2022 RFL Championship

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 – 11 September 2022
Teams14
Broadcast partnersPremier Sports
2022 season

Rule changes

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

The league comprises 14 teams. The regular season comprises 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.[4]

Locations of the 2022 RFL Championship teams
Locations of the 2021 RFL Championship teams in West Yorkshire
Team Stadium Capacity Location
Barrow Raiders
(2022 season)		 Craven Park 5,900 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 14,000 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
Main article: 2022 RFL Championship season results

Regular season table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Featherstone Rovers 10 9 1 0 364 120 +244 19 Championship Leaders' Shield
2 Leigh Centurions 10 9 0 1 372 86 +286 18
3 York City Knights 10 8 0 2 256 160 +96 16
4 Batley Bulldogs 9 6 1 2 226 141 +85 13
5 Halifax Panthers 10 6 0 4 260 162 +98 12
6 Barrow Raiders 10 5 1 4 187 242 −55 11
7 Sheffield Eagles 9 5 0 4 234 166 +68 10
8 Bradford Bulls 10 5 0 5 210 217 −7 10
9 Widnes Vikings 10 4 0 6 207 274 −67 8
10 Newcastle Thunder 10 4 0 6 170 238 −68 8
11 Whitehaven 10 3 0 7 166 288 −122 6
12 Dewsbury Rams 10 2 0 8 125 320 −195 4
13 London Broncos 10 1 1 8 118 258 −140 3
14 Workington Town 10 0 0 10 116 339 −223 0
Updated to match(es) played on 2 May 2022. Source:

    Broadcasting

    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 will result in one match from each round being broadcast live on a Monday evening.[5]

    References
    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.
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