The NHRU said in a statement that: “The board has resolved that the club suspension element of the sanction imposed by the NHRU, in the interests of procedural fairness, be suspended until the matter can be heard at a judiciary hearing to be scheduled as soon as practicable.

“Therefore, the full round four of premier rugby will be played this weekend.”

The Maitland Blacks are appealing against a ban on playing this Saturday, imposed by the Newcastle Hunter Rugby Union for fielding an unregistered player last weekend.

“We have been denied the principal of natural justice,” Blacks president Ben Emmett said.

Mr Emmett said the club would consider legal action if the ban, on all the club’s senior teams, stayed intact.

“Our main focus now is to play on Saturday. But we will certainly consider legal recourse if the ban proceeds.

“It’s now been revealed nine out of the 10 clubs have been sanctioned for unregistered players.

“We consider there is a systemic problem with the registration process through RugbyLink.” 

NHRU board president Paul Coles confirmed the NHRU had received correspondence from the Maitland Blacks pointing out administrative difficulties they had with the registration process.

“We are investigating the basis of their correspondence. We will be chasing up with the Australian Rugby Union and its RugbyLink database operation on the issues raised by Maitland,” Mr Coles said.

Mr Emmett said no club in rugby was as aware as the Blacks about the need to have players registered and insured after Dom Punch’s injury last year.

The popular Blacks player suffered spinal injuries when a scrum collapsed in last year’s second grade grand final.

The Blacks, Merewether-Carlton and divisional club Singleton Army have all been banned from playing this weekend for fielding unregistered players.

Mr Emmett said the first anyone at the club heard of the NHRU’s action was when a story appeared on a Fairfax Media website.

He said a message was left by a reporter on Wednesday evening, but he didn’t receive it until Thursday morning.

“We received no notification from the NHRU,” he said.

Fairfax Media reported Maitland, Merewether-Carlton and Singleton Army were notified on Wednesday morning they had fielded unregistered players on Saturday, then later sent confirmation they were suspended for this weekend’s round.

The sanctions follow a written warning to clubs from NHRU general manager Andy Fairfull on April 21 that flagged the organisation's commitment to ensuring all players were registered.