For team managers in NSWRL Community Rugby League, Under 6 to Open Age, 2026 season. Covers age and registration requirements, Working With Children Checks, match day cards, sign on sheets, trainers, playing up and down, send offs and who may sit on the bench.
Under NSWRL Policy 4.8, team managers must be properly registered as volunteers with their club. The minimum age is 14 for teams from Under 6 to Under 12, and 18 for teams from Under 13 and above.
Registration. The NSWRL Team Managers Manual says to register with your club on playrugbyleague.com using an active NRL Account. At first registration you upload identification documents and a photo (renewals do not need them again). You must be registered to be assigned to your team online, which gives you access to the player and team staff digital identification used for game day sign on.
Working With Children Check. Under NSWRL Policy 2.2, coaches, volunteers, sports trainers and match officials who work in a junior environment, meaning participants aged 18 and under, must provide current WWCC (NSW) or WWVP (ACT) details on registration. Volunteers aged 18 and over who work with people under 18 must also complete Patrons of the Game Child Safe Education.
The 2023 Team Managers Manual lists managers, coaches and sports trainers for any team with participants under 18 (even an Open Age team with a 17 year old) as needing a WWCC. It lists managers, coaches and trainers for teams with only participants over 18, and those who are themselves under 18, as not needing one.
From the NSWRL 2023 Team Managers Manual:
Team lists must be submitted by 10am on the Friday so that sign on sheets can be generated and sent to the hosting clubs for the weekend. The hosting club prints the sign on sheets and has them ready for team managers. If you do not submit a list, your sheet is blank and you must complete it manually.
Host clubs enter the results for games at their grounds. The manual notes that many leagues still use the sign on sheets to record results and match statistics rather than live scoring in MySideline Manager.
Under NSWRL Policy 2.21, electronic Match Day Cards (or sign on sheets) must be presented before sign on and be available at the officials / scoring table for the whole game. Team managers should check weekly that all players' and team officials' identification is available for games.
You are entitled to check players' Match Day Cards from both teams before and during a game. The inspection must be discreet and courteous, and opposing players and officials must not be cross-examined or put under duress. Compare cards with players by visual inspection while the other team signs on. Write any apprehension, concern or suspected rule breach on the back of the sign on sheet and submit an incident report to the League Administrator before 5:00pm on the Tuesday after the match.
Before each game, each team manager must check that the identification card procedures are being observed for all players, coaches, trainers, managers and unofficial touch judges, and that their names are recorded on the sign on sheet (Policy 4.36).
From the NSWRL 2023 Team Managers Manual:
Before the game. Approach the ground manager on arrival to collect your sign on sheet. Complete player jersey numbers, starting player names, team staff names and team staff signatures. Sports trainers must sign before the game starts. Cross out players not taking part. Mark a player who leaves the field with concussion as HIA beside their name. Meet the ground manager so players and team staff can show their match day cards and sign on; the ideal time is the half time break of the match before yours.
Mini and Mod (Under 6 to Under 12). Tick the periods each player takes part in. The minimum game time is two unbroken periods for Under 6 to Under 9 and one unbroken period for Under 10 to Under 12. Note players wearing the DH or FR vest in the applicable period. From Under 9, players sign beside their name, you record try and goal scorers, tally the final score, and note sin bins and send offs in the Dismissal & Incidents box. Under 8 is non-competitive, so disregard its tries and goals columns.
Under 13 to Open Age. Players sign beside their name, you record try and goal scorers, record each interchange with the jersey numbers going off and on, tally the score and note sin bins and send offs.
After the game. The referee, ground manager and opposing manager sign the sheet. Before you sign the opposition's sheet, check the final score matches yours. Leave the sheets with the ground manager and take a photo of your own sheet for your records.
If you did not submit a team list, the sheet is blank and you must complete it manually.
Under NSWRL Policy 4.8, each team must have an appropriately accredited coach in attendance before any match can commence. No match starts under any circumstances without, as a minimum, the on-field safety personnel prescribed by the NRL On-Field Policy at the venue. A coach cannot act as both coach and the required on-field safety person in the same game. A match is deemed a forfeit by any team that does not have the required personnel present.
The NSWRL 2023 Team Managers Manual sets out the minimums for trainers:
| Age group | Minimum accreditation | Shirt colour |
|---|---|---|
| Under 6 to Under 9 | League First Aid | Green |
| Under 10 to Under 15 (including Tag) | League First Aid | Green |
| Under 16 to Open Age | Level 1 Sports Trainer | Blue |
The manual says a team without the right trainer cannot play and is deemed to have forfeited. Coaches who have not completed their accreditations by 30 June of the season cannot continue to coach at training or on game day. Volunteers who only want to run water can do the free online League Safe course.
Under NSWRL Policy 4.33, these team staff and players may be seated at a team bench during a match:
Coaches must hold an appropriate coach accreditation, and at least one must hold an age appropriate accreditation for the team. Sports trainers must remain quiet and seated at the bench unless undertaking their duties. In Under 6 to Under 12 matches a team may use a maximum of two sports trainers, and in Under 13 and above a maximum of three. Injured players from a participating team, and unregistered non-participants, are not allowed inside the playing enclosure or at team benches.
Under Policy 4.12, walkie-talkies, mobile phones and other electronic devices on the field of play or within the playing area cannot be used for communication between team staff. The only exception is using a phone or tablet to display Match Day Cards for player and team staff identification, or for live scoring.
It is a breach of the rules for a player, coach, trainer, manager or other official to approach a referee or touch judge before, during or after a game to seek a rule explanation or for any other reason directly relating to a game.
Under NSWRL Policy 2.19, a player's natural age group is the Under group matching the age they turn in the calendar year (a child born in 2015 can play Under 11s in 2026). Every player playing up an age group must have a completed NSWRL Playing in a Higher Age Group Consent Form. The form must be authorised and uploaded to the player's member record on MySideline.
Under 6 to Under 12: players are strongly encouraged to play in their natural age group. Exemptions to play up one age group only may be granted in exceptional circumstances:
Under 13 and up: a player may play in the age group one year above their natural group (a player born in 2010 and registered in 2026 can play Under 16s and Under 17s). The consent form must be completed before the player takes the field, then sent to the League Administrator at the earliest convenience after participation. Two years above is allowed only in exceptional circumstances on application to NSWRL.
The 2023 Team Managers Manual says to keep the approved form in your Team Managers folder at all times.
Under NSWRL Policy 2.28, players may apply for dispensation to play in the age group one year below their natural age (the age they turn in the current calendar year). It is approved for players judged to be within the weight limit for that age group, and it applies to tackle competitions only.
Weight limits (the player's age group, and the maximum weight to play one group down):
How it works:
Separate rules apply to female only dual-age competitions.
The NSWRL 2023 Team Managers Manual sets out this process at the game:
NSWRL Policy 4.17 (2026 Policies and Procedures Manual) says NSWRL has adopted and fully endorses the NRL Community Rugby League Policy and Guidelines for the Management of Concussion.
Under NSWRL Policy 4.31, a player who is sent off must vacate the playing enclosure, remove their playing jersey or resume ordinary attire, and is suspended from playing until they appear before the Judiciary and the matter is fully dealt with. They may not re-enter the roped off playing area at any time. The 2023 Team Managers Manual adds that they cannot remain on the bench, and that managers and coaches should make sure the player leaves the playing area and, if they stay at the ground, does so without incident.
Under 6 to Under 12: a referee can dismiss a player instantly for misconduct (the player can be replaced immediately), or ask the captain to replace the player for the rest of the game, quarter or half with no further penalty. Any misconduct in these age groups should be officially reported in the same way as in an Under 13 and above game.
The NSWRL 2023 Team Managers Manual says a team manager must agree to help identify any player, team staff member or spectator involved in an incident that breaches the NRL National Code of Conduct, whether it happens before, during or after a game. If the ground manager or referee asks you to identify a member of your team or your spectator group, you are required to assist.
If you do not help identify the person, the manual says that under the NSWRL Tough Love in League Policy your team may be suspended until the person is identified.
The 2026 Policies and Procedures Manual (Policy 4.15) adds that if a coach, trainer or manager refuses, hinders or harasses efforts to get an offender's name, they are in breach of league rules, and the penalty may be loss of competition points for the team and/or another penalty.
If you want to report behaviour that may breach the Code of Conduct, the manual says to contact your Club Secretary or President, who can submit an online report to NSWRL.