Rules

The general rules for TheBench™ are as follows.  There may be some variation for a particular Code, refer to the respective Code pages for specific rules:

Player Draft (Draft Competitions Only):

• The initial order of selection for the draft is selected at random.
• Selection in the draft is from first to last, last to first and then continues until all Coaches have a full squad.
• A given player can only be selected for one Club for a given Competition.

Season:

• The fantasy season runs through the standard season of the Code it is following.
• Finals are run in the last four rounds of the Season where applicable for a given Competition.
• Clubs in the top of the ladder will progress through to the finals.
• Where no finals series exists, the club at the top of the table/ladder at the end of the season is the Competition champion.

Teams:

• Each Club must submit a team prior to the closing of each round.
• A round will close before the first game of the round.
• If a team is not submitted for a round before it is closed, a default team from the previous week will be selected. For the first round a default team will be selected at random.
• For Competitions enabling the Position Restriction option, each Players will have a pre-nominated Position Group.  A Player may only be picked in a position matching this pre-nominated Position Group.
• For Competitions with a "Bench" or "Emergency" position, any player picked on the field who does not play for a given Round will be automatically rotated with this "Bench" player after the Round is complete.  For Position restricted Competitions, the Player on the "Bench" must have a matching Position Group to be rotated. 

Trading:

• For draft games, a coach may choose to trade players with another coach at anytime during the season, excluding the finals and before the Last Trade Round.
• The Last Trade Round is set by the Competition Manager

Delisting/Drafting:

• The number of times Coach can delist and draft a new player is limited. In some Competitions, this limit is customisable and set by the Competition Manager.
• For Draft Competitions, if a player is injured indefinitely ("Long Term Injury"), has retired or for some other reason is determined to not be playing for the remainder of the season, this play may be delisted at no cost after this player is marked as "Long Term Injury". It is up to the Competition Manager discression to mark a player as "Long Term Injury".
• If a new player is drafted during the season, they must be named in the team for the next round.

Finals:

• Finals will be held in the final 4 rounds of the season.
• Finals will be played by the highest ranked clubs on the ladder.
• During the finals, if any games end in a draw, a count back will be taken, to which the highest ranked club on the ladder, at the end of the home and away season, will be awarded the win.
• The number of clubs in the finals will depend on the number of clubs in your competition.  Finals structures can be seen here.

Awards:

• Competition Managers will be responsible for managing any competition awards, prizes and/or fees for their own Competition.