THE 2023 Championship season is set to be one of the best in the competition’s history.
With over half a dozen sides realistically in with a chance of earning promotion to Super League, the second tier will have all eyes firmly fixed on next weekend’s opening fixtures as the likes of Keighley Cougars take on Featherstone Rovers and York take on Widnes Vikings.
For the Bradford Bulls, they begin their Championship campaign with a home tie against Whitehaven, but there is a certain air of optimism around Odsal at present.
Under Mark Dunning, the Bulls have built a squad with plenty of Super League quality in the shape of Jack Walker, Bodene Thompson and Michael Lawrence, whilst off the field the club continues to grow.
For Dunning, the top six is the minimum aim in 2023 as the Bulls look to qualify for the Championship play-offs after missing out on a place in 2022.
“Everything is realistic and it’s so competitive. I look around the squads of teams in the league, it will be a competitive division but play-offs is the minimum for us and that’s what we are aiming for,” Dunning told League Express.
“We’ve got some internal goals that we will keep inside. We are challenging the players in daring to dream.”
In terms of a potential number one side going into the season, Dunning pointed to the fact that there is no Leigh Leopards or Toronto Wolfpack of the past that will dominate the Championship, making for an unpredictable year.
“We had a standout team last year in Leigh who were the best team the Championship has ever seen,” Dunning continued.
“Featherstone will be very strong this year as will Toulouse but below that there are a group of eight to ten teams who are very competitive and anything can happen within that.”