Griffith has been disqualified from the Southern Inland second grade finals after playing four ineligible players during its elimination final against Tumut on Saturday.
The Blacks prevailed 29-9 at Conolly Rugby Complex, but three of their players had narrowly fallen short of the required seven games, and one had played just once.
It came after Griffith forfeited their last two games of the regular season, with three forfeits resulting in finals ineligibility.
Tumut, meanwhile, has been reinserted into the finals.
Southern Inland rugby manager Mick McTaggart said the decision to remove Griffith from the postseason was not taken lightly.
“It’s always a tough call to make because you never want to do anything like this,” he said.
“But it has to be done in fairness to the rest of the teams who have abided by the rules.”
McTaggart said Southern Inland’s policy on finals eligibility had been clearly outlined to all clubs on more than one occasion.
“Clubs have been getting emailed since June and July with reminders to make sure that all players are both registered in the database and have played enough games to be eligible for finals,” he said.
“They were all informed that anyone falling outside of the finals eligibility criteria must put in a special dispensation request.”
Tumut president Will Reynolds said he was surprised when he heard the news on Tuesday morning.
“It did come as a bit of a shock, but we’ve been given a second chance and we’re going to grab it with both hands,” he said.
Griffith president Dan McGreal declined to comment.
