Hunter Valley Junior Rugby League

HUNTER VALLEY JUNIOR RUGBY LEAGUE

Competition Rules & Regulations

(As amended 10th February 2009)

The Hunter Valley Junior Rugby League is a competition of the Country Rugby League of NSW administered under license by the Newcastle Rugby League Limited. The Hunter Valley Junior Rugby League is a combined competition of the Newcastle Schoolboys Junior Rugby League Association, the Maitland & District Schoolboys Rugby League Association and the Hunter Valley Group 21 Junior Rugby League and will conduct Rugby League competitions within the guidelines as set by the Australian Rugby League, the Country Rugby League and the Newcastle Rugby League.

Definition of Terms

‘Administrator’ shall mean the Newcastle Rugby League representative employed to assume the role as secretary of this competition

‘League’ shall mean Hunter Valley Junior Rugby League.

‘Committee’ shall mean the competition committee of the Hunter Valley Junior Rugby League.

‘Constitution’ shall mean the Constitution of the Newcastle Rugby League Limited

‘CRL’ shall mean the Country Rugby League of NSW Inc

‘Executive’ shall mean the Executive Committee of the Hunter Valley Junior Rugby League.

‘Group 21’ shall mean the Hunter Valley Group 21 Junior Rugby League

‘Maitland Schoolboys’ shall mean the Maitland District Schoolboys Rugby League Association

‘Newcastle Schoolboys’ shall mean the Newcastle Schoolboys Junior Rugby League Association

‘NRL’ shall mean the Newcastle Rugby League Limited

‘Premiership Competition’ shall mean the competition matches played prior to the commencement of the semi finals series

“Home Grown” shall mean a representative player that has played Representative football in the previous season, he shall be classed as “Home Grown” to his club of where he was registered with in that previous year.

1. Competition Committee

(a) The Committee shall consist of eleven (11) members.

(b) The eleven (11) members of this committee shall be:

i. Three (3) delegates from Newcastle Schoolboys;

ii. Three (3) delegates from Maitland Schoolboys;

iii. Three (3) delegates from Group 21;

iv. One (1) delegate from the League and;

v. The Administrator.

(d) The Administrator shall have no voting rights.

(e) The Committee shall administer the affairs of the League with the power conferred

on it by the Constitution, these Rules and by the Resolutions passed by the Committee.

2. Executive Committee

(a) The Executive Committee shall consist of five (5) members each of whom shall be a member of the Competition Committee

(b) The five (5) members of this Committee shall be:

i. The Chairperson of the Competition Committee;

ii. The Administrator;

iii. One (1) representative from each of the Newcastle Schoolboys Rugby League, Maitland Schoolboys Rugby League and Group 21 Junior Rugby League, who will each be a Vice President.

3. Sub - Committees

(a) The Judicial Committee shall consist of three (3) members as appointed by the League of which one (1) shall be the Chairman.

(b) The Disciplinary Committee shall consist of three (3) members as appointed by the League of which one (1) shall be the Chairman.

(c) The Match Review Committee shall consist of three (3) members as appointed by the League of which one (1) shall be the Chairman.

(d) The League shall from time to time be permitted to employ a sub-committee to act on its behalf and within the boundaries of these Rules and Regulations and the Constitution.

4. Competitions

(a) The League shall provide a series of Rugby League Football competitions for players in such age groups as determined by the League.

(b) A club which enters a team or teams in a competition conducted by the League in one season shall not be entitled as of right to enter a team or teams in that competition in the following season.

(c) The Committee shall be entitled to refuse the application of any club to enter a team or teams in any competition conducted by the League.

(d) The Committee shall be entitled to approve the application of a club on specified terms and conditions and may by resolution cancel such approval if in the opinion of the Committee the club or any member thereof has not complied with any of such terms and conditions. The Committee shall at least seven (7) days before the meeting of the Committee at which a resolution pursuant to this Rule is proposed to be put, give notice in writing of such meeting and such intended resolution and he/she shall before the passing of such resolution have had the opportunity to give either orally or in writing an explanation or produce such evidence as may be relevant.

(e) Each club shall nominate in writing their intention to field team/s within the competition/s on the form prescribed by the League prior to the close of the nomination period as set by the League. All forms shall be fully completed with Coach Details etc as specified. Clubs to also provide any and all documentation to support divisional changes that they have requested. All clubs will be held responsible for correct grading nominations. Any club that deliberately or falsely grade teams will face disciplinary action as the Committee deems fit.

(f) Each age group shall be divided into a series of competitions and shall be referred to as divisions.

(g) The teams participating in each division shall be decided by the Committee.

(h) Each division shall participate in a premiership competition and a finals series of matches

(i) In each premiership competition, a series of ‘home and away’ based matches shall be played.

(j) In each match of premiership competition the following points shall be awarded;

i. Two (2) points shall be awarded for a win, a forfeit and a bye;

ii. One (1) point shall be awarded to each team for a draw;

iii. Zero (0) points shall be awarded for a loss.

(k) To constitute a valid premiership competition each team within such competition must play each other at least once.

(l) After the completion of at least two (2) rounds but no more than three (3) rounds of the premiership competition the Committee may review each premiership competition and re-grade such competition as it sees fit.

(m) The Committee shall give at least 14 days written notice of its intention to review premiership competitions.

i. A club who wishes to have a competition reviewed or a team re-graded must notify the Committee in writing on or before 5pm on the Monday prior to the Committees’ review.

5. Registration and Clearances

(a) All players shall be registered with their respective Associations and in accordance with the Country Rugby League before taking part in any game in any one season.

(b) A player is permitted to sign only one (1) Country Rugby League registration form each season unless such player has transferred to another club.

(d) A player can represent more than one (1) club in any one season provided that the player receives a clearance from his previous club.

(e) A club shall not be permitted to register any player/s after June 30 in any one season.

(f) All players shall be subject to a registration/identification card system. This card shall be available at all games for inspection. A request to inspect such cards must be made by an official of the team and must be made through the Ground Manager. Failure to present this card may result in loss of any points gained in this game.

(g) A player shall not transfer to a Club of another Association participating in this League unless approved by the Association the player is transferring from.

i. In the event that the player is denied a transfer by the Association such player may apply in writing to the League to have such decision reviewed.

ii. A player who did not register for a club in the previous season shall be exempt from preceding rule.

(h) Any team who fields an unregistered or unqualified player shall automatically lose any competition points gained in any match in which such player took part. The non offending team shall have the points automatically awarded to them. The Committee may at its complete discretion impose further penalty.

(i) Any club found to be playing players below their age group will face disciplinary action as the Committee deems fit.

(j) Players found to be playing in a team that is below their own age group will face disciplinary action as deemed fit by the Committee.

6. Player Qualifications & Movements

(a) A player, who has participated in three (3) or more matches in a higher age group or division who wishes to return to the lower age group or division, shall be required to apply in writing at least 14 days prior to the completion of the premiership competition to the committee for permission to return to such age group or division.

i. A player participating in an Under 17’s or 18’s competition shall be eligible to represent his senior club in a senior competition with an exemption from the preceding rule.

ii. For the purposes of finals series qualification such player shall be deemed eligible to participate in the competition in which he played the majority of his games.

(b) A club that has two (2) or more teams competing in the same competition shall, prior to the date of the competition review, notify in writing to the administrator a list of 9 players for each team who shall remain with that team for the entire season.

i. All players excluded from the nominated list/s shall be permitted to participate in any team throughout the premiership competition.

ii. All players excluded from the nominated list/s shall be considered qualified for the purpose of finals series matches in the team in which he has played the majority of matches throughout the premiership competition.

7. Accreditation

(a) All coaches are required to be properly accredited as per the ARL Document – “Period of Coach Accreditation”.

8. Representative Players

(a) A player is deemed a representative player if in the previous season he is selected and participates for;

i. A National Aged or School Representative Team;

ii. A State Aged or School Representative Team;

iii. A Harold Matthews or SG Ball Team; and

iv. A Country Rugby League Group, Division or Region in Country Clusters or Country Championship matches.

v. Newcastle or Maitland Schoolboys U/12’s fixture played at Energy Australia Stadium.

(b) A player returning to his club from a Harold Matthews or SG Ball team must play in the highest division in the age group he wishes to participate in but shall be subject to Rule 9(e).

(c) A player/s replacing a Harold Matthews or SG Ball representative player/s during the NSWRL District Representative season shall be permitted to return to a lower division upon the return to the team of the aforementioned representative player/s.

(d) A Representative Player may only play in a higher age group providing it is not lower than 3rd Division.

9. Transfer of Representative Players

(a) A team may have an unlimited number of “Home Grown” representative players participating in such team.

(b) If a club has six (6) or more representative players in an age group, no additional representative players may transfer to that club and participate in that age group.

(c) If a club has five (5) representative players in any age group, only one (1) representative player may transfer to that club and participate in that age group.

(d) If a club has four (4) or less representative players in any age group a maximum of two (2) representative players may transfer to that club and participate in that age group.

(e) The Committee at its complete discretion may permit the transfer of any player/s to a club to participate in an age group after receiving a written application from a player, club or an Association requesting dispensation from the aforementioned rules.

10. Uniforms

(a) Players must appear on the field in proper football uniform in the clubs registered colours, bearing the CRL Logo and play in the jersey as numbered on the team sheet. No number shall be duplicated and shall be attached to the jersey according to Section 4 Clause 3 of the Australian Rugby League Laws of the Game Edition 5.

11. Match Officials

(a) In the event of the League being unable to appoint or provide an accredited touch judge for a match the home club may appoint a person to fulfill this position.

i. The appointed person must be two (2) years older than the age group of the match being played.

ii. The appointed person shall not, and the referee shall not request the appointed person to, enter the field of play to report “foul” play.

12. Match Results

(a) Match results shall be entered online no later than 11am on the first working day following the game being played, should there be a problem with entering the results they shall be emailed or text messaged into the Competition Administrator no later than 11am on the first working day following the game being played.

(b) All match result sheets are to be forwarded to the Administrator on or before the third business day after the fixture.

(c) A club found to have breached Rule 12 (a) and/or (b) may be subject to a financial penalty as imposed by the Competition Committee.

13. Deferred Matches

(a) A club that wishes to alter the date and/or time of a scheduled home fixture must give at least 21 days notice in writing to the Administrator before the particular series.

(b) A team with three (3) or more representative players selected to participate in a representative fixture may request the deferral of their match when such matches are scheduled to be played on the same weekend.

i. A representative fixture shall be defined as a;

1. NSWRL Junior Representative Fixture

2. CRL Aged Championships Fixture

3. Australian Schools Aged Championship Fixture

(c) All postponed, deferred or abandoned fixtures shall be replayed as soon as practical, at a time and at a venue as determined by the Administrator.

14. Forfeits

(a) If a team forfeits a game to another team, the match shall count as a game played, and be declared in favour of the side receiving the forfeit. The ‘for’ points allocated to the side receiving the forfeit, will be the average points of the winning sides for the remainder of the round. The side forfeiting will receive these points against.

(b) A team that forfeits 3 times within a competition series shall be removed from the competition.