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The ten-team league is split into two conferences with all the action kicking off on the weekend of June 7th.
The regular season wraps up on August 2nd and the first round of the playoffs will take place a week later on August 9th. Six teams will advance to the postseason with the seedings going according to points earned during the regular season.
The two sides that finish on top of the two conferences will earn a bye in the quarterfinals, while the lowest seeds of the other four qualifiers will play the higher seeds. The semifinals will be played the week after with the Grand Final to be played on Saturday, August 23rd.
The venue for the championship game has yet to be determined, although Jacksonville, FL, would be a favored host city given the excellent job the home town Axemen did in hosting last year’s Grand Final, as well as the hugely successful Australia Day Challenge match in January between Leeds Rhinos and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
One of the highlights of the regular season, as it has been in past years, will be the ‘War at the Shore’ on the weekend of July 26th. That’s when all ten teams convene on the Jersey Shore for five consecutive games at the one venue.
The scoring system will see teams earning four points for a win, two points for a tie, one point for keeping the losing margin to six points or less, and one point for scoring four tries in a game.
Conferences:
Connecticut Wildcats, CT Aston DSC Bulls, PA
Northern Raiders, NY Philadelphia Fight, PA
New York Knights, NY Bucks County Sharks, PA
Fairfax Eagles, VA New Haven Warriors, CT
Washington DC Slayers Jacksonville Axemen, FL