Wests Tigers will open its 2023 season with two games inside seven days at Leichhardt Oval at the beginning of March.
The new season kicks off with a twilight game on Sunday 5th March against the Gold Coast Titans followed by an afternoon game on Sunday 12th March against Newcastle Knights, also at the ‘eighth wonder of the world’.
WESTS TIGERS 2023 HOME GAMES
| Round | Opponent | When | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Titans | 6:15pm Sunday, 5th March | Leichhardt Oval |
| 2 | Knights | 4:05pm Sunday, 12th March | Leichhardt Oval |
| 6 | Eels | 4:00pm Monday, 10th April | Accor Stadium |
| 8 | Sea Eagles | 4:05pm Sunday, 23rd April | Campbelltown Sports Stadium |
| 10 | Dragons | 1:50pm Sunday, 7th May | Suncorp Stadium |
| 12 | Cowboys | 5:30pm Saturday, 20th May | Leichhardt Oval |
| 14 | Raiders | 8:00pm Friday, 2nd June | Campbelltown Sports Stadium |
| 16 | Storm | 7:45pm Saturday, 17th June | Campbelltown Sports Stadium |
| 19 | Sharks | 7:50pm Thursday, 6th July | CommBank Stadium |
| 22 | Rabbitohs | 6:00pm Friday, 28th July | Scully Park, Tamworth |
| 24 | Warriors | 7:30pm Saturday, 12th Aug | FMG Waikato Stadium |
| 25 | Dolphins | 3:00pm Saturday, 19th Aug | CommBank Stadium |
WESTS TIGERS 2023 FULL SEASON DRAW HERE
Four of our first six games will be played in Sydney, including our Round 6 clash against Parramatta Eels on Easter Monday at Accor Stadium, when new signing Isaiah Papali’i will face his former club for the first time.
Further information about our Easter Monday game will be provided in the coming days for Wests Tigers Members who have CommBank Stadium included in their package.
Our first game at Campbelltown Sports Stadium will be against the Sea Eagles in ANZAC Round on Sunday 23rd April. Our other two games in the Southwest are against Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm in June.
Adding an extra layer of complexity to next season’s draw is the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which has made several venues unavailable beyond July, including Campbelltown Sports Stadium and Leichhardt Oval.
We have four home games scheduled from Round 18 onwards when our two spiritual home grounds are off limits.
Two of these home games will be played at CommBank Stadium (Sharks 6th July & Dolphins 19th August), one will be played in Tamworth (Rabbitohs 28th July), and we will play our home game against the Warriors in Hamilton (12th August).
You will hear more about this ‘home game’ in New Zealand in the coming days, but in essence our club is doing this as a show of gratitude for the sacrifices made by the Warriors, and the whole of New Zealand, through the Covid pandemic.
Another ‘home game’ away from home will be our Round 10 match against the Dragons as part of Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Sunday 7th May.
Keep an eye out over the coming months for more details about some exciting supporters’ tours and travel packages for next season’s home games in Hamilton, Brisbane, and Tamworth.
Another road trip to circle on the fixture list is our Round 9 game against the Panthers in Bathurst. It will be the one and only regular season match against the defending premiers, when both Api Koroisau and Charlie Staines take on their former club.
For those seeking a little retribution, be sure to grab your tickets early for our Round 12 match against the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval! Do we need to mention what happened last season in Townsville?
So how does the 2023 draw impact team performance?
To answer this, there are many things to consider, like which teams we play and how often, the amount of travel required, recovery and preparation time between games, and a whole lot more.
In truth, in the absence of a pure home and away season where each team plays each other twice, there will always be imbalance and imperfection.
But let’s break it down.
In a 17-team competition with 27 rounds and three byes, Wests Tigers will play 12 home games and 12 away games. We will play each team once (16 games) and eight teams twice, so 24 games in total.
Who are the teams we play twice?
Four of the eight teams we play twice, made the finals last season: Cowboys, Storm, Rabbitohs and Raiders. The other four teams we play twice, did not make the top eight: Dragons, Sea Eagles, Titans and Knights.
And the teams we play just once?
Four of the teams we play just once, made the finals last season: Panthers, Sharks, Eels and Roosters. The other four teams we play just once include the Broncos, Bulldogs, Warriors and the new kids on the block, Dolphins.
In terms of recovery and preparation times between games, it looks pretty good.
Wests Tigers will face 5-day turnarounds just twice next season. There’s a quick backup after our Round 2 game against the Knights leading into the Bulldogs game at Belmore, and then again after we play the Cowboys in Townsville into a Thursday night fixture against the Sharks in Round 19.
And finally, in this very basic breakdown, let’s look at what days of the week we play.
Nine of our 24 games will be played on a Saturday, six on a Friday, five fall on Sunday, three on Thursday, and our Easter Monday game against the Eels…yep, on a Monday.
Wests Tigers will play two trial games as part of the NRL Pre-season Challenge, against the Warriors in Auckland and then the Raiders at Belmore.
Bring it on.
Purchase your 2023 Wests Tigers Membership
2023 Season Draw PDF version
2023 Pre-season Challenge Draw PDF version
