Following a thorough review, the Auckland Rugby League are pleased to confirm the format for the 2023 Fox Memorial Premiership and Sharman Cup.

2023 will work as a bridge between the 2022 shortened season and by 2025 will see the return to a more exclusive Fox Memorial Premiership competition.  This gives all Clubs the opportunity to increase participation and develop their team’s depth with a long-term view.

The review process began in July, kicking off with a survey to Premier coaches and managers that participated in the 2022 competition. This was followed with the formation of three unique competition variations by ARL.  Club chairs and key stakeholders, such as the Warriors, NZRL, referees, and other partners have had the opportunity to critique, favour, and provide feedback over the last 4 months.

The final stage was to engage current players and participants of the Men’s Premier competition, through the form of a focus group, providing the opportunity to identify any issues or objections from their perspective.

Working with other rugby league organisations has provided the opportunity for ARL and rugby league to align competition calendars for the 2023 season. Following this extensive consultation with all relevant stakeholders, we had the unenviable task of bringing all the feedback together. 

ARL CEO, Rebecca Russell said, “It was great that we were able to get our competition underway amidst the uncertainty brought on by Covid-19 in the pre-season. It quickly became clear that a tiered Premiership competition structure was needed to consistently bring competitive games to our community.”

“It has been an in-depth and lengthy process working closely with our stakeholders to get to this stage, but we are happy to be able to confirm the competition format to give clubs and players some certainty heading into 2023.”

After a lot of deliberation and discussion we are pleased to confirm the following format for the 2023 season.

2023 Fox Memorial Premiership Format

Qualifiers (Stage 1 – 3 Weeks from April 15)

The sixteen teams that made of the 2021 Fox Premiership and Championship will be split into four pools using a snake format based on the 2021 competition standings. Due to the 2022 structure and participation agreement, the results from the most recent season cannot be used.  This honours the commitment ARL made to Clubs before the start of the revised structure for 2022.

Teams will play each other once over three weeks, the top three from each pool will qualify for a twelve team Fox Memorial, and the bottom team will compete in the Sharman Cup.

Round Robin (Stage 2 – 11 Weeks from May 6)

The Fox Memorial Premiership will consist of the twelve qualifying teams from Stage 1. All Fox Memorial Premiership teams will complete one round robin, facing each opponent once. The draw will be done at random. There will be a bye for Queen’s Birthday Weekend.

Finals Series (Stage 3 – 3 Weeks, Grand Final on August 12)

The twelve team Premiership will split into two separate finals series with the top six playing for the Fox Memorial Shield, and bottom six playing for the Fox Championship Cup. The top two teams for each will receive a bye in the first round, before facing the week one winners in a Grand Final bid.

Promotion & Relegation

The Sharman Cup will follow a similar format from May 6^th with the bottom pool teams and all other Premiership teams. The top four from the 2023 Sharman Cup will automatically qualify for the 2024 Stage 1 Qualifiers.

Note: Teams in Stage 1 will play a total of 15-17 games in the 2023 season

Article added: Thursday 10 November 2022