Wayde v NSW Rugby League Ltd [1985] HCA 68

High Court of Australia Mason A.C.J. Wilson, Brennan, Deane and Dawson JJ. Wayde v NSW Rugby League Ltd [1985] HCA 68

ORDER Appeal dismissed with costs.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

Oct. 17 Mason A.C.J., Wilson, Deane and Dawson JJ.

This is an appeal from a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Street C.J., Kirby P. and Hope J.A.) setting aside a decision of the primary judge (Hodgson J.). That latter decision had restrained the respondent ("the League") from acting on a decision made by its Board of Directors ("the Board") on 3 September 1984 that the number of teams in the Winfield Cup premiership competition in 1985 be limited to twelve and its further decision of the same date that the application of the Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club ("Wests") for entry into that competition be refused. The present appellants, who were the plaintiffs in the proceedings, are members of the League in their capacity as representatives of Wests.

The reasons for judgment of the Court of Appeal contain a description of the history and organization of rugby league football in New South Wales and it is unnecessary for us to do more than sketch events since 1983 so far as they affect Wests.

The League was incorporated on 21 December 1983, taking over the functions of an unincorporated association ("the Association") which had conducted rugby league football competitions in Sydney since 1907. Wests had been a member of the Association since 1907. In 1982 the number of clubs participating in the competition conducted by the Association increased to fourteen, thereby imposing considerable strains on the conduct of the competition. At the same time Wests was experiencing financial difficulty and secured an interest-free loan of $200,000 from the Association. On 26 September 1983 the General Committee of the Association resolved that Wests would not be permitted to participate in the competition in 1984. Another team had been withdrawn from the competition, with the result that without Wests the number of participating clubs would be reduced to twelve. However Wests sued successfully in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court to have the decision set aside. On 22 November 1983, Helsham C.J. in Eq. held that the power conferred by cl. 46(1) of the Association's constitution, namely a power in the General Committee of the Association to "conduct such competitions between teams representing District Clubs as the General Committee may, from time to time, determine ", did not authorize the Committee to exclude any particular team from the competition. Thereafter, on 5 December 1983, a special meeting of the General Committee of the Association passed a resolution that cl. 46(1) of the constitution be amended by inserting the words "all or some of the" following the word "representing" and before the word "District". Although in the course of the debate that preceded the passing of the resolution the Chairman assured the meeting that the resolution was not directed against Wests, the amendment was clearly intended to make good the lack of power exposed by the decision of the Supreme Court. Wests entered teams in the premiership competition in 1984.