Halifax hoping to go one step further with new Betfred Championship season on the horizon

Halifax Panthers were the surprise package in 2025 – making it all the way to the Betfred Championship semi-finals.

Arguably they were an underdog in the competition, especially when head coach Kyle Eastmond named a squad of just 20 players at the start of the 2025 campaign.

But the Panthers defied any odds stacked against them, embarking on a six-game winning streak, before continuing their momentum into the business end of the season, where they overcome Oldham emphatically in the Eliminators.

They may have fallen short in the semi-finals against York Knights, but it was certainly regarded as a season of success for the West Yorkshire side.

Ben Crooks, who is entering his fourth season with ‘Fax, was among those impressed with how his team performed:

“We ended last season really well, and probably a lot better than how everybody expected us to – us included!

“We had a very small squad at the start of the season, and we sort of just built everything up from there.

“And that’s a credit to Kyle [Eastmond] and the coaches who came in. They instilled belief in the players on what we could achieve, and then we went on to have that really nice run at the start where we won six games.

“At that point we were truly convinced of what we could actually accomplish. We managed to push on all the way to the semis and that win against Oldham was so memorable.

“We’re really looking forward to this year.”

Despite having a squad on the smaller side, Crooks admitted that this actually came with more positives than people might think:

“A small squad helped in a sense of the fact that we are a really tight knit group, and we knew we could only rely on each other.

“Everyone was turning up week in and week out, ready to play.

“That tight-knit camaraderie really helped us throughout the season. It also helped to build that hard working mentality that you needed. The downside is when you start getting injuries – that’s the danger of a small squad.

“I got injured seven games in, for example, and then we had a few others who picked up some knocks too, so we had to deal with that.”

The Championship gets underway this weekend, and although it’s a little earlier in the calendar than usual, Crooks is raring to go:

“I'm really looking forward to it. It’s the shortest pre-season I've ever had, but I’m still feeling good.

“We’ve got a great set of lads, great set of coaches and staff, and we all feel prepared and ready.

“I’m just looking forward now to getting the first campaign started.”

Halifax will face Doncaster on the road for their Round 1 fixture on Sunday, which is set to be a fiesty affair.

In order to continue their good run, Crooks has insisted that his side must keep focused in 2026 if they are to reiterate and build on last year's campaign:

“I’m looking forward to getting back out there and being able to prove that last year wasn’t just a one-off fluke and that we [Halifax] can kick on and go again.

“If we work hard and build on what we did last year, then I’m sure we will be absolutely fine.

“We can’t afford to live off last year and just expect that it's going to happen because we've already done it. It's a lot of hard work, we’ve got to go one step further and hopefully we can go that one step further later on in the year.”

The full fixture list for the new Betfred Championship season can be found here.