The opening round of the 2023 Championship has already been and gone.
The action began with relegated Toulouse Olympique beating play-off rivals Barrow Raiders in the opening game.
The French side were the bookmakers’ second favourites for promotion before the season despite only having a squad of 20 players for the new season.
SkyBet had them at 4/1 to win the Championship Grand Final and return to Super League.
They were second favourites behind Featherstone Rovers. Under new boss Sean Long who has brought in the likes of former Wigan Warriors centre Chris Hankinson from Toulouse no less, Featherstone were 10/11 to win the Championship making them overwhelming favourites for promotion.
Halifax Panthers and York RLFC were very much worth betting at 12/1 as third favourites but perhaps one side people should have been betting on is the Bradford Bulls. Seen by many as having the squad to push for promotion after signing the likes of Jack Walker and Bodene Thompson from Leeds Rhinos, they were 14/1 and fourth favourites as were the Keighley Cougars following the signing of Luke Gale.
However, their thrashing last night at the hands of Featherstone has seen them plummet to 33/1.
Despite winning 50-0, Featherstone are no longer such overwhelming favourites coming back from 10/11 to 1/1.
Toulouse are now at 2/1 as well whilst Widnes have moved up to 12/1 with York dropping to 16/1.
Bradford remain a good bet at 14/1.
Here are the odds in full:
Featherstone Rovers 1/1
Toulouse Olympique 2/1
Halifax Panthers 12/1
Widnes Vikings 12/1
Bradford Bulls 14/1
York City Knights 16/1
Batley Bulldogs 20/1
Sheffield Eagles 25/1
Keighley Cougars 33/1
Barrow Raiders 50/1
London Broncos 100/1
Newcastle Thunder 100/1
Swinton Lions 150/1
Whitehaven RLFC 250/1
