Not sure what counting system they use is Wigan.
Perhaps 8,9,10 and 11 has gone out of fashion.....

Good luck to our Academy team in the final - all of whom can count to both 8 and 12.....

Good luck to our academy, its a strange way to get there though.

How can it be a mistake that wigan make 12 interchanges when 8 is the maximum permitted? Surely somebody on the coaching and playing staff knew that rule.

I thought we were the joke club! John Duffy being held accountable apparently

Wonder if our academy players have trained this week?

So the losing semi finalist makes the Grand Final. RIP RL. I am done with this sport.

This just needs to happen to our first team 3 games in a row, starting next week.

Doubt our first team will have a game next week!!

Assuming we make the playoffs, perhaps we can tempt Phil Lowe to play for the opposition in each game.

Given the events of the past week and the concerns over player welfare, perhaps the time has come to replace actual matches with a pub quiz on the rules of the game?

I went to the game, and never noticed the extra interchanges from Wigan!!!!

Nor did anyone sat near me.

I`ve always said that Wigan were cheats.

It has to be the correct decision however, how are the Warrington lads supposed to prepare? The farcical part of the decision is to play the tie this weekend!

Maybe they were aware earlier in the week that there was an issue with the Wigan interchange and have been in full training awaiting the RFL to make a decision?

If they haven`t been training, then I agree that playing the Final this weekend, is a farce.

Easy mistake to make..must of counted on both hands

Just heaping more misery on the sport.

Burtonwood?

Sally. Without wanting to start a argument within the forum.
How would you of handled it.
The RFL have done what they've done. What would you have preferred. Give the saints academy the cup by default?

All season the academy has run with unlimited interchanges. What other sport decides to change the rules for the last two games? How was it communicated that the interchange rule was to be changed?

There was no 4th official present at the semi-final, and it was a tremendous competitive game.
Yes it was Wigans fault and I feel sorry for those young players, for a few it would have been their last game at academy level.
Good luck in the final.

I was led to believe that it’s not true that it has run with unlimited subs all season, it has been 8 all season.

Not for Wigan though, they've had unlimited. Maybe they've been like an American football squad on the sidelines all season.

But the rules changed for both clubs, so how did Warrington manage to conform at such short notice and the greatest academy in the world didn't?

So Warrington went with 8 substitutions knowing that was the rule but Wigan used 12..really can't they count in Wigan..poor if you ask me.. someone needs booting out for not doing there job right

You have to wonder if this had happened to one of the bigger clubs like Saints, whether they would have been treated in the same way.

It has been eight substitutions all season for the academy competition. There are no fourth officials at any academy games, it relies upon the integrity of the competing clubs to stick to the rules over number of substitutions made.

Now if Wigan are saying their belief is the limit of eight was only introduced for the finals series then that suggests one of two things;

Wigan have been using twelve substitutions all season; or

Sensing the game against Warrington was slipping away from them they made the conscious decision to cheat.

I believe Warrington made the complaint straight after the game as the rule breaking was blatantly obvious to those who knew the rules which suggests the second possibility seems most likely. Wigan hadn’t used twelve subs in the previous games between the teams and I would presume it would have been spotted earlier in the season if they had been.

Oh, we haven't had a good old Paul Y vs Rogues ding dong for a while. Settle back and enjoy...