So, I've been following a discussion in the Dewar Shield Facebook group. Besides 22Mand KevinO, not sure who else is a member here? Here's some background on the "complaint":
(names have been stripped, and quoted directly from FB).
Yes they did play an unregistered player twice! which they've admitted to and were fined for it BUT the correct processes weren't followed, a complaint has been lodged and the executive board meet tomorrow to adjudicate. Competition rules are clear and Box Hill should lose a minimum of 10 competition points. Minus 8 points for playing the unregistered player and minus 2 points for bonus points taken. The offence occurred in the first round against Endeavour Hills so...competition rules also state that the non offending team receive 5 competition points and a score of 28 nil in favour. If wrong is put right then the final ladder will look like this;
1. Harlequins 81 pts
2. Unicorns 79 pts
3. Endeavour Hills - 53 pts (-2 pts diff)
4. Powerhouse - 53 pts (-72 pts diff)
5. Box Hill 52 pts
6. Moorabbin 52 pts.
And some further update on the process:
A preliminary hearing was held today by the VRU board (don't ask me why a preliminary hearing, it's the email I received), The official meeting is at 6pm tomorrow night and representatives from three clubs have been asked to attend. The email I received also states that a final decision will be made either Wednesday or Thursday.
So, from what I read, an outcome will be announced today by the VRU.
Some things that come to mind. I'll declare I'm a supporter of Box Hill, and I'm an armchair legal expert at best.
- It appears the complaint is made against the process the VRU followed to penalise Box Hill, and the penalty the actually received.
- It's not clear who made the original complaint. It appears the FB user us very knowledgeable of the process underway, and also appears to be associated with Endeavour Hills. So, it could have been submitted by them, or a joint PH/EH submission, or both.
- It's not clear when the complaint was made. Ideally, any complaint would have been made around the time the original penalty was imposed. However, there is a chance it was only made recently, i.e. when EH/PH thought they were a chance of making the finals. I think this speaks to the sincerity of the complaint and could impact the outcome handed down by the VRU. Put bluntly, if the complaint was only made recently, yet the problem occurred months ago, why is it such a big problem now?
- It appears that there VRU handed down a penalty, and Box Hill have fulfilled the terms of that penalty in good faith. If the decision was to go against them, it would seem grossly unfair to alter the terms due to an administrative/process bungle. They have conducted themselves on the basis on that original penalty, and to alter that would probably give grounds for them to appeal that decision.
Personally, I don't see any alteration to the original penalty, leaving the current ladder position unchanged. It will be interesting to see what happens, and if further action is taken. I do feel for PH and EH, but they only have the VRU to blame.
