FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where is Rabbitohs Tag played for Summer 2024-2025 ?
Souths Junior Oztag is an after school competition played at Heffron Park each week.
Rabbitohs Tag is played at Heffron Park.
MONDAYS- Heffron Park Rabbitohs Tag Girls Competition
THURSDAY – Heffron Park Rabbitohs Tag Boys Competition
How long does the Competition run for ?
RABBITOHS TAG START
GIRLS- OCT 21ST
BOYS- OCT 24th
LAST GAME OF THE SEASON
GIRLS- DEC 16TH
BOYS- DEC 19TH
SEMI FINALS
GIRLS- 3RD OF FEB
BOYS- 6TH OF FEB
GRAND FINALS
GIRLS- 10TH OF FEB
BOYS- 13th of FEB
Which age group should my child play in ?
Age divisions are based on the 2025 calendar year for example any players turning 10 in 2025 will be in the under 10’s age group.
2019/2018 (turning 6or 7 in 2025) – 6’s&7’s
2017 (turning 8 in 2025) – 8’s
2016 (turning 9 in 2025) – 9’s
2015 (turning 10 in 2025) – 10’s
2014 (turning 11 in 2025) – 11’s
2013 (turning 12 in 2025)- 12’s
2012 (turning 13 in 2025) – 13’s
2011 (turning 14 in 2025)- 14’s
2010 (turning 15 in 2025) – 15’s
2009/2008 (turning 16&17 in 2025) – 16&17’s
Mixed- (14-17 years, 2011-2008 – Mixed rules Monday night)
If you are born in 2007 or older you are classified as a senior and will need to play in the senior competition.
What are the terms and conditions of the competition?
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
What does my Child wear ?
Players will need to wear Official Oztag shorts/Tights to participate. Shorts can be purchased at the venue or online for $30.00 a pair
Teams arrange their own Team shirts.
How Long to games run for ?
Games run for 40minute timeslots. There are divided into 2 halves.
In instances of extreme heat, we may split the game into thirds or quarters, but teams will be notified before they take the field.
How many players are on the field? And how many players should I have in my team?
There are 8 players on the field per team so we recommend 10 players to a team. You can have more, but that gives your players less time on the field.
Is there a limit on the number of Representative Players per team ?
Currently we work on the “NO MORE THEN 4 REPS” per team rule.
If you have 5 representative players you move up an age group (ie 11 year age group (2014 born) with 5 rep players will move up to the 12’s (2013 born) age group. If you have a mixture of rep players of different ages, as with all our age groups, it goes by the age of your eldest player (ie a 12 year old team 2013 born with a mixture of 5, 11 and 12 year rep players will play up in the 13’s age group).
The only exception to this rule is our 16/17’s and Mixed comp (Monday night) where there is no representative limit.
We understand that Oztag is a recreational sport and many teams are formed with friends. Souths Juniors introduced a Representative limit after we found that teams were being formed after meeting new friends at Representative Carnivals. The limit was put in place as we found that some of the strongest players from each team were being placed into one team making it unenjoyable at local level all round.
Can I make sure my child is placed in the same team as a friend ?
We have no problem with making sure friends are placed together into the same team as long as they are eligible to play in the same division. If however, your child’s friend has played for a few years and is already in a set team, then you would need to speak to the Team Delegate of that team to see if there is room for your child to play as we cannot force the delegate to accept extra registrations.
Can I play in two teams in one competition?
We allow players to play in two teams in one competition, but, they need to be in two different age groups.
Ie, 11’s and 12’s.
You cannot play in two teams in the same age group. Once you hit 16/17 years (2009/2008 born), our ages are combined so you will only be able to play for one team.
Some of our teams play at the same time slots, ie 6/7’s and 8’s for our boys and 6-10’s for our girls. We do allow players to play in two different teams in different age groups, but majority of the time we do encourage players not to do this IF the ages play at the same time each week.
What will end up happening is players will either need to pick the team they want to play for, or, play half a game per team each week. We find this is not fair to each team and not worth your money.
Can I make sure my child is placed with his/her sibling ?
If you register a full team then yes you can have younger players in your team. However they cannot be placed into a team if they are not the appropriate age unless the team you are joining accepts a younger player.
Will my child need to be graded ?
We grade each team after round 4 depending on skill level. We do this as we have teams made up from school class friends, winter sport teams (Netball, Rugby league, Rugby Union, Soccer etc) and from individuals signing up as well as Representative players. We want to make our competition fun and competitive for all players involved.
What does my child need to wear to play?
Every child needs to have Official Oztag Shorts or tights to play (cost $30.00) which are available at registration and at the venue. Players can wear whatever they like on top. We find teams like to be in unison, so it is quite common for a team to pick a coloured shirt, or get tops made up, but that is completely up to your team. No metal or screw in stud type shoes allowed. Moulded Touch football or soccer boots recommended, runing shoes are allowed but not recommended due to poor grip.
Can I play in the Souths Seniors competition and still be eligible for Junior State Cup ?
No, you need to be a paid and registered player in a junior competition to be eligible for Junior State Cup. If you play in a senior competition, you are only eligible for senior rep teams.
Does my child need to attend training each week ?
No training days are scheduled for Oztag players. It is up to individual teams to arrange their own training days if they choose to do so. The majority of teams, do not train at all.
What time are the games ?
It will depend on how many teams are in the competition as to what time your childs games are each week . Divisions do not have set times as we receive Time Requests which may see teams playing early one week and later the following week . Time slots commence from 4.10pm.
Who and what is a manager?
They are your Team Contact . Managers are not coaches. They may help the team by substituting players during the game & usually at the beginning organize shirt colour and team shirts for the team. Some teams put too much pressure on the delegate believing they are there to coach the team. Remember they have kindly put their hand up and given up some time to be our point of contact to make life a little easier for the players/parents. Please offer them assistance.
Are parents allowed on the field to help the children who have not played before?
Yes, we allow one parent help out on the field for all ages under 10 years (little fields). However, coaches are to be mindful to encourage players to learn the game and not interfere too much with the game. You are there as a guide, nothing more.
Are there any different rules depending on the age group?
We have amended rules for our ages 10years and below (little field)
AMENDED RULES FOR 10’S AND UNDER
- No marker allowed.
- Dummy half may run but if tagged a changeover will occur.
- Dummy half cannot score.
- Defensive line cannot move until the first receiver touches the ball or the dummy half runs.
Junior Fields (5 to 10 year olds)
50m x 35m (play across senior field)
Mixed rules differ slightly too (Monday night 2011-2008 born)
- Maximum of 4 boys on the field at once (you can play with more girls than boys if needed, generally there are 4 of each sex on the field at once).
- Girls tries are worth 2 points.
I have signed my child up to play Oztag but don’t know what team he/she has been placed into?
Individual players signing up will be placed into teams once our registrations close. We need to insure that we are placing players into the right teams and into teams that need players. Players will be contacted by Leah with their team name and managers contact information. Please be patient, we will be in contact.
Does Souths Junior Oztag provide Coaches ?
Being a recreational sport, we do not supply coaches (with the exception of representative teams). We ask for parents to help by being a manager and in many cases, the managers of teams are Mums. We find in many cases that a parent will put their hand up to coach a team and in some cases we even have older siblings that also volunteer.
Who do I ring to advise that my child can’t make a game ?
You must ring and advise your team manager. Do not contact Souths Junior Oztag as we will not be able to be pass on the information due to the amount of calls and other responsibilities on the night.
We are short players, can we get a friend to fill in?
You can only have a player who is registered in that competition, and that player must be registered in a younger age group and not a representative player (unless approved by Leah/Vince). All fill ins must be approved by Leah/Vince before they take the field. Any team found playing a player that is not registered in our competition or registered in a higher age group will be disqualified for that round.
We have a few players away, what is the minimum number of players that can take the field?
You can take the field with 5 players. If you don’t have 5, then you will have to forfeit. Please let us know in advance if that is the case so we can notify your opponents.
Can girls play in the boys competition?
We allow girls to play in boy’s teams, but those parents of the girls need to be aware that they are playing against boys teams in a boys competition. We do not allow all girls teams to play in the boy’s competition and we do not allow girls to play in boys teams over the age of 14 years (2011 born). The main factor is safety. If your team is over 14 years old and want to play against boys, you can form a mixed team and play in our mixed competition on a Monday afternoon.
Do you cancel the games if it is very hot?
Only in extreme circumstances where the humidity and heat reach a critical point and it is dangerous to our players.
We are summer sport, so it is highly likely that the weather will be warm. In instances of heat under 37 degrees, we will reduce the games to quarters or thirds to ensure that the players are getting enough time to rest and hydrate.
Our fields are run by council, so if they close the grounds, then we cannot play. So we do our best not to cancel rounds in weather of 37 degrees and under.
Please do not have parents email us to pressure us to cancel. If you do not want your child playing in the heat, then you have to make the choice of whether or not you allow them to play.
Please see below Australian Oztag’s extreme weather policy and the SMA extreme heat policy which are our guidelines.
I want to use my active kids voucher to pay online, how do I use my voucher?
Your manager or Leah will send you a team code for you to register to our online system. There is an option to enter your Active Kids Voucher there and then pay the difference with a credit card.
Otherwise, you can bring down it to one of our registration days with the additional fees and we will process it for you.
If you have any questions that have not been answered on this page, please email us at southsjnrs@oztag.com.au and we will be happy to answer it for you