Mark Moxon and Batley Bulldogs ‘itching’ for Championship fixtures to be released

The Bulldogs finished in tenth place last season, just six points outside of the play-offs, while they also made it to the sixth round of the Challenge Cup and to the quarter finals of the 1895 Cup.

Batley’s first competitive game of 2025 will be a Round 2 tie in the Challenge Cup on the weekend of January 25-26 , with the Super League sides joining in Round 3 on the weekend of February 8-9.

It is expected that the Championship campaign will start after that, with the new-look knockout 1895 Cup also starting later - marking a change from the three-team group format which commenced in January for the 2024 edition.

An excited Moxon told the Reporter Series ahead of tomorrow’s fixtures release for the 13-team 2025 Championship: “We’re looking forward to that (fixtures being released). It will be interesting to see how the format is going to be.

“It is looking like the Challenge Cup is going to be at the end of January so there will be a couple of rounds of Challenge Cup, then the league is going to start and then there’s going to be the 1895 Cup as well. That will be slightly different from the format this year in that the 1895 is going to be a knockout rather than a league-based system like it was last year.

“It is all interesting and it is all information that we are itching to get so we can make plans because we need to start the season well.”