For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL increased from sixteen to seventeen with the inclusion of a fourth Queensland-based club, the Dolphins, based at Redcliffe.

[1] It is the first time the number of Premiership teams has changed since 2007 when the Gold Coast Titans joined the competition.

The start of the season was overshadowed by ongoing issues between the NRL and the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA).

By February 2023, the RLPA and the NRL were at a stalemate following the expiration of the previous collective bargaining agreement in November 2022.

[14] In response to the stalled negotiations over the new agreement, in early July the RLPA took industrial action with players boycotting almost all broadcast and media engagements.