Can I register after registrations have closed?

The short answer is no. Our competition is very different to others. Once registrations close, there is a significant amount of work that happens behind the scenes to get the season ready. Accepting a late registration isn’t simply a matter of adding one more player to a team.

Jerseys are ordered immediately after registrations close and take around 3–4 weeks to manufacture and deliver. Ordering an individual jersey after the final export of all players involves additional production and delivery costs.

Because all players must to wear their correct team jersey - allowing players to participate without one opens the door to potential "ring-in" players and makes it difficult for us to properly manage team eligibility and non-registrants.

Our final player numbers may also need to be provided to our insurer, and additional registrations can potentially affect our insurance requirements and costs.

Once registrations close, the registration portal is closed and the registration funds held in our merchant account are transferred to our main account for reconciliation. To accept a single late registration, the portal needs to be reopened, the additional payment processed and our financial reconciliation updated.

We also export the final team and player information from the registration system to produce our PDF facial registration checks. Any late additions mean these need to be regenerated, reprinted and checked again.

Most importantly, final registrations are what we use to grade teams and prepare the draw. Teams are placed into divisions based on the players registered at the time of grading. If, for example, a strong player is added to a Division 2 team after grading, it could change where that team should be placed. This can mean regrading teams, changing the draw and reprinting referee cards - affecting not just that team, but potentially every team in that division and any associated byes.

For all of these reasons, we need to have a firm registration closing date. Once registrations close, a number of administrative, financial and competition processes are put into motion. Making an exception for one player can mean reopening and redoing several of those processes, and if we make an exception for one, it becomes very difficult to fairly refuse the next.

The closing date allows us to finalise teams, grading, jerseys, insurance, finances and the draw, and have everything properly organised and ready for the start of the season.