The 2023 season of the New South Wales Cup was the 117th season of the premier state rugby league competition in New South Wales.

2023 New South Wales Cup
Duration3 March - 24 September
Teams13
Premiers South Sydney Rabbitohs (21st title)
Minor premiers North Sydney Bears
Matches played150
Top points scorer(s) Ronald Volkman (197)
Player of the year Dean Hawkins
Top try-scorer(s) Clayton Faulalo (29)
← 2022
2024 →

Season summary

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The 2023 season of the New South Wales Cup commenced on the 3 March. Teams played 26 regular competition rounds, with the top five teams qualifying for the final series in September.

Round 10 will be only played at 2 grounds as part of magic round that being North Sydney Oval and HE Laybutt Field[1]

Teams

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There are 13 teams competing in the competition in 2023, with eleven based in New South Wales itself, as well as one in the Australian Capital Territory and one from New Zealand.

Colours Club Home ground(s) Head coach
Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 4 Pines Park & HE Laybutt Field Greg Boulous
Canberra Raiders GIO Stadium & Raiders Belconnen Justin Giteau[2]
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Belmore Sports Ground & Stadium Australia David Tangata-Toa
Newcastle Knights McDonald Jones Stadium Michael Monaghan
Newtown Jets Henson Park George Ndaira
New Zealand Warriors Mount Smart Stadium Slade Griffin
North Sydney Bears North Sydney Oval Jason Taylor
Parramatta Eels Kellyville Oval & CommBank Stadium Nathan Cayless
Penrith Panthers BlueBet Stadium Ben Harden
South Sydney Rabbitohs Ironmark High Performance Centre & Stadium Australia Joe O'Callaghan
Sydney Roosters Wentworth Park Anthony Barnes
St. George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium & Netstrata Jubilee Stadium Bronx Goodwin
Western Suburbs Magpies Lidcombe Oval Wayne Lambkin

Regular Season

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Ladder

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2023 NSW Cup
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   North Sydney Bears 24 16 0 8 2 637 474 +163 36
2   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 15 0 9 2 584 533 +51 34
3   New Zealand Warriors 24 14 1 9 2 630 470 +160 33
4   Canberra Raiders 24 14 1 9 2 554 476 +78 33
5   Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 24 13 2 9 2 629 524 +105 32
6   Newtown Jets 24 13 1 10 2 644 511 +133 31
7   Penrith Panthers 24 13 0 11 2 564 482 +82 30
8   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 11 3 10 2 569 501 +68 29
9   Parramatta Eels 24 11 1 12 2 480 683 -203 27
10   St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 9 1 14 2 572 624 -52 23
11   Western Suburbs Magpies 24 8 2 14 2 508 685 -177 22
12   Newcastle Knights 24 8 0 16 2 516 749 -233 20
13   Sydney Roosters 24 5 0 19 2 492 667 -175 14

Source:[3]

Finals series

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The top five teams qualified for the finals series, with these being Norths, Souths, New Zealand, Canberra and Blacktown.

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee(s) Crowd
QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINAL
  Canberra Raiders 24 – 22   Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles Saturday 2 September, 1:00pm North Sydney Oval 1,000
  South Sydney Rabbitohs 26 – 12   New Zealand Warriors Saturday 3 September, 3:00pm
SEMI-FINALS
  New Zealand Warriors 49 – 6   Canberra Raiders Saturday 9 September, 1:00pm Leichhardt Oval 3,000
  North Sydney Bears 24 – 30   South Sydney Rabbitohs Saturday 9 September, 3:00pm
PRELIMINARY FINAL
  North Sydney Bears 28 – 24   New Zealand Warriors Saturday 16 September, 3:00 pm Leichhardt Oval 3,000
GRAND FINAL
  South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 – 18   North Sydney Bears Sunday 24 September, 3:00pm CommBank Stadium 10,173
Qualifying and elimination finalsSemi-finalsPreliminary finalGrand final
1  North Sydney24  South Sydney22
  South Sydney30  North Sydney18
2  South Sydney26  North Sydney28
3  New Zealand12  New Zealand24
  New Zealand49
  Canberra6
4  Canberra24
5  Blacktown22

Grand Final

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Both Souths and Norths went into the Grand Final with lengthy droughts, at 40 and 30 years respectively. The two sides also met in a NSW Cup Grand Final for the first time in 97 years (1926).

2023 The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Grand Final
Sunday, 24 September
15:00 AEST (UTC+10)
  South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 – 18   North Sydney Bears
Tries: 4
Mitchell   14'
O'Neill   32'
Carr   51'
Munro   75'
Goals: 4
Hawkins   16', 34', 76' (3/4)
1st: 12–12
2nd: 10–8
Report
Tries: 3
Smalley   5'
Marschke   25'
Porter   68'
Goals: 3
Hayman   27', 40', 70' (2/3)
CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 10,173
Player of the Match: Dean Hawkins

NRL State Championship

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As premiers of the NSW Cup, the South Sydney Rabbitohs will face Queensland Cup premiers Brisbane Tigers in the NRL State Championship match.

2023 NRL State Championship
Sunday, 1 October
13:20pm AEDT (UTC+11)
South Sydney Rabbitohs   42 – 22   Brisbane Tigers
1st: 12 – 6
2nd: 30 – 16
Accor Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Wyatt Raymond
Bunker: Chris Butler
Touch judges: Tyson Brough, Cameron Paddy

Awards

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Team of the Year

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Position Nat Winner Club
Fullback   Isaiah Iongi   Penrith Panthers
Wing   Clayton Faulalo   Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles
Centre   Kayal Iro   Newtown Jets
Centre   Ali Leiataua   New Zealand Warriors
Wing   Fetalaiga Pauga   North Sydney Bears
Five-eighth   Jesse Marschke   North Sydney Bears
Halfback   Dean Hawkins   South Sydney Rabbitohs
Prop   Liam Henry   Penrith Panthers
Hooker   Peter Mamouzelos   South Sydney Rabbitohs
Prop   Trey Mooney   Canberra Raiders
Second-row   Clay Webb   Canberra Raiders
Second-row   Kalani Going   New Zealand Warriors
Lock   Zach Dockar-Clay   North Sydney Bears

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Draw". New South Wales Rugby League. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Canberra Raiders – Staff". Canberra Raiders. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Ladder". New South Wales Rugby League. Retrieved 24 September 2023.