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.