The on-field protest at Apex Oval saw officials forced to call off the final between Dubbo’s Wiradjuri Waratahs and Peak Hill Red Dust, granting both sides a share in the title.

Founder of the knockout, David Peachey said the incident first came to light when Goodooga Lake Angels accused Bourke of ‘player hopping’, claiming they had players from other sides competing for them.

Enngonia then entered the dispute, making the same allegations about the Bourke side.

An official complaint was lodged to the elders of the competition, however both Enngonia and Lake Angels took the matter into their own hands by taking to the field just minutes after the grand final match kicked off.

Peachey said while the matter was a disappointing end to the competition, it was also a good learning curve for the event organisers.

“We want to take away positives from the matter rather than negatives,” Peachey said.

“At least now we will know how to better deal with incidents like this for the future.”

Peachey said organisers would spend the next week building on the events from the carnival to ensure they are better equipped for next year.

He said he looks forward to feedback from the public on the tournament, and said at this stage he was unsure whether Enngonia and Lake Angels would be returning for the competition next year.

The David Peachey Foundation Knockout wrapped up yesterday with some kids drills and activities at Apex Oval.

Peachey said he was pleased with how the weekend was carried out and happy to see Aboriginal players and communities from across the State come together for the event.

This is the third year the knockout has been run in Dubbo and in that time the number of sides competing in both rugby league and netball has more than doubled.

This year 24 rugby league sides registered for the competition, but wet weather saw the cancellation of the netball.

The David Peachey Foundation hopes to build on the success of the tournament to further assist Aboriginal children with sporting and educational scholarships.