# 2023 RFL Championship

The 2023 RFL Championship, (officially known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons), was a professional rugby league club competition. Fourteen clubs – thirteen from England and one from France – competed to gain promotion to the 2024 Super League, while avoiding relegation to the 2024 League One season.
The seasons comprised 27 rounds in the regular season with the top six teams taking part in the play-offs.
The champions were London Broncos who after finishing fifth in the regular season, won the play-off grand final against Toulouse Olympique.
Featherstone Rovers won the League Leader's Shield finishing the regular season 12 points ahead of their nearest rivals, Toulouse.
Newcastle Thunder and Keighley Cougars were relegated to League One.

## Teams
### Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2022 season:

#### To Championship

Promoted from League One
* Keighley Cougars
* Swinton Lions
Relegated from the Super League
* Toulouse Olympique

#### From Championship

Promoted to the Super League
* Leigh Leopards
Relegated to League One
* Dewsbury Rams
* Workington Town

### Clubs

| 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 | 1,320 |
| 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.
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.

## 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 |

## Play-offs
### 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 | | | | | | |

### Week 1: Eliminators

* 1 October 2023 20:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Sheffield Eagles | 0–42 | London Broncos |
| | Report | Tries: Grant 6', 72', Bassett 11', 19', Lovell 65', Walker 43',Williams 39' Goals: Norman (7/7) 7', 12, 20', 40',44', 66', 73' |
* Olympic Legacy Park Attendance: 648 Referee: James Vella
* 1 October 2023 18:30 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Bradford Bulls | 22–8 | York Knights |
| Tries: Rogers 35', Appo 37', Holmes 44' Goals: Lilley (5/5) 36', 38', 45', 62', 67' | Report | Tries: Dee 28' Goals: Harris (2/2) 14', 29' |
* Odsal Stadium Attendance: 2,738 Referee: Tom Grant

### Week 2: Semi-finals

* 7 October 2023 17:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Toulouse Olympique | 38–20 | Bradford Bulls |
| Tries: Santo, Stefani, Armitage, Laguerre (2), Ralph, Marcon Goals: Santo, Brochon (4/6) | Report | Tries: Gaskell (2), Appo Goals: Lilley (4/4) |
* Stade Ernest Wallon Attendance: 4,352 Referee: James Vella
* 8 October 2023 18:30 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Featherstone Rovers | 26–36 | London Broncos |
| Tries: Hankinson (2), Leilua (2), Briscoe Goals: Kheirallah (3/5) | Report | Tries: Walker (2), Whare, Macani, Grant, Raiwalui Goals: Norman (6/6) |
* Post Office Road Attendance: 4,324 Referee: Tom Grant

### Week 3: Grand Final

* 15 October 2023 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Toulouse Olympique | 14–18 | London Broncos |
| Tries: Jussaume, Ralph Goals: Shorrocks (3/3) | Report | Tries: Whare, Walker, Macani (2) Goals: Norman (1/4) |
* Stade Ernest Wallon Referee: Jack Smith Player of the Match: Alex Walker (London)

## Broadcasting

The 2023 Championship season was the second of two seasons televised under a broadcasting deal between the Rugby Football League and Premier Media Broadcasting agreed in October 2021. 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. Viaplay Group broadcast 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. All matches broadcast on Viaplay Sports, including the Championship Grand Final, were broadcast on Fox League in Australia throughout the season.