The Betfred Championship moves, en masse, to York for this weekend´s summer bash and with two days of sunshine and no prospect of rain it looks like being an excellent weekend for those who enjoy a bit of culture, and cuisine with their rugby league.
There are seven fixtures over two days kicking off at 12:45 today with the first encounter between the Widnes Vikings and the Swinton Lions and ending tomorrow evening when the Bradford Bulls and Keighley Cougars bring down the curtain on proceedings.
We take a look ahead to the matches and likely outcomes.
Saturday
12:45 – Widnes v. Swinton
Sixth takes on twelfth on the opening fixture with the bookies favouring the Vikings and giving Swinton a ten-point start on the coupon, but the Lions love a shock, and they are nothing if not tenacious in 2023. There could be an early shock on the cards to set the scene for the weekend.
15:00 – Whitehaven v. Barrow
The Cumbrian derby pitches eleventh against thirteenth in a tussle at the bottom of the table, the winners getting local bragging rights, and if it´s Barrow, a chance to get out of the bottom two. The bookies are struggling to call it but have gone with ´Haven, but not by much at all.
17:15 – London Broncos v. Toulouse Olympique XIII
This is as close as these two get to a derby but Toulouse are the clear favourites for the win despite a couple of recent stumbles as they try to compete with the all-conquering Featherstone Rovers and challenge for a place in Super League for 2024. London are currently tenth after a disappointing start to the season but the bookmakers think that their bad form will continue and that Toulouse will take the points to go back ahead of Sheffield and into second spot.
19:30 – Featherstone Rovers v. York RLFC Knights
Without doubt the most appealing game of the day which should see the largest crowd as the ´home´ side take on the pretenders to the promotion spot in a what could be a humdinger of a game. Top side Featherstone should, on paper, have few problems with eighth placed York as they seek to maintain their one hundred percent start to the season and the bookies are predicting that it will be a comprehensive win, but York´s home advantage could come into play, buoyed by them being the only Championship side remaining in the Challenge Cup.
Sunday
13:45 – Newcastle Thunder v. Sheffield Eagles
This season´s surprise package, second placed Sheffield Eagles have a simple looking game against the bottom side Newcastle and every man and his dog thinks that this will be a simple win for the Eagles to keep up their push for a top two spot and a shot at Featherstone in the play-offs. Newcastle have a twenty-four point start on the coupon and there is an expectation that they could fare worse than that.
16:00 – Halifax Panthers v. Batley Bulldogs
The first of two battle´s royal end the weekend as fourth plays fifth with the Bulldogs and Panthers both looking to banish memories of their cup exits at the hands of Super League sides last weekend. Halifax have been installed as the bookies favourites despite the sides being level on points in the table. Halifax won the game earlier in the season by four points and this could be another close one.
18:15 – Bradford Bulls v. Keighley Cougars
The curtain comes down on the bash with a mid-table match-up between seventh placed Bradford and a Keighley side currently in ninth. A ten point Keighley win would see the two sides change places but the bookies are favouring the Bulls, having handicapped them by eight points on the coupon.
If you are going to York then have a safe journey and a great weekend, if can´t get there in person then five of the games will be broadcast on pay per view on Our League while the remaining two games (the last two on Saturday) will be carried live on ViaPlay.
Brace yourself York, rugby league is on its way!
