The long awaited and eagerly anticipated event had finally arrived, and a nation could barely contain its excitement as the State of Origin series for 2023 got underway with the first game between the Blues of New South Wales and Queensland’s Maroons in Adelaide, at the Adelaide Oval.

Billy Slater´s Queensland won the series last year by 2-1 after losing in 2021 to Brad Fittler’s Blues, and no side has retained the trophy since New South Wales in 2019.

The bookies had the Blues as slight favourites to take the opening win on neutral territory but close to their own soil, but with a handicap of just two they thought that it would be a close-run thing between two side, evenly matched on paper.

As kick-off approached, the excitement was palpable.

“Howay, man!” we’re all off to Newcastle for the Magic Weekend, a jamboree of Super League rugby league to celebrate the mid-point of the season as we head into the all-important jostling for the play-off positions stage of 2023.

There are six games over two days at the weekend and while some people will just come to see their side and spend the rest of the time in the bar, many will take in all three fixtures on a particular day, or for the real marathon runners amongst us, sit through all six games.

It should be a fabulous occasion and we just can’t wait, so here we will take a look at the ties on offer and give some thoughts on likely outcomes.

The final game of the opening day of the Summer Bash saw the runaway league leaders Featherstone Rovers take on the ‘home’ side, the York RLFC Knights with the rest of the competition hoping that the Knights could spring a surprise and record the flat cappers first league defeat of the season.

The bookies given Gavin Henderson’s battle weary side a twenty-four-point start on the coupon and predicted a massacre, but Sean Long knew that their challenge was not to be taken lightly and that anything but a top-drawer game from the top side in the competition could lead to a slip up, and an end to their eleven-game unbeaten league run.

It was potentially a great game to bring down the curtain on a fantastic first day.

The team with the second best attack, and the second best defence, Toulouse Olympique XIII came into the Summer Bash in York looking for the win which would take them back above the Sheffield Eagles and into second place in the table as they took on a London Broncos who have disappointed so far this season and are currently sat in tenth position in the table and themselves needing a big points win to move up to eighth.

The bookies and pundits couldn´t see past a Toulouse victory as they looked to get back to winning ways after losing the Batley Bulldogs and Swinton Lions in their last two games, putting a serious dent into their title and promotion aspirations.

London would need to dig deep to get anything out of the game.

The Betfred Championship moves, en masse, to York for this weekend´s summer bash and with two days of sunshine and no prospect of rain it looks like being an excellent weekend for those who enjoy a bit of culture, and cuisine with their rugby league.

There are seven fixtures over two days kicking off at 12:45 today with the first encounter between the Widnes Vikings and the Swinton Lions and ending tomorrow evening when the Bradford Bulls and Keighley Cougars bring down the curtain on proceedings.

We take a look ahead to the matches and likely outcomes.

The only thing separating the Leeds Rhinos and St Helens on the league table was points difference, the Saints having performed much better in defence over their opening twelve games than the Rhinos, who had themselves scored more points.

Leeds won the round three fixture at the Totally Wicked Stadium, the first loss for Saints after they become World Champions, but after exiting the cup last weekend at the hands of the Wigan Warriors, that seems like a long distant memory for Rhinos fans.

The Saints were favoured by the bookies going into the game with the Rhinos given a six point start on the handicap coupon, but it would all depend on which Rhinos side, Jekyll or Hyde, showed up for the game.

The tie of the round saw two sides with terrific Challenge Cup wins last weekend opened round thirteen of Super League with a Thursday evening clash as third placed Hull Kingston Rovers welcomed second place Wigan Warriors to Craven Park for a top of the table clash with second place up for grabs for the winners.

All that separated the two sides is a difference of eight points in the points difference column with KR having scored three points more than Wigan while they had conceded eleven more.

It was almost impossible to make a call between the two sides and the bookies had made KR slight favourites with their home advantage.

The two sides met om the opening weekend of the season when KR set out their stall for the season with a 27-18 win.

The draw for the quarter finals of the 2023 Betfred Challenge Cup took place at Wheldon Road after today’s clash between the Castleford Tigers and Hull FC, where the winners Hull FC were into the hat alongside the holders Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Leigh Leopards, Hull KR, Warrington Wolves, Salford Red Devils and York RLFC Knights.

Interestingly there is not a single West Yorkshire side left in the competition.

The draw was made by John Kear (away) and Brian Noble (home) and was broadcast live on the BBC at the conclusion of the sixth round game.

All the Super League sides were hoping to draw the remaining Championship side, the neutrals were looking forward to some of the big teams being thrown together.

Two sides from the lower half of the Super League table had the chance of a confidence boosting Challenge Cup win and a place in the quarter finals which were now devoid of the likes of the Leeds Rhinos and the Catalans Dragons as Hull FC mad the trip down the M62 to visit Wheldon Road for a game against the Castleford Tigers.

After three of recent wins the Airlie Birds are sat in ninth place in the table and are six points clear of the Tigers, who themselves have only managed two wins out of the twelve games that they have played so far this season.

The visitors were the favourites with the bookies, but there wasn´t much between the two sides, it looked like it could be a cup classic.

Ian Watson brought his Huddersfield to Salford in the last of Saturday's Betfred Challenge Cup games, but would his team get a vital win against the club he was last managing – and had taken to the final – before moving to West Yorkshire? Whoever won, the win would take them into the quarter-finals of the sport's most famous - and oldest – knock-out competition.

Famously, league form counts for nothing when it comes to the Cup, but both teams' fans were feeling confident about this tie, even if Huddersfield were still looking to get their stuttering season properly under way.

Both sets of supporters came into todays Challenge Cup sixth round encounter between the Leeds Rhinos and the Wigan Warriors with a hope that their side would win, and an expectation that they would lose, and the bookies had a similar dilemma as they struggled to pick a favourite to progress.

While Wigan are challenging for top spot in the table, and Leeds struggling to find any consistency in the bottom half, the Rhinos fought back from 14-0 down and played the second forty with twelve men but came back to record an incredible 40-18 victory at the DW Stadium.

The Rhinos made several changes with Ash Handley and Blake Austin both unfit and Zane Tetevano suspended after last week´s sending off.

Wigan had Liam Marshall and Ryan Hampshire back in their starting thirteen, but there was no place for Cade Cust.

Super League´s involvement in the 2023 Challenge Cup kicked off with the potential for a giant killing in Halifax as the Panthers took on the World Champions St Helens in a round six game at The Shay in front of the cameras from ViaPlay Sport.

The bookies had gone all in for a Saints win, banishing all thoughts of an upset, and with Saints having won the last fifteen consecutive encounters with the side from Halifax.

You must look back twenty-five years for the last Halifax victory over the Saints, and to 1987 for the last time that Halifax beat them in the cup, on that occasion in the final at Wembley.

Anything but a large Saints win was unthinkable.

This weekend sees the Super League sides join the remaining Championship sides in an eagerly anticipated sixth round of the Betfred Challenge Cup as sixteen hopefully embark on the road to Wembley and the 2023 Challenge Cup Final.

One second tier side is guaranteed a place in the quarter finals as York RLFC Knights were drawn to play the London Broncos in an all-Championship affair.

The other remaining sides from outside Super League have a much more daunting task as Halifax host the World Club Champions St Helens, and Batley Bulldogs must travel to an in form Hull Kingston Rovers.

We take a look at the runners and riders and predict who will make up the quarter final line-up.

If you were busy making plans to take in the rugby league World Cup jamboree across the channel in 2025, you´d better put away those guidebooks and log-off the hotel booking sites, as it has officially been announced that France will no longer be the hosts, plunging the next tournament into some doubt.

In a press release issued today by France2025, it was announced that with regret, the organising committee have been unable to secure the backing necessary to guarantee the tournament and that they have therefore had to withdraw from the offer to host the tournament.

Planning for the 2025 Tournament is now in disarray.

Eighth placed Bradford Bulls had a Championship game against a Swinton Lions in twelfth spot as both sides knew that a win was crucial for them to keep alive their play-off hopes as the season edges towards its mid-season.

Bradford were the favourites with the bookies, with few pundits giving Swinton much hope despite the Bulls recent coaching issues and six changes made to last week´s Bulls starting line-up.

Lee Greenwood was interim Bulls coach, but many supporters were happy that past coaching messiah Brian Noble was also involved in the set up as an advisor.

The final game of round twelve of Super League was the Saturday lunchtime encounter between a down on their luck Champions St Helens and some might say, an over-performing Salford Red Devils as eighth welcomed sixth to the Totally Wicked Stadium in front of the Channel 4 cameras.

A win for the Saints would lift them above the Leeds Rhinos and into seventh, but a win for the visitors could lift them as high as second, should they record a cricket score against Paul Wellens´ unpredictable side.

St Helens had been installed as the bookies favourites for the win, despite them only winning once in their last four outings against a side who had been victorious in their last four.

It was an intriguing prospect.

Matt Peet´s side defeat at Hull KR last time out, a loss which cost them their place at the top of the table, ensured that their return to the DW Stadium was one that they would be desperate to mark with a win, as they took on the Leeds Rhinos in a Super League rehearsal of next weeks Betfred Challenge Cup sixth round tie.

The top of the Super League was far from the mind of Rhinos coach Rohan Smith who was more concerned about a top six finish and preventing his stars from facing up to one another in the tunnel, like they did after last weekend´s loss the Salford Red Devils.

Leeds had been given a ten-point start on the coupon with the Warriors strong favourites for a return to form, and possibly to the top of the table should leaders Warrington slip up against third placed Hull KR in one of tonight’s other Super League fixtures.

2023 is proving a tense year for the teams propping up the table in Super League, particularly when Hull FC travelled to Wakefield to take on Trinity in front of the Sky cameras on Thursday night.

  The Black and Whites arrived looking for their third win on the trot, on the other hand they are the only team to concede more points than Wakefield in the eleven games played to date but the visitors were the firm favourites with the bookies ahead of kick-off.

Jake Clifford got the game under way for FC after a stand-out performance in last week's win over Wigan.

The final game of Round Ten of the Championship took place in front of the Viaplay cameras at the Fox´s Biscuit Stadium as sixth placed Batley Bulldogs took on a Widnes Vikings side which started the game in fourth place in the table.

A forty-three-point win for Craig Lingard´s side would lift them above their opponents and into the top four while John Kear´s men needed a massive victory to go above the Sheffield Eagles and into third spot.

Batley were slight favourites with the bookies, but they were struggling to find much between the sides, Widnes getting just a two-point start on the handicap coupon for the Bank Holiday Monday game.

Two sides in danger of slipping out of the play-off race met at the LNER Stadium as tenth placed York RLFC Knights took on a London Broncos in eleventh spot with both sides already four points adrift of the top six spots in the nine round old league table.

Both sides have lost on their previous two items and neither side have registered a win since March, the Knights having to look as far back at two months for their last two league points, despite a minor cup run which will see them take on the Broncos again in a fortnights time.

York were the favourites with the bookies and had been handicapped by twelve points on the coupon, but the Broncos have the propensity to spring a surprise when least expected.