The Rugby Football League has overseen a huge overhaul of their disciplinary procedures ahead of the 2025 season with a new system implemented to determine bans moving forward.
In what is a radical change, a new points-based system has been introduced to determine how and when players receive bans moving forward.
But how have we got to this point? Here’s everything you need to know.
The background
A tip of the hit must go to Sky Sports presenter Brian Carney here. It was he who first suggested a process like this and shared it publicly last year. And seemingly, the RFL are a fan of it after deciding to introduce it.
But how does it actually work?
In a nutshell, it works in a very similar fashion to the driving penalty points system. Moving forward, if a player is charged for an offence, they will incur points on their ‘licence’, so to speak.
The number of points they receive depends on the severity of the charge. Charges are still determined the same way, based on the Grade system that has been in place for several years. The higher the grade, the more serious the offence.
But the difference now is that receiving a charge won’t immediately result in a ban or a fine. Instead, the points for the charge will be added to their record.
Points received for each charge per grade
- Grade A: 1 point
- Grade B: 3 points
- Grade C: 5 points
- Grade D: 12 points
- Grade E: Refer to Tribunal
How many points does a player need to accumulate before receiving a ban, you ask? Well, that has been explained too. The benchmarks are below:
- 6-11 points: one-match ban
- 12-17 points: two matches
- 18-23 points: three matches
- 24-29 points: four matches
- 30-35 points: five matches
- 36-38 points: six matches
- 39-41 points: seven matches
- 42-44 points: eight matches
- 45-47 points: nine matches
- 48-50 points: ten matches
- 51-53 points: eleven matches
- 54+ points: twelve matches
Essentially, as players incur more points, the length of their suspension will increase. Repeat offenders will eventually amass fairly hefty suspensions. It is worth noting that offences only stay on a player’s record for twelve months, so should a player receive a charge on a certain date this year, the points will be removed on the same day the year after.
While it might be tricky keeping a track of how many points every player has on their licence, the system is relatively easy to follow. That is, until, you start the read the small print.
The loopholes
While the scoring system is quite easy to follow, there are additional rules that do make it somewhat confusion. We’ll try to break it down and keep it simple here.
Players who cause injuries will be punished. If a player is charged for an offence that results in an opponent being unable to stay on the field, they charge will come with an additional three-point penalty. So if a Grade C charge is issued and the incident resulted in an injury, the offender would have eight points placed on their record, rather than five.
Points for charges will be reduced if a player is sent off. To recognise the fact players and teams have already been punished by having a player dismissed, charges for red card offences won’t be as severe. A charge will result in two fewer points being imposed if a player is sent off in the first half and one point if it’s in the second half.
So if a player received a Grade D charge for a red card incident that took place in the first half, it would result in them receiving 10 points, rather than 12.
Unsuccessful appeals will be severely punished. Clubs still have the right to appeal charges, however, if they are unable to overturn it, an extra five points will be added to a player’s record. That’s a pretty extreme punishment on the face of it, especially when you consider there are countless examples where an appeal has been considered to have substance but still not overturned. However, that is going to be the case.
There’s a bit for everyone to get their head around there, but it certainly works on the face of it.
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