The Rugby Football League has backtracked on its new on-field sentencing guidelines - and will now “reconsider” some of its details.

Warrington boss Sam Burgess yesterday expressed his dismay about the intricacies of a new points-based system to deal with disciplinary matters.

He claimed he initially only found out about it via the media and was only emailed by the governing body yesterday morning.

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Each on-field misconduct charge is worth a certain number of points and when players pass a threshold in any 12-month period they are hit with an automatic suspension.

But points have also been carried over from last year, something Burgess felt was unfair to players who had already served bans.

His side have their opening pre-season friendly against Widnes tonight and the ex-England captain insisted he wouldn’t accept any sanction from the match review panel if his players did fall foul of the laws.

With the new season less than four weeks away, there had been no official announcement from the RFL about the new points-based system and its workings.

But this evening the governing body made the following statement: “All clubs were circulated with changes to the on-field sentencing guidelines for 2025 in mid-December.

“These guidelines are for Betfred Men’s and Women’s Super League, plus Betfred Championship and League One.

“The changes followed consultation with clubs at all levels in the mid-season regulatory meetings in May 2024, and ratification by the RFL’s Laws Committee – which includes representatives from clubs, coaches and players - followed by approval by RFL Board.

“While there is support for the broad direction of travel, following feedback from various levels of the sport, the RFL has agreed to reconsider some of the detail of the changes, specifically relating to historic charges (from the 2024 season).

“The final version of the guidelines will therefore be published in the first week of February, before the Third Round of the Betfred Challenge Cup, and following a scheduled meeting of Laws Committee on January 29, which is followed by the RFL Board – as well as further consultation with clubs and other stakeholders.”

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