2023_Featherstone_Rovers_season

2023 Featherstone Rovers season

2023 Featherstone Rovers season

Rugby football league


In the 2023 rugby league season, Featherstone Rovers competed in the RFL Championship and the Challenge Cup. In the Championship, Featherstone won the League Leaders' Shield having lost only two regular season games, but suffered a 36-22 upset in the play-off semi-final against London Broncos.

Quick Facts Championship Rank, Play-off result ...

Season review

In October 2022, Sean Long was appointed to succeed Brian McDermott as head coach.[1] Featherstone began their Championship campaign on 6 February with a 50-0 win over newly promoted Keighley Cougars.[2] Featherstone moved to the top of the league on 19 February following a 76-4 win over Whitehaven.[3] On 12 March, Featherstone were knocked out in the third round of the Challenge Cup when Halifax Panthers came from behind to win 22-18.[4] The following week Featherstone resumed their unbeaten run in the Championship with a 34-6 win over Swinton Lions in Round 6.[5]

On 16 May, it was announced that James Ford had been appointed as the first Director of Rugby at Featherstone.[6] On 27 May, Featherstone faced one of Ford's former clubs, York Knights, at the Summer Bash where four tries by Gareth Gale sealed a 46-4 victory.[7] The run of league wins was extended to 13 games with a 64-6 win over Barrow Raiders in which Featherstone had ten different try scorers.[8][9] On 10 June, Featherstone suffered their first league loss of the season when Toulouse Olympique defeated them 36–18 in Round 14.[10] Following the defeat, Featherstone announced several changes to their backroom structure which included the departure of assistant coach Leon Pryce.[11] A second league defeat for Featherstone came in Round 21 against Halifax.[12] The match, which was scheduled for 7 August, was moved to a day earlier as Halifax were playing in the final of the 1895 Cup the following weekend.[13] On 7 August, Sean Long was sacked from his role as head coach and succeeded by James Ford.[14]

Featherstone secured top place in the table at the start of September with a 16-8 win over Bradford Bulls at Odsal.[15] On 23 September, Featherstone defeated Widnes Vikings 62-10 in the final round of the regular season. After the game they were presented with the League Leaders' Shield having ended 12 points ahead of second-placed Toulouse.[16] As league leaders, Featherstone had a bye in the first round of the play-offs before facing London Broncos in the semi-finals. London had finished fifth in the table, 18 points below the Featherstone, but were in good form having won 42-0 against Sheffield Eagles in the eliminators and they ended Featherstone's season by defeating them 46-22[17][18] before overcoming Toulouse in the Grand Final.[19]

Results

Pre-season friendlies

W Win D Draw L Loss

More information Date, Versus ...

RFL Championship

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: RFL
Rules for classification: 1) Competition points; 2) Points difference; 3) Points percentage (points scored/points conceded x 100)

Championship results

W Win D Draw L Loss

More information Date, Round ...

Play-offs

More information Date, Round ...
Team bracket
Eliminators Semi-finals 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
Sources:Rugby League Project

Challenge Cup

W Win L Loss

More information Date, Round ...

Players

Squad

More information First team squad, Coaching staff ...

Transfers

Gains

More information Player, Club ...

Losses

More information Player, Club ...

References

  1. "Featherstone appoint Sean Long to guide Rovers to Super League". Love Rugby League. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  2. "Betfred Championship Round-Up | Round One". RFL. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  3. "Betfred Championship Round-Up | Round Three". RFL. 19 February 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  4. "Betfred Challenge Cup | Round Three Round-Up". RFL. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  5. "Betfred Championship Round-Up | Round Six". RFL. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  6. "Featherstone appoint James Ford as new Director of Rugby". RFL. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  7. "Summer Bash Round-Up". RFL. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  8. "Betfred Championship Preview | Round 14". RFL. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  9. "Betfred Championship Round-Up | Round 13". RFL. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  10. "Betfred Championship Round-Up | Round 14". RFL. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  11. "Halifax Panthers vs Featherstone Rovers fixture rescheduled". RFL. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  12. "Featherstone Rovers sack Sean Long; James Ford to lead promotion charge". Love Rugby League. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  13. "Betfred Championship Preview Round 25". RFL. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  14. "Betfred Championship Round-Up | Round 27". RFL. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  15. "Betfred Championship Preview | Featherstone Rovers v London Broncos". RFL. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  16. "London Broncos defeat Toulouse in Betfred Championship Grand Final". RFL. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  17. "2023 Betfred Championship Preview | Featherstone Rovers". RFL. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  18. "Rovers see out 2022 in style". Featherstone Rovers. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  19. "Friendly Matches Round-Up". RFL. 22 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  20. "Match Report; Featherstone Vs Hull KR". Featherstone Rovers. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  21. "Friendly Matches Round-Up". RFL. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  22. "Rovers take learning points from friendly defeat". Featherstone Rovers. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  23. "Chris Hankinson departs Toulouse for Championship rivals". 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  24. "Featherstone Rovers snap up Catalans Dragons forward". Love Rugby League. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  25. "Former Leigh full-back Caleb Aekins joins Championship rivals". Love Rugby League. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  26. "Featherstone Rovers sign McKenzie Yei and James Lockwood". RFL. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  27. "Former Wakefield winger Kyle Evans finds new club for 2023". Love Rugby League. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  28. "Morgan Smith: Wakefield Trinity sign Featherstone Rovers half-back". BBC Sport. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  29. "Featherstone half-back released to return to Australia". Love Rugby League. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.

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