Dubbo College Senior Campus has been excluded from this season's University Shield rugby league competition while six players will face a Country Rugby League (CRL) judiciary hearing next week as the fallout from the Astley Cup brawl continues.
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The rugby league match between Senior Campus and Orange High School during the annual school sporting event last Thursday was abandoned roughly 15 minutes from full-time after the fight, which left one student from Orange in hospital with a suspected fractured eye socket and broken nose.
The Daily Liberal can now reveal three students from Senior Campus, two players who were sent off following the brawl and one student who came from outside the field of play to join the fight and kick an Orange student, have all been suspended for 20 days while the school will take no part in the University Shield, a state-wide competition in which they made the semi-finals last year.
It can also be revealed the Orange player who was kicked during the brawl is not the player who was taken to hospital with facial injuries, despite some reports stating otherwise.
The Senior Campus was quick to act following the incident and suspended the three instigators while the Country Rugby League (CRL) has concluded its investigation and is aiming to hold its hearing on Monday.
CRL chief executive Terry Quinn yesterday said an independent panel heavily investigated the manner and viewed the footage of the incident several times before notifying six players they will face charges.
"We've completed the investigation and six have been named for a hearing early next week," he said.
"They've been notified to attend if they're not away on school holidays."
It is unclear at this stage how many of the six players are from each school but Mr Quinn said they will face a range of punishments.
"They'll range from the serious to a warning and chat about the rules but hopefully they'll learn a lesson from it because it's not what we want to see," Mr Quinn said.
The blanket ban which suspended all players involved in the Astley Cup match from playing their club football last week has been lifted meaning all players, except the six facing charges, can return to the field this weekend.
Meanwhile the exclusion from the University Shield will come as a blow to Dubbo College after such an impressive run in 2013.
The school solidified their position as one of the leading rugby league breeding grounds with wins over schools such as Sydney's Eagle Vale and Kempsey's Melville high schools.
