During a meeting held on 12 June 1906 at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, the members of the Northern Union agreed to adopt two rule changes that would distinguish the sport thereafter. The Northern Union, motivated by the need to appeal to spectators to improve the game's finances and ensure its survival, and inspired by the attacking style of rugby displayed by the New Zealand rugby union team during their 1905 tour of Britain, revisited two areas of the game that were the focus of much debate: the optimum number of players per team and how play should continue once a tackle had been completed.
The play-the-ball rule was introduced. Previously after each tackle had been completed or a player had been "held" the rules mandated that a scrum be ordered by the referee. These scrums had taken up a significant portion of game time and it was felt that the ball was hidden from spectators too often as a result, diminishing the game's entertainment value.
The Northern Union reduced the number of players on a team from fifteen to thirteen following approval by the clubs of a proposal by Warrington. In New Zealand, a newspaper column in The Truth describing the sport noted the intention, "to make the game brighter from a spectacular view-point".
If a ball was kicked out of playon the full, a scrum back where it had been kicked from would now be formed.
Season summary
won their second Championship in this season and Warrington their second Challenge Cup in three years. This season also saw the introduction of the Championship Play-offs at the end of the season. Similar to the current Grand Final system in today's Super League, it involved the top four clubs playing in two semi finals and then a final with the winners being declared champions. This system was used until 1961-62. Liverpool City joined, but Brighouse Rangers, Castleford, Millom, Morecambe, and Normanton withdrew, reducing the competition to 27 teams. Pontefract resigned from the league and folded after 8 matches, and their record was expunged. Liverpool City became the first of only six teams to record no wins in a league season. Three of the others were in wartime leagues. Bradford had been playing at the Park Avenue ground until this year. A decision by the Park Avenue Directors to form a professional association football club forced Bradford rugby club to reform and relocate at Greenfield Stadium later adding "Northern" to their name. There was no county league competition this season. Broughton Rangers beat Warrington 15–6 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Bradford F.C. beat Hull Kingston Rovers 8–5 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
