The league comprised 14 teams. The regular season comprised 27 rounds, each teams will play each of the others twice (home and away) with the 21st round, the Summer Bash, seeing seven additional fixtures between the 14 teams played at the same venue, which this year was Headingley stadium in Leeds.
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Location |
| Barrow Raiders (2022 season) | Craven Park | 6,000 | Barrow in Furness, Cumbria |
| Batley Bulldogs (2022 season) | Mount Pleasant | 7,500 | Batley, West Yorkshire |
| Bradford Bulls (2022 season) | Odsal Stadium | 22,000 | Bradford, West Yorkshire |
| Dewsbury Rams (2022 season) | Crown Flatt | 5,800 | Dewsbury, West Yorkshire |
| Featherstone Rovers (2022 season) | Post Office Road | 8,000 | Featherstone, West Yorkshire |
| Halifax (2022 season) | The Shay | 10,401 | Halifax, West Yorkshire |
| Leigh Centurions (2022 season) | Leigh Sports Village | 12,000 | Leigh, Greater Manchester |
| London Broncos (2022 season) | Plough Lane | 9,215 | Wimbledon, London |
| Newcastle Thunder (2022 season) | Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle |
| Sheffield Eagles (2022 season) | Olympic Legacy Park | 3,900 | Sheffield, South Yorkshire |
| Whitehaven (2022 season) | Recreation Ground | 7,500 | Whitehaven, Cumbria |
| Widnes Vikings (2022 season) | DCBL Stadium | 13,350 | Widnes, Cheshire |
| Workington Town (2022 season) | Derwent Park | 10,000 | Workington, Cumbria |
| York City Knights (2022 season) | York Community Stadium | 8,005 | York, North Yorkshire |

## Regular season table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Leigh Centurions | 27 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1306 | 208 | +1098 | 52 | Championship Leaders' Shield & advance to play-off semi-final |
| 2 | Featherstone Rovers | 27 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 1060 | 468 | +592 | 47 | Advance to play-off semi-final |
| 3 | Halifax Panthers | 27 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 837 | 442 | +395 | 40 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 4 | Barrow Raiders | 27 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 757 | 587 | +170 | 37 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 27 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 738 | 551 | +187 | 36 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 6 | York City Knights | 27 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 677 | 596 | +81 | 36 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 7 | Sheffield Eagles | 27 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 701 | 660 | +41 | 24 | |
| 8 | Widnes Vikings | 27 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 567 | 679 | −112 | 24 | |
| 9 | Bradford Bulls | 27 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 523 | 677 | −154 | 22 | |
| 10 | Whitehaven | 27 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 488 | 854 | −366 | 19 | |
| 11 | London Broncos | 27 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 548 | 740 | −192 | 17 | |
| 12 | Newcastle Thunder | 27 | 7 | 1 | 19 | 559 | 877 | −318 | 15 | |
| 13 | Dewsbury Rams | 27 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 385 | 964 | −579 | 7 | Relegated to League 1 |
| 14 | Workington Town | 27 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 296 | 1139 | −843 | 2 | Relegated to League 1 |

## End of season awards

* Foundation of the year: Sheffield Eagles
* Club of the year: Barrow Raiders
* Coach of the year: Paul Crarey (Barrow Raiders)
* Young player of the year: Sam Eseh (Featherstone Rovers)
* Player of the year: Edwin Ipape (Leigh Centurions)

## Play-offs

The same play-off structure as used in 2021 was used.

### Team bracket

| Eliminators | Eliminators | Eliminators | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Leigh Centurions | 70 | | | |
| 3 | Halifax Panthers | 24 | 6 | York City Knights | 10 | | | |
| 6 | York City Knights | 26 | | | | 1 | Leigh Centurions | 44 |
| | | | | | | 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 12 |
| | | | 2 | Featherstone Rovers | 28 | | | |
| 4 | Barrow Raiders | 8 | 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 32 | | | |
| 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 18 | | | | | | |

### Summary

Eliminators :
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Attendance |
| Halifax Panthers | 24–26 | York City Knights | 18 September 2022, 17:30 | The Shay | J. Vella | 1,850 |
| Barrow Raiders | 08–18 | Batley Bulldogs | 18 September 2022, 15:00 | Craven Park | M. Griffiths | 3,595 |
| Source: |||||||
Semi-finals :
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Attendance |
| Leigh Centurions | 70–10 | York City Knights | 25 September 2022, 14:00 | Leigh Sports Village | M. Griffiths | 3,329 |
| Featherstone Rovers | 28–32 | Batley Bulldogs | 25 September 2022, 16:00 | Post Office Road | R. Hicks | 4,000 |
| Source: |||||||
Championship Grand Final :
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Attendance |
| Leigh Centurions | 44–12 | Batley Bulldogs | 2 October 2022, 18:30 | Leigh Sports Village | C. Kendall | 7,233 |
| Source: |||||||

## Broadcasting

The rights to show matches from the Championship was until November 2020 held by Sky TV but the RFL negotiated a new deal with Sky which removed Championship games from the existing contract, and instead the RFL signed a new deal with Premier Sports. This deal resulted in one match from each round being broadcast live on a Monday evening.