Why not? Different sport I know and going back a while - but you can let France get to the world cup even tho Henry handballs it in with mins to go?

I know that's grasping at straws, but I'm really struggling to remember a time when this has happened and the losing team is then promoted.

It doesn't happen. Teams get fined, deducted points etc.

Wigan have nobody to blame but themselves, It was a very attritional game on Sunday, particularly the second half, Wigan only won by 6 and were probably a little lucky to win at all. Those 4 subs would have made quite the difference so I don’t think it’s overly harsh this ruling unfortunately. Massive shame for the lads and a situation all around but one where the finger firmly points at ourselves.

I agree with the decision. You can't expect a team to get a third more interchanges than there opponent. Plus if you look at the game itself, Wigan came back from 12 - 0 down to win. You have to ask yourself could they have done that without the extra interchanges. Don't get me wrong, I'm Wigan through and through but rules are rules and how would Warrington feel if the RFL said you can play the grand final and we'll deduct 4pts off next season!
Plus a win now would feel hollow.

So no one can actually tell me a time, across any sport, when this has happened before.

Final still on Sunday

I know. I was responding to the poster who said that the SF should be replayed. I was saying that it can't be because of the knock on effect

Apparently there is no interchange official at Academy level so this one is 100% on Wigan.

Plenty of football teams have been thrown out of competitions for fielding an ineligible player. Spain got deducted points and missed out on qualification for fielding an ineligible player in the Rugby Union World Cup qualifying campaign. Very similar circumstances.

Sounds like a first then so the decision from the rfl has now set a precedent.
Absolutely no excuses. Non. Zero. Zilch.
I feel sorry for the young lads and I expect a full and open statement from the club next week. I will be amazed if Radlinski and/or Peet don’t put out a full statement in due course. We sort tonight out first then the club addresses the shambles from the academy SF.
I also expect, but suspect it won’t happen, a statement from the rfl next on how they propose to ensure that this won’t occur again.

So sad for those lads who have worked so hard. Can't disagree with the disqualification. If it's been just one extra change, maybe just a fine, but four is ridiculous.

Just found out more about it. Not trying to defend Wigan by any means but it seems that for regular season games there are unlimited subs. Its not like SL whereby if a player is injured they'll carry on playing after being strapped up. At Academy level any sign of an injury and they are subbed straight away. Given that this has been the norm over the season, Wigan have carried on in this way.

Both sides were told that given it was a SF there would only be 8 interchanges but it seems like somewhere in the middle of it all, this has been ignored.

Apparently Warrington didn't make an official complaint as such, they just referenced the fact that for future knockout games there should be interchange officials available. Its then snowballed from there and as soon as a Board meeting was called there was only ever going to be one outcome and a precedent set.

Thanks for update Stu.
Brings a lot more clarity but unfortunately the oversight still remains with us.
Not sure why a SF should trigger a change particularly when the unlimited subs presumably is for young players welfare.

Oh yeah its a poor look for the game no question.

Saints will now have their achievement downgraded a little (if we win) given that Saints and Wigan are the top 2 teams and have won one game each against each other this season. This would've been the decider. The coaching staff will have watched videos on Wigan alll week and now have a different opponent.

The players at Wigan are now denied a chance to play in a Final

The Warrington lads haven't trained all week and are now called back to play in two days time.

I am shocked,so sorry for the lads.I now can see the issue with your explanation Stu but it still rests on Wigans shoulders.

Poor look is too lenient in my opinion. Shambolic is for me more accurate. I’d love have a chat with the people who changed the rules to listen to their rationale.
This unfortunately still doesn’t get us off the hook as we did not adhere to the rules and the players have been let down by the club.
A sorry situation for the game and particularly for the players involved.

For some of these Wigan lads, it might be their last chance of winning a trophy as some may not make it in the professional game. It should have been the highlight of their short life and a memory that no one could take away. That’s been denied to them and I feel so sorry for them.

Seems that when w@nky where doing their match review they spoted that Wigan had made to many interchanges .
They therefore reported you to the RFL
Am still going but won't be enjoyable as a Saints v Wigan final would have been

Acctualy wire have been training all week

Yeah, this would likely have been the pinnacle of some of the lads careers and it’s been taken away.

That’s a very good question

The game is just so amateur at times! the biggest game of the season results in a reduction in the amount of officials involved and a change in the seasons rules! Absolutely incredible that but we’ve still massively messed up and the young fellas pay for it.

Just to clarify, my understanding is that they didn’t change the number of officials for the SF, there’s been no interchange official all season at Academy level.

Fair enough, it seems our fault then. I keep reading people calling cheating against Wigan but it feels anything but. It just feels like a scenario where somebody had been a bit dense and they’ve been caught short.

Just returned to the forums to point out this is wrong. Academy games are all 8 subs the same as with all other levels of the professional competition. It is also exactly like Super League in that players get strapped up and carry on. Basically your whole post is untrue, nothing changed for the semi finals and they adhere to the same interchange rules as SL.

As you rightly pointed out later, there is also no reserve ref appointed to any level of academy rugby bar the final so no one to manage the subs (on the odd occasion you get a young match official doing it voluntarily). They're generally reliant on the honesty of the clubs and can look back at the footage if an issue is raised.

I don't know what caused the timing issue. Possibly a late complaint. Possibly took a while to deduce what happened with the subs as there isn't a camera pointed at the bench the whole time. You would have a bit of detective work to do tracking which players are on and off. Then they would have to check in Wigan what (if any) concussion assessments happened as they can result in free subs.

Of course it’s untrue. StuM is the biggest bull****** since king warrior on these forums.