UK League One : 2023 Season

The League One (third tier) league struggles financially and casualties are mounting. For this season the West Wales Club pulled out of the competition at short notice and now the London Skolars are voluntarily dropping to a regional division for the 2024 season. At least the longer notice of this allows more time for planning. 

Dewsbury and Workington dropped from the division above (Championship) and ten sides battled for success, especially the two places allocated for promotion. Dewsbury secured one with immediate promotion back up. 

The teams placed from second to sixth went into a playoff scenario for the other berth. Hunsel was granted a bye round as they came second. Third played fourth and fifth sixth.

Doncaster were comfortable winners over Oldham while in the elimination match North Wales upset last year's Championship side Workington. 

Hunslet returned to the fray but the week off did them no good, going down to Doncaster. In the elimination second round match, underdogs North Wales just made it past Oldham.

The solitary third round tie pitted second placed Hunslet against sixth placed North Wales. Yet again the team based in the Principality won a sudden death match to defy the odds for a crack at promotion.

This time North Wales had to concede defeat and Doncaster make their way to the Championship (see picture after winning try). North Wales have had a tough year over access to their home ground so the disruptions of that must have galvanised to side. 

Super League Attendances : 2023

The 27 round of games have been played and for this year the average was 9,253. Comparing that with 2022, when there were 8,347 per match, a useful 10.7% increase. 

Leeds leads the chart with 13,800 average attendees and a 6.6% increase. Very good considering the team has performed erratically and didn't even make the playoffs. Hull FC and Warrington were another two that finished lower than expected but both did OK with the number turning up to watch. 

The Leigh Leopards had a totally unexpected successful season. They won the cup and made the finals. Not bad for a team with relegation written all over them. Their attendance figure compared to the team they replaced (Toulouse) was up 46% and measured against their 2022 season in the Championship (division two) was up 140%! 

The only clubs to register a fall in numbers were Castleford (-4.9%)  and Wakefield (-6.4%) but with a stadium upgrade in progress at Wakefield, understandable. They were also the two worst performing sides, both fighting over the relegation spot. It was a shame one had to miss out.

I thought I'd include the effect relegation had on the attendance at Toulouse. It fell 34.6%.  

Queensland Competition : 2023

The Queensland RL competition is a well run operation, especially considering the distances involved. It also involves a team from PNG but they are based in the state. 

League: This year the Burleigh Bears (Gold Coast) won the league from Souths Logan and Brisbane Tigers (both Brisbane sides). The Central Queensland Capras (Townsville) came fourth, a big improvement from last place in 2021. 

The Norths Devils won the league and grand final in 2021, followed up by a grand final victory in 2022 but couldn't even make the finals cut for this season. The Ipswich Jets didn't get off the ground.

The finals: The top eight moved into a knock out finals format. Depending on where a team finished in the league determines who gets placed where. The higher the finish the greater the advantage in progressing. 

Round One: Redcliffe and Northern Pride lasted just one round, Burleigh and the Brisbane Tigers qualifying for a bye next round. 

Round Two: Souths Logan and the Sunshine Coast fell at this hurdle.

Round Three: Wynnum-Manly were taken to the cleaners and the Capras were edged by the Tigers to end their respective seasons.

Grand Final: The Tigers upset the favourites Bears in a tight match. To see the final highlights, copy and paste the following URL: 

https://www.qrl.com.au/news/2023/09/18/grand-final-highlights-tigers-v-bears/

Three Year Summary: Over this period, I allocated points for what teams achieved over these seasons. From the we see the Burleigh bears are the most successful, ahead of the Norths Devils and Redcliffe Dolphins. The Western Clydesdales returned for 2023 so are understandably the lowest on the chart. 

UK Super League Table : 2023

As a season goes, it wasn't a predictable one. St Helens were warm favourites after winning last year's league and then the World Club Challenge against Penrith but came in third. I didn't expect the Catalan Dragons to go so close to taking out the league title but a loss to Wigan late in the season was the difference.

Even bigger surprises eventuated. Hull KR made the top four when I didn't see them in the top six, one of the teams therefore that progresses to the playoffs. They also made the Cup final. The Leigh Leopards were the biggest surprise. They were dead certain relegation candidates but have made the final playoff series and won the 2023 Challenge Cup as proof they were the real deal in 2023.

Warrington looked promising and early on in the season the team was delivering but then faltered. Still, they are in the finals. Huddersfield, Salford and Leeds were finalists last year but surprisingly were off the pace. 

The bottom three were the only thing that was really predictable this year. In the end, it was Wakefield that had to leave the top flight. After a nicely upgraded stadium was finally delivered but then relegation. If spending on that rather than recruiting players cost them, it was a price worth paying when one takes the long term view. 

NRL Attendances : 2023

A fine year of attendance figures was enjoyed in 2023. I went back to 1990 and this was the best average year in that time period and by a reasonable margin. The total is up 21% compared to 2022. Is this because after the restrictions of COVID-19, fans were glad just to get out and enjoy the game atmosphere again. I think partially so but the way figures held up during the season, it was a geniune increase. 

The Dolphins (in red, above) is a new franchise in Brisbane, and looking at the Brisbane Broncos 2023 figure, it doesn't seem to have been negatively impacted at all. The NZ Warriors benefitted from being at home after disruptive issues with COVID-19. Only Paramatta and St George were down in numbers. 

The top four attended sides are all outside of Sydney and the bottom four are all based in that city. All new franchises are being established away from Sydney for that reason.

Australasian NRL Table : 2023

The regular season has concluded and a sport without a finals series would end here, with Penrith declared the top side. However, the teams below shaded in blue move into the playoffs while the rest can sit back and watch the others battle it out.

Penrith over the last four years has had a 1 2 1 1 record. Looking down the rest of the list shows other clubs aren't nearly as consistent. The Melbourne Storm would be the only side that comes anywhere near that recent record. 

The New Zealand Warriors have been operating out of Australia for the last two years, all home games effectively away ones and being separated from families for long periods. The first full year back to normal and they had a surprisingly successful season. Well deserved. The only issue is their form has dipped recently and they may not win a finals match.

Both the Brisbane Broncos and Newcastle Knights were big improvers in 2022. The Paramatta Eels and North Queensland Cowboys were well short of their last season standing. As for unwanted consistency, the West Tigers collected their second wooden spoon in a row. Manly, the Gold Coast and Canterbury were likewise consistent. 

I look at points difference to see how a team performed over the season. On that basis, Canberra is very fortunate to make the playoffs. Had South Sydney won their last game, they would have been playing for at least another round as their goal difference was much better than Canberra's.