Disciplinary Sanctions

The standard disciplinary sanction in rugby league is the penalty. The referee may also award a penalty try.

In addition to a penalty, the referee may issue temporary expulsions of 10 minutes (the player is said to be in the Sin Bin) or permanent expulsions (sending-offs). In Britain, the referee signals a sin-binning by showing the player a yellow card and a sending-off with a red card. In Australia, the referee raises both arms straight out with fingers spread (to indicate '10 minutes') for a temporary expulsion and simply points sent-off players from the field of play.

If a team that has been penalised commits a further offence (often dissent aginst the referee's decision), the referee may advance the position of the penalty 10m towards the offending team's goal line, and may also sin bin or send off the offending player(s).