PORT Macquarie Sharks are still awaiting a final result on their appeal of a six-point deduction for breaching the Group 3 match review policy.
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The appeal was heard at Group 3 headquarters at Taree last Wednesday with the club hopeful they can finalise the matter by the end of the week.
Group 3 chief executive Barrie Smith, however, said they were still no closer to an outcome.
“We’re in limbo,’’ Smith said.
The Sharks closed to within five points of fifth-placed Taree City with a 76-6 belting of Macleay Valley in Kempsey on Saturday.
They still have a game in hand.
The Sharks were penalised for failing to provide match videos from matches against Macleay Valley and Taree City earlier in the season.
They won both matches.
Under Group 3 bylaws clubs must video their home games.
The group’s match review committee required video to check incidents involving Port Macquarie players after the Bulls had cited a Shark from the game on May 6.
“The club said this week the DVDs are now available,’’ Smith said.
He claims the club said it had purchased a new camera but had needed extra equipment to download to a disc.
However, the group still requires the DVDs and until the clubs furnishes them, the penalty will stay in place.
Mr Smith said Port officials were ‘livid’ at the penalty and had threatened to take the matter to ‘a higher authority,’ probably the Country Rugby League (CRL).
“But we think the CRL will say this is a Group Three matter and clubs have to abide by our bylaws,’’ Mr Smith said.
A Sharks spokesman believed the penalty for failing to provide match videos from the matches was “excessive”.
“The club thinks they could have gone down other avenues,” he said.
“But ultimately that’s their decision although ultimately we still think it’s excessive.”
Before the penalty the Sharks would have been expected to play in the semi-finals.
If the ban stays in place Port would have to win the majority of the seven matches remaining to have any hope of featuring in the playoffs, although this is feasible.
If the points are returned it would be expected one of the clubs in the bottom section of the top five would miss out on a spot in the playoffs.
The Sharks still have a game in hand with a postponed fixture against fourth-placed Old Bar Beach Pirates scheduled for Old Bar on July 7.