2023 NRL Season

The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competition table. The Penrith Panthers were the 2023 minor and major premiers.

Teams

For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL increased from sixteen to seventeen with the inclusion of a fourth Queensland-based club, the Dolphins, based at Redcliffe. It is the first time the number of Premiership teams has changed since 2007 when the Gold Coast Titans joined the competition.

Collective bargaining agreement issues

The start of the season was overshadowed by ongoing issues between the NRL and the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA). By February 2023, the RLPA and the NRL were at a stalemate following the expiration of the previous collective bargaining agreement in November 2022.

The NRL had announced an increased salary cap on 23 December 2022, surprising the RLPA who had yet to agree to terms with the NRL.

By February 2023, the possibility of a player's strike or other industrial action had yet to be ruled out by the RLPA.

In response to the stalled negotiations over the new agreement, in early July the RLPA took industrial action with players boycotting almost all broadcast and media engagements. The RLPA later publishing a list of frequently asked questions in response to media reporting.

In Round 22, the players took further action by covering the NRL logo on their jerseys.

Pre-season

Pre-season in 2023 saw the introduction of the NRL Pre-season Challenge in attempt to ensure each team had played an even number of matches before the start of the season. The annual All Stars match was still played, however the Pre-season Challenge saw a vast reduction in the number of trial played. As the 2023 World Club Challenge was hosted in Australia, the competition was incorporated into the final week of the Pre-season Challenge, which also resulted in St Helens participating in the NRL Pre-season Challenge in both weeks.

Matches were played between 4 February and 19 February 2023, before a 11-day lead up until the beginning of the regular season.

All Stars match

Rotorua hosted the All Stars match, which was the first time the match was played in New Zealand.

Trials

''Italics'' indicates a non-NRL club

Pre-season Challenge

Regular season

Results

Bold – Home game

X – Bye

* – Golden point game

Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

Ladder progression

*Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top eight.
*Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
*Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
*Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.

Finals series

† Match decided in extra time.

Chart

Grand final

Player statistics and records

* In Round 10, Wayne Bennett became the first coach to coach 900 games in the NRL and its predecessor competitions.
* In Round 22, Cameron McInnes broke the record for the most tackles in a game in the NRL era (1998–present) with 81.
* In the Grand Final, Ezra Mam tied the record for most tries by a five-eighth in a season, with 18.

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 27.

Top 5 point scorers

Top 5 try scorers

Top 5 goal kickers

Top 5 tacklers

Attendances

Club figures

* = Magic Round home game not counted

Top regular season crowds

Magic Round (Round 10)

Finals

Match Officials

* Includes Finals Matches

2023 Transfers

Source:

Players

Mid-season transfers

Coaches

Notes

References

{{National Rugby League seasons

Rugby league in Australia