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The Midlands RL Merit League is a summer rugby league tournament in England. It is a feeder league to the Rugby League Conference and has a season that runs from April to August.

Contents 1 Foundation 2 Format 3 Participating clubs 4 Season 2006 5 External links

The league was founded in late 2005 to support the growth of rugby league in non-heartland areas. Originally intended as a stand alone league, support from the Rugby Football League meant that it could be administered as part of the Rugby League Conference set-up. Interest quickly gathered with 13 teams showing an interest in participating in the inaugural season. The league is based on the successful London League which also operates a merit system.

The first ever game took place on April 8th 2006 at All Saints Sports College, Sheffield, where the Sheffield Forgers beat the Chesterfield Spires by 58 points to 8.

The league has already provided two teams for the Rugby League Conference: South Humber Rabbitohs and indirectly Scunthorpe Barbarians (based on the Scunthorpe Braves side who competed in the 2006 season). Both these teams are joining the Rugby League Conference in 2007.

The 2006 competition operated on a merit table basis with teams organizing fixtures amongst themselves. The first fixtures were in April, with the final date for games to be included in the league table being Sunday 13th August.

The scoring system for matches is as follows:

Away Win: 3 points

Away Draw: 2 points

Home Win: 2 points

Home Draw: 1 point

80+ KM trip to away game: 1 point

Completion of Home and Away games with opponent: 1 point

Default on game within three days of fixture: -1 point, with 24-0 score-line awarded to opposition

The average number of points scored per game, rather than the total, determines positions in the league table. Teams who have played 4 or more games will be placed higher in the table than those who haven't. If Average is the same, total games played followed by points difference will determine the placings.

Note that in the case of a team defaulting in a "pair" fixture, the non-offending team will receive the point for the pair but the defaulting team will not. Also defaulted games will be shown the games played column but will not count towards the 4 game rule.

For the 2006 and 2007 seasons, inter-league games between members of the MML and the London League can be counted as competitive matches, whilst both leagues are in season. These fixtures will need to be confirmed a week in advance to be guaranteed inclusion as regular season games.

The following teams are participating in 2007:

• Barton Bulldogs

• Chesterfield Spires

• East Riding RLC

• FC Irregulars

• German Exiles

• Nottingham Outlaws 'A'

• Scunthorpe Barbarians 'A'

• Sheffield Forgers

• Shropshire Scorpions

• South Humber Rabbitohs 'A'

• Wolverhampton Warlords

The following team has applied and are aware a decision on their admittance:

• Lincoln City Squires

The Grand Final for 2006 was held between the top two teams in the table on Sunday 13th August and took place a week later at Hillsborough Arena, home of the Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks. The final table (August 13th) was as follows:

Position	Club	Played	H-Win	H-Draw	A-Win	A-Draw	Lost	Def.	Pts For	Pts Agst	Pair	Long	Points	Average
1	South Humber Rabbitohs	7	3	0	4	0	0	0	386	100	3	2	23	3.28571
2	Nottingham Outlaws 'A'	7	3	0	3	0	1	0	320	103	3	1	19	2.7143
3	East Riding RLC	10	3	1	3	1	2	0	320	164	4	2	24	2.4
4	Scunthorpe Braves	8	1	1	3	0	3	0	274	238	2	2	16	2.0
5	Telford Trojans	6	1	0	0	0	5	1	149	232	2	3	6	1.0
6	Sheffield Forgers	8	1	0	0	0	7	0	158	432	3	1	5	0.75
7	Chesterfield Spires	10	2	0	0	0	8	1	150	496	3	1	7	0.7
8	Lincoln City Knights 'A'	4	1	0	0	1	2	1	94	86	0	1	4	1.0

In the Grand Final South Humber Rabbitohs beat the Nottingham Outlaws by 42 points to 18 and became the inaugural champions.

• Official website

• Rugby League Conference official site

Rugby league in Britain and Ireland
Competitions Super League | National League | Challenge Cup | North West Counties | Pennine League National League Cup | National Conference League | Rugby League Conference | Scotland Rugby League | Midlands Merit League
National teams Great Britain | England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Federations RFL | BARLA | Rugby League Ireland | Wales Rugby League
Former competitions Championship | Premiership | Lancs/Yorks Cups | Lancs/Yorks League Regal Trophy | Charity Shield | BBC2 Floodlit Trophy