Keighley chairman Gary Fawcett has said that it is vital the club’s dispute against the RFL leads to rule changes in the sport of Rugby League – so that the same situation does not happen again under a massive restructure of the leagues in 2015.
The Cougars have enough support to go ahead with a request to call an emergency general meeting (EGM), and he wants the dual-registration saga to be sorted out so that it does not occur next season, after the club’s controversial relegation from the Championship in 2014.
“My overriding desire had always been to get the member clubs together to sort the issue out as it is an issue that affects all of the clubs in the game, certainly with the restructure next year,” Fawcett said.
“If we have ineligible players playing next year and, by virtue of this, a Super League club is demoted into the Kingstone Press Championship will the excuse that the rule had not been previously enforced be used?
“If not, why not? It has been used to justify not punishing Batley this year. So, has the precedent been set and will the offending club use this in their defence?”
Fawcett also stated that he has two main targets he wants to obtain from the forthcoming EGM, which may not be held for at least a month.
“My objectives for the EGM resolutions are twofold. Firstly, to resolve the situation so that any detriment to Keighley Cougars and Sheffield Eagles is put right through either compensation or reinstatement although, due to delays, reinstatement for us is simply not practical.
“And secondly, to change the disciplinary processes so that this problem never ever occurs again in the future. For this, I wanted the right to arbitration to be inserted into the Operational Rules.”
