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The 2022 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played in England. It is the second tier of the three tiers of professional rugby league in England, below Super League, and above League 1. The sponsors for the league are the bookmakers, Betfred and the league will continue to be known as the Betfred Championship.

2022 Betfred Championship
LeagueChampionship
Duration29 January 2022 – 2 October 2022
Teams14
Matches played194
Points scored9,714
Highest attendance7,233
Championship Grand Final
Lowest attendance385
Sheffield Eagles v Newcastle Thunder
(22 April 2022)
Average attendance1,880
Attendance364,822
Broadcast partnersPremier Sports
2022 season
Promoted to Super LeagueLeigh Centurions
League Leaders ShieldLeigh Centurions
Biggest home winLeigh Centurions 100–4 York City Knights (21 August 2022)
Biggest away winWorkington Town 0–66 Leigh Centurions (10 July 2022)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from League 1Keighley Cougars
Swinton Lions
Relegated to League 1Workington Town
Dewsbury Rams

The league was won by Leigh Centurions who beat Batley Bulldogs 44–12 in the Grand Final to win promotion to Super League in 2023. Leigh also won the league leaders shield by finishing top of the regular season league table. Dewsbury Rams and Workington Town were relegated from the Championship to play in the 2023 League One.

Rule changes

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The RFL approved three rules changes for 2022. On 20 January 2022, The RFL confirmed that scrums will return to all competitions, having been suspended as part of the game's COVID-19 response in 2020 and 2021.[1] Scrums are only being reintroduced for errors (knock-on, forward pass or accidental offside) in the first four tackles of a set. Other cases, where previously a scrum would have been awarded, for example - ball into touch on the full, ball kicked or passed into touch, incorrect play the ball; will result in a handover.[2]

The ball steal law will revert to the 2020 rule where the ball can only be stolen in a one-on-one tackle and not during a multi-person tackle where the additional tacklers have peeled off the tackle before the steal. Finally, injured players will be required to leave the pitch for treatment, if possible, following complaints that stoppages for injury spoil the speed and flow of the game.[3]

Teams

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The league comprised 14 teams. The regular season comprised 27 rounds, each teams will play each of the others twice (home and away) with the 21st round, the Summer Bash, seeing seven additional fixtures between the 14 teams played at the same venue, which this year was Headingley stadium in Leeds.[4]

Locations of the 2022 RFL Championship teams
Locations of the 2022 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire
Team Stadium Capacity Location
  Barrow Raiders
(2022 season)
Craven Park 6,000 Barrow in Furness, Cumbria
  Batley Bulldogs
(2022 season)
Mount Pleasant 7,500 Batley, West Yorkshire
  Bradford Bulls
(2022 season)
Odsal Stadium 22,000 Bradford, West Yorkshire
  Dewsbury Rams
(2022 season)
Crown Flatt 5,800 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
  Featherstone Rovers
(2022 season)
Post Office Road 8,000 Featherstone, West Yorkshire
  Halifax
(2022 season)
The Shay 10,401 Halifax, West Yorkshire
  Leigh Centurions
(2022 season)
Leigh Sports Village 12,000 Leigh, Greater Manchester
  London Broncos
(2022 season)
Plough Lane 9,215 Wimbledon, London
  Newcastle Thunder
(2022 season)
Kingston Park 10,200 Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle
  Sheffield Eagles
(2022 season)
Olympic Legacy Park 3,900 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
  Whitehaven
(2022 season)
Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria
  Widnes Vikings
(2022 season)
DCBL Stadium 13,350 Widnes, Cheshire
  Workington Town
(2022 season)
Derwent Park 10,000 Workington, Cumbria
  York City Knights
(2022 season)
York Community Stadium 8,005 York, North Yorkshire

Fixtures and results

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Regular season table

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Leigh Centurions 27 26 0 1 1306 208 +1098 52 Championship Leaders' Shield & advance to play-off semi-final
2   Featherstone Rovers 27 23 1 3 1060 468 +592 47 Advance to play-off semi-final
3   Halifax Panthers 27 20 0 7 837 442 +395 40 Advance to play-off eliminators
4   Barrow Raiders 27 18 1 8 757 587 +170 37
5   Batley Bulldogs 27 17 2 8 738 551 +187 36
6   York City Knights 27 18 0 9 677 596 +81 36
7   Sheffield Eagles 27 12 0 15 701 660 +41 24
8   Widnes Vikings 27 12 0 15 567 679 −112 24
9   Bradford Bulls 27 11 0 16 523 677 −154 22
10   Whitehaven 27 9 1 17 488 854 −366 19
11   London Broncos 27 8 1 18 548 740 −192 17
12   Newcastle Thunder 27 7 1 19 559 877 −318 15
13   Dewsbury Rams 27 3 1 23 385 964 −579 7 Relegated to League 1
14   Workington Town 27 1 0 26 296 1139 −843 2
Source: [1]

End of season awards

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Play-offs

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The same play-off structure as used in 2021 was used.

Team bracket

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Eliminators Semi-finals Grand Final
1 Leigh Centurions 70
3 Halifax Panthers 24 6 York City Knights 10
6 York City Knights 26 1 Leigh Centurions 44
5 Batley Bulldogs 12
2 Featherstone Rovers 28
4 Barrow Raiders 8 5 Batley Bulldogs 32
5 Batley Bulldogs 18

Summary

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Eliminators
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
  Halifax Panthers 24–26   York City Knights 18 September 2022, 17:30 The Shay J. Vella 1,850
  Barrow Raiders 08–18   Batley Bulldogs 18 September 2022, 15:00 Craven Park M. Griffiths 3,595
Source:
Semi-finals
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
  Leigh Centurions 70–10   York City Knights 25 September 2022, 14:00 Leigh Sports Village M. Griffiths 3,329
  Featherstone Rovers 28–32   Batley Bulldogs 25 September 2022, 16:00 Post Office Road R. Hicks 4,000
Source:
Championship Grand Final
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
  Leigh Centurions 44–12   Batley Bulldogs 2 October 2022, 18:30 Leigh Sports Village C. Kendall 7,233
Source:

Broadcasting

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The rights to show matches from the Championship was until November 2020 held by Sky TV but the RFL negotiated a new deal with Sky which removed Championship games from the existing contract, and instead the RFL signed a new deal with Premier Sports. This deal resulted in one match from each round being broadcast live on a Monday evening.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Scrums to return in all competitions for 2022". rugby-league.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  2. ^ Rule Changes for the 2022 season. Rugby Football League. 10 February 2021.
  3. ^ "RFL board approves law changes for 2022". www.superleague.co.uk. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Betfred Championship Fixtures 2022". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3303. 15 November 2021. pp. 12–13.
  5. ^ "Monday night rugby league set for return from 2022". Rugby League News. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.