Premier Sports to focus on Bulldogs and Panthers as Betfred Championship Play-Offs battle hots up

The Premier Sports cameras will focus on Batley Bulldogs and Halifax Panthers, two of the form teams in the Betfred Championship, as the battle for Play-Off places heats up this summer. 

Craig Lingard’s Bulldogs pulled off one of the results of the season by inflicting a first home defeat on Brian McDermott’s Featherstone Rovers last weekend to climb into the top four of the table, while Simon Grix’s Panthers are snapping at their heels in fifth after defying the dismissals of two players to win at Barrow Raiders with 11 men.

Premier Sports will cover their meeting at The Shay on August 7 – a Sunday evening match, with a 630pm kick-off – and will then show Batley’s local derby against Dewsbury Rams on August 29, and the Panthers’ trip to Widnes Vikings in the penultimate round of the regular season on September 5, both in the regular Monday night slot (745pm).

The other fixture selected in August features two more Play-Off hopefuls, York City Knights and Bradford Bulls, at the LNER Community Stadium on Monday August 15.

Premier Sports will also show a game from the final round of matches on Monday September 12, with the selection to be confirmed after the Betfred Championship Summer Bash at Headingley on July 30-31 – when Premier Sports viewers will have a feast of seven matches featuring all 14 clubs.

That will lead into the Play-Offs, when Premier Sports will show one match from the Elimination round, and both Semi Finals on Sunday September 25, before the Grand Final on the evening of Sunday October 2, at the home ground of the higher ranked team – when promotion to the 2023 Betfred Super League will be at stake.

Premier Sports’ coverage of the Betfred Championship continues next weekend with a double helping, as a first Friday night match between Newcastle Thunder and Bradford Bulls at Kingston Park is followed by Monday night’s clash between Halifax Panthers and York City Knights at The Shay.

The full list of Premier Sports coverage for the remainder of the season is as follows:

• Friday July 8 – Newcastle Thunder v Bradford Bulls
• Monday July 11 – Halifax Panthers v York City Knights
• Monday July 18 – York City Knights v Batley Bulldogs
• July 30-31 – Betfred Championship Summer Bash (London Broncos v Sheffield Eagles, Batley Bulldogs v Dewsbury Rams, Bradford Bulls v Halifax Panthers, Featherstone Rovers v Leigh Centurions, Barrow Raiders v Widnes Vikings, Whitehaven v Workington Town, Newcastle Thunder v York City Knights)

• Sunday August 7 – Halifax Panthers v Batley Bulldogs (630pm)
• Monday August 15 – York City Knights v Bradford Bulls (745pm)
• Monday August 29 – Dewsbury Rams v Batley Bulldogs (745pm)
• Monday September 5 – Widnes Vikings v Halifax Panthers (745pm)
• Monday September 12 – TBC after Summer Bash