Amid the continuing drama of the Rugby League World Cup, the 2023 Betfred Super League season has been thrust into the spotlight with the release on Thursday of the fixture list for the new campaign.
The season gets underway with Warrington Wolves hosting Leeds Rhinos on Thursday, February 16, live on Sky Sports at 8pm, with the Grand Finalists hoping to continue their end-of-season form as Rohan Smith begins full term in charge of the Rhinos. The Wolves will be looking for redemption after a sub-standard 2022, having recruited well in the off-season so far.
There’s also a bit of a local derby in the opening weekend as the newly-promoted and newly-renamed Leigh Leopards face the Salford Red Devils. Salford are coached by Paul Rowley, who returns to Leigh Sports Village having spent 11 years with the former Centurions as a player and coach. That fixture is also live on Sky.
The final broadcasted game of the opening weekend is Wigan Warriors’ trip to East Yorkshire to face Hull Kingston Rovers on Saturday, February 18, live on Channel 4 at 1pm.
St Helens’ opening fixture against Huddersfield Giants will be played at a later date as the reigning champions travel to Australia to face Penrith Panthers in the revived World Club Challenge on the opening Super League weekend. While the exact schedule for the fixture has not been confirmed, the various organisations involved are working together to make sure it is held on February 18 or 19.
Who is ready for Round 1? 🤩
Full Fixtures available 👉
Each Super League team have again been handed 13 home and 13 away fixtures, plus one at St James’ Park in Newcastle for Magic Weekend one June 3 and 4. This is set to be the final edition of the event ahead of the changes implemented by new strategic partners IMG from the 2024 season onwards.
On the Saturday Tyneside plays host to Salford v Hull KR, Wigan v Catalans Dragons and Leeds v Castleford Tigers. Sunday’s fixtures are Trinity v Leigh, Saints v Huddersfield Giants and Hull FC v Warrington.
The Easter Weekend plays host to the 2023 Rivals Round once more, with all six fixtures being shown live on Sky Sports, starting with Castleford hosting Wakefield on Thursday, April 6.
Good Friday sees the same two fixtures as last year, with the Hull Derby taking place at 12:30pm and Wigan-Saints following on at 3pm. On the Saturday, Leigh host Salford once more and Catalans travel to Warrington, before Leeds and Huddersfield round off the weekend of action on Easter Sunday.
And they'll all be LIVE on @SkySportsRL for Rivals Round 🙌
The play-offs begin the week after the season ends, with September 28 onwards seeing the top six meeting to battle for silverware right through to the Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday, October 14. The format continues from this season with the top two teams receiving byes to the semi-finals, where they face the winners of the preliminary round, in which third place faces sixth and fourth meets fifth.
In total, 76 live games will be shown across the two broadcasters of Sky Sports and Channel 4, with C4’s first five fixtures being Hull KR vs Wigan on the opening weekend, Castleford vs Saints in round two, Leeds vs Catalans on March 25 (Round Six), Warrington vs Hull FC on April 1 (Round 7) and Saints vs Salford on May 13 (Round 12).
