Weight-for-age rules levels playing field for rugby league juniors

One NRL club known for breaking barriers is now tackling the rule book for junior competition.

Reigning* premiers the Penrith Panthers are launching NSW’s first-ever weight-for-age competition – a welcome move that could expand junior pathways and open doors for kids who may have left the game.

Helmed* by Panthers Juniors general manager Blake South, the initiative features players aged 11-12 weighing 50kg or less competing in fully-fledged* 13-a-side tackle footy.

Long suggested in league circles as a way to promote participation and avoid uneven match-ups, the initiative has rapidly evolved* in the space of a month from concept to last weekend’s kick-off. Oh

“The feedback we received was way higher than what we thought we would actually get,” said Mr South.

“There were around 110 replies of interest in the first 15 minutes. It was crazy.

“In the space of four weeks we’d gone from nothing to playing a NSWRL-approved opening round of a 10-team competition with 200 registered players.”

Games are centrally located at one venue each Sunday over an eight-week period, ending in finals. Registration is free and participants score a heritage* Panthers jersey.

“The main goal is to get kids to focus on skills and development without the added pressure and fear of heavier contact,” Mr South said.

Penrith’s immediate success is a beacon* to other NRL clubs in NSW and nationwide, especially when compared against similar trials elsewhere.

“They ran a trial in Queensland six weeks ago with six teams from the Tweed to the Gold Coast, so we’re pretty rapt* to be fielding 10 teams within our district alone,” Mr South said.

“A lady approached me at the opening round and said, ‘Thanks for organising this, my son hasn’t played since he was seven.’”

It was an experience shared by Kirsty Steel, whose son Declan Stone was still smiling days after starring on the wing like his favourite Panther, Brian To’o.

“It was really good for us because he’s only 34kg,” said Kirsty of Declan, whose Origin hero currently has an extra 60kg on him.

“He’s always wanted to play, but I wouldn’t allow him to because I was scared he’d get hurt. He played soccer until this came up and he asked to do it.

“He was very scared beforehand, because he didn’t know what to expect. But once he was out on the field, I saw his face light up, then afterwards he couldn’t stop talking about it.”

As for a favourite moment, Declan couldn’t go past the joy of his team’s first try.

“It was one of my schoolmates who scored – it was the best, and I chased him down to join in,” Declan said.

With hopes high the new competition will lure parents and lost former players like Declan back to the game, Mr South can already see growth on the horizon.

“The long term goal is to establish a competition all year round in line with existing Saturday competitions,” he said. “And also expand to include additional age groups from under-8s to 14s.”

WEIGHT RELATED COMPETITIONS
Rugby League currently offers open weight competitions based on age, but weight related competitions (WRC) like the 2019 Weight Related Carnival in Brisbane and the new Penrith Panthers comp acknowledge the often very big differences in children’s physical growth rates, allowing kids to play, have fun and build skills without the risks and anxieties that can arise when playing bigger peers.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER CONTACT CODES?
RUGBY UNION
Rugby Australia, rugby union’s governing body, introduced new age-weight rules back in 2018 for junior players between 10 and 15, after a two-year study in partnership with Sydney Junior Rugby Union, the ACT Brumbies and Australian Catholic University.

AFL
Acknowledging that some parents were hesitant about their child playing junior AFL due to concerns about the game being rough or unsafe, the league introduced changes in its 2025 Junior Footy Toolkit.

Junior rules were specially modified for junior players to create “a supportive and age-appropriate environment, gradually introducing elements like game duration, field size, and player numbers as children grow and develop”.

AFL engaged multiple research partners including Deakin University. While not weight specific, where age-appropriate rules were implemented, Deakin University found that individual player and team involvement increased by more than 35 per cent.

SOCCER
In youth competitions policy, junior soccer players may be eligible to play in a lower age category.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• reigning: being the most recent winner of a competition
• helmed: guided, delivered, overseen, managed spearheaded
• beacon: a light, as in guiding light or something or someone that leads the way
• fully-fledged: completed developed, established or having all necessary qualities
• evolved: developed gradually over time
• heritage: traditional, something of cultural importance from the past
• rapt: from the word rapture, can mean absolutely absorbed but also thrilled and joyful

EXTRA READING

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Panthers’ win makes NRL history

Famed footballers to visit Australia

QUICK QUIZ

1. Which NSW club introduced the state’s first NRL weight-age rules?
2. Which age group and at what weight
3. How many expressions of interest did the program receive in the first 15 minutes?
4. Who is participant Declan Stone’s favourite Panther and how much is he estimated to weigh?
5. Why wouldn’t Declan’s mum allow him to play previously?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What was the best?
“It was the best, and I …”

Write a story that starts with this phrase.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
Can you think of more ways that contact sports, like rugby league, can be made safer? Write a list of suggestions for the game. Remember to write an explanation for each of your suggestions.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity.
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education

VCOP ACTIVITY
Exercise the body and the mind
Exercise is not only important for the body, but it’s a lot of fun as well. Let’s bring more exercise into classroom learning by creating a VCOP PE game.

You can add a VCOP challenge to pretty much any game, and it’s a great way to encourage the teacher to let the class play more games.

Here is an example to get you started, then you create one of your own.

VCOP dodgeball
The normal rules of dodgeball apply. Two teams throw soft balls at each other and if you get hit, you have to sit out. The team who knocks out all the players on the other team, wins.

VCOP challenge: when you get eliminated, collect a mini-whiteboard and a basic clause from the sidelines. Up-level the sentence (make it better) by adding VCOP. When you show the teacher your completed sentence, you can return to the game.

Play for a set amount of time and the team with the most players left on the court wins.

Support: use the “Up-Level It” card set – players have to complete one card from the set instead of completing all VCOP challenges.

What can you come up with?