Three teams don't fit into one league final

The Counties Manukau Stingrays in action against the Bulls.

The top two sides in the NZRL National Premiership standings have both been ruled out of today's competition final after both clubs were found guilty of fielding ineligible players.

Both the first-placed Counties Manukau Stingrays and second-ranked Akarana Falcons were penalised for fielding ineligible players and the third-placed Canterbury Bulls and fourth-ranked Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions will now contest the title match.

Yesterday an NZRL jury of appeal heard arguments from both Counties and Akarana, over who had the right to take on the Bulls in the premiership decider, however both clubs had competition points deducted to see the fourth-ranked Wai-Coa-Bay elevated to fill the vacant spot in the final.

"Clearly we've had some issues around eligibility that has resulted in where it is but those two teams are there and will contest the final," NZRL chief executive Phil Holden said.

"Both teams fielded ineligible players and we've got our rules and we had to stand by that. The zones ultimately select the teams, they have to make sure that they're eligible. It's regrettable but we've got to stand by the integrity of the competition."

The drama arose after both Counties and Akarana fielded players contracted to the Warriors' New South Wales Cup side, which last year came under the umbrella of the Auckland Rugby League when the team was known as the Auckland Vulcans.

This season saw the Warriors' NSW Cup players registered with the NSWRL, meaning they were not officially registered with the ARL, resulting in those players being ineligible to take part in the National Premiership.

"With the disappearance of the Vulcans it's only now that we're realising it's creating a void in terms of the processing of the eligibility," Holden said.

Friday's ruling comes after the Bulls won their place in the final on Wednesday, after they successfully protested against Counties for fielding an ineligible player in their regular-season fixture last month.

Counties won that game, but lost the competition points to slip out of the final, before launching their own protest against second-ranked Akarana for the same offence.

Both Auckland teams now miss out, while Wai-Coa-Bay and Canterbury must hurry their travel arrangements and attempt to focus their attentions on Saturday night's match.