Doncaster CEO bemoans ‘six again’ rule following Castleford Tigers cup defeat

Doncaster’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carl Hall has hit out at the ‘six again’ rule, questioning where it came from and why there are so many variations on it being brought into play.

Ambitious Championship outfit Doncaster were knocked out of the Challenge Cup on Saturday afternoon by Super League side Castleford Tigers.

Having led 6-0 at the break, Cas went on to secure a 14-0 victory at the Eco-Power Stadium in what was their first competitive game with new head coach Ryan Carr at the helm.

And it was that cup tie which sparked a social media post from Hall asking questions of the ‘six again’ rule, which was entered into the laws of the game midway through the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season.

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Doncaster CEO bemoans ‘six again’ rule following Castleford Tigers cup defeat

Doncaster have now won two and lost two of their four games across all competitions in 2026 having followed up last weekend’s narrow Championship defeat at Midlands Hurricanes with Saturday’s cup exit.

Taking to X on Sunday morning, Dons chief Hall posted a video of himself and said: “What is the ‘six again’ rule?

“If a referee wants to, he can give a ‘six again’ at every play-the-ball. Back in the day, everybody knew what a penalty was for and everyone knew what the rules were.

“We’e trying to make the sport attractive to supporters, but the ‘six again’ has so many interpretations of the rule that I’m not sure anyone knows what they’re for.

“It’s nothing against the referee yesterday, because he was dong his job, and without the referees, we don’t have a sport.

“I want to say how immensely proud of the team I was yesterday, especially with all of the ‘six agains’ and all of that stuff.

“We could maybe have got a try or two and put them on their toes a little bit more, but big credit to Castleford, I wish them all the best going forward.”

‘I’m not too sure why the ‘six again’ got brought in to the sport of rugby league. It’s so frustrating for us all’

The ‘six again’ rule allows a team to be penalised for various defensive infringements without the momentum of the attacking team being disrupted by the game being stopped for a penalty.

When ‘six again’ is signalled by the on-field referee, the team with the ball in hand see their tackle count get reset and, as it suggests on the tin, get a fresh set of six tackles to try and score.

Hall continued: “It’s not sour grapes, I just think whoever invented this ‘six again’, where did it come from?

“Rugby league fans normally go to the game, they know the sport and they know what a penalty is for.

“But I’m not too sure why the ‘six again’ got brought in to the sport of rugby league. It’s so frustrating for us all.

“It’s something I thought I’d get off my chest because people were talking about it after the game.

“The referee is reffing to his interpretation of the laws given to him by the powers that be, but it’s difficult to answer the question (about ‘six agains’) because there could be a ‘six again’ for numerous things we don’t know.”