THE Lake Macquarie Roos are in danger of folding after the club was kicked out of the Hunter Rugby Union (HRU) premier competition on Tuesday night due to a lack of player numbers and lopsided scorelines.
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Roos president Sam Coles was informed via a letter late Tuesday of the HRU board's decision to demote the club to the divisional competition. HRU president Glenn Turner had advised Coles about the situation earlier in the day.
Lake Macquarie were due to meet University at Bernie Curran Oval in three senior grades on Saturday to compete the first round of the competition.
Their demotion leaves eight teams in Premier Rugby. It is unclear at this stage whether previous results involving Lake Macquarie will stand.
There are seven clubs in divisional rugby, which consists of one grade.
Lake Macquarie, after a competitive start to the season under new coach Seru Rainima and assistant Gary Ella, have been on the end of increasingly poor results in first and second grades.
They were embarrassed 172-5 by Hamilton in first grade a fortnight ago. On Saturday, they copped another hiding, going down 96-0 to Merewether. In round three they were pumped 113-0 by Wanderers.
Their second grade have fared slightly better but are yet to win a game and have lost by an average scoreline of 65-5.
In the letter sent to Lake Macquarie, the HRU board indicated that the club only had 63 registered seniors players, 12 below the criteria for Premier Rugby.
The Roos have used an average of 43 players for the three grades on each game day, with an average of 3.5 players doubling up to start in more than one grade.
The lack of numbers has resulted in lopsided scores, which raise safety issues and duty of care.
Lake Macquarie have refuted the player numbers listed by the HRU.
In an email to the Newcastle Herald, Lake Macquarie secretary Jason Wagstaffe said the Roos had not been consulted before Tuesday about the board's concerns.
"We were not given an opportunity to speak directly with the board and respond to any concerns the board had with respect to our club," Waggstaffe said.
"It is highly probable that Lake Macquarie Rugby Club will fold if the decision to remove the club from the zone's premier rugby competition is not reversed."
Last year, Lake Macquarie encountered similar issues and dropped out of first grade, with their two teams filtering down to second and third grade.
In 2015, Lake Macquarie withdrew from the premier competition midway through the season.
The HRU has vowed to work with Lake Macquarie to ensure their players "continue to get a game each week, in a standard of competition more suited in our judgement to your present numbers, fitness and skill levels".
James Gardiner
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
