Nambucca Roosters and Group 2 clash after historic penalty for PPIS breach

Nambucca has hit out at the Group 2 board after the club became the first in the area to be docked points for a controversial breach.

Nambucca has become the first Group 2 club to be stripped of competition points for breaching the PPIS. Picture: Leigh Jensen

The Nambucca Roosters and the Group 2 Rugby League board have clashed after the club became the first in the area to be docked points for breaching the competition’s points system.

The Roosters were stripped of two competition points for going over their allocated Player Points Index System (PPIS) quota in the round nine clash against the Grafton Ghosts on June 29, which the team won 52-10. The 52 points scored in the game were also wiped from Nambucca’s for-and-against record while Ghosts were then handed the two competition points.

While not disputing the fact that they did breach their points quota, the Roosters have pointed to the complexities of the case and the fact that a string of safeguard measures normally designed to prevent teams from exceeding their points did not pick up on the issue until after the game.

“There were so many contributing factors and that just wasn’t taken into account,” said Nambucca president Peter Bellden. “They just made their decision and there was no sympathy. It was just, ‘Too bad, this is how it is.’”

The dispute boils down to the inclusion of new recruit Robbie Inglis in the first grade team for the match against the Ghosts. Nambucca was of the understanding that Inglis counted for zero points in the PPIS when in fact he was graded for 10 points, which pushed the side over its 75-point maximum limit.

The breach came from the round nine fixture against the Grafton Ghosts. Picture: Leigh Jensen

Supporting its argument, the club has pointed to the fact that Inglis had been shown as being worth zero points in the four previous games he had played for the club in reserve grade.

Nambucca also stated that the app used to submit team sheets, which normally does not allow for squads to be entered if they exceed their PPIS limit, did not pick up on the error.

Additionally, club officials said they had sent the team list to the Group 2 board on the Thursday night before the game for review, as required before every game, and that the board did not pick up on any error or discrepancy.

While conceding that the case did have some peculiar elements, Group 2 president Warren Gilkinson said Nambucca was ultimately at fault by failing to follow proper protocol.

All clubs are required to lodge a submission to the Group when they register new players. This includes an estimation of how many points these new players are worth under the PPIS, which the board then assesses before making a final decision.

“That’s all exactly right,” Gilkinson said, referring to the error not being identified by the safeguard measures.

“But number one, when you register a player the club is supposed to submit their points and send it through. Then it will go through the system and we’ll say yes or no, or what points he is, and then they’re registered. They didn’t do their job.”

He added: “They sent away for an appeal, it goes straight to headquarters of the NSWRL, and they got opened up where they were wrong – because they didn’t follow the protocol. They didn’t put the points down when they registered him.”

On the matter of Inglis not having been allocated 10 points in his four previous games in reserve grade and the Group not identifying that Nambucca had gone over its quota when the club submitted its team sheet on the Thursday before the game, Gilkinson said that things can slip through the net but the ultimate responsibility lies with the clubs.

“They’ve only got one club to look after, we’ve got seven first grade sides to go through and a lot of players.

“The player wasn’t picked up in reserve grade, but because we study first grade more than any other grade, when he played first grade they’ve submitted it and at the end of the game the alert has come up.

Warren Gilkinson, pictured with Nambucca's Logan Jones after last year’s grand final, said the club failed to follow proper protocol. Picture: Leigh Jensen

“When they register a player they’re supposed to submit their points to the Group, which they’re told at every meeting, and they never did it. It’s a simple thing, they never followed the protocol of what they’re supposed to do under the NSWRL rules.”

In response, Nambucca president Bellden said that although technically clubs are required to lodge forms for new recruits, that protocol wasn’t followed in reality. He said the club hadn’t submitted paperwork for any new players all season, noting that Group 2 had just gone ahead and graded players on their own accord.

“I think it probably is right, that first step needs to be done,” he said. “But it just felt a bit of a set-up. It felt like there have been other players that the Group had just graded without us putting a form in, and then they rated one player after his fifth game – the day after he played first grade.

“We played him and we had 75 points and the next day they’ve graded him and we were over at 85. It just felt like they were waiting for a slip-up somewhere. I might be wrong, but that’s what it felt like.”

Given the circumstances, and the fact that Inglis only played a small role off the bench in what was a comprehensive win, the club was left frustrated by the severity of the penalty.

Nambucca will be looking to defend its title in 2025. Picture: Leigh Jensen

However Gilkinson was firm in the board’s decision.

“The rules are there, this system has been in for five years. How long have you got to let it go before you start jumping on clubs?” he said.

“A lot of the clubs ring you. If they think they’re getting close they’ll ring you and say, ‘We haven’t submitted this player yet, what would his points be?’ And we tell them. Nambucca didn’t.”

The decision to dock points from Nambucca, the first time the Group has done so for a PPIS breach, is also a sign that Group 2 officials will take an increasingly harder line in the issue.

“They’re all on notice, we keep them all on notice. They all know it,” said Gilkinson.

As for Roosters, who still sit in second place on the ladder, they’re looking to put the issue behind them and focus on defending the title they won last year.

“It’s not going to define our season, us losing the two points. We’ll move on and put it in the background,” said Bellden.

“We can still finish second and still win the comp from where we are, so it’s not going to affect us too much. It might even add a bit of resolve to the players.”