Rugby League 9s match day

About 10 minutes. Do it before game day.

1. Create your team

   Open Kickd and sign in. Tap Create Team, then enter the team name, the sport (Rugby League 9s) and the age group off your rego.

   The age group sets your side size and half length for you, so there's nothing to work out.

2. Add your players

   Go to the TEAM tab at the bottom of the screen. Tap + Add Player and enter a name and shirt number. That's your whole roster, and you can add or edit players any week.

   From U10, tick where each player can play under Plays: Wing, Edge or Middle. Centres and the fullback are edges; the halves, dummy half and lock are middles. Auto-fill and rotations use it to put players where they fit. Leave it blank for anywhere.

3. Check the format

   On the same TEAM tab, check the AGE GROUP. It locks after your first match, so fix it now if it's wrong.

   Halves are 9 minutes at every age. Tap a HALF TIME chip for another length (7, 8, 10, 12 or 15), or type anything from 5 to 20 into the custom box for a finals format. If your comp plays seven or eight a side, set it under TEAM SIZE.

   

4. Invite parents and helpers

   On the TEAM tab, tap Share Join Link under INVITE PARENTS/GUARDIANS (INVITE SUPPORTERS on an Opens team) and send it to your team chat. Parents follow the score live on their own phones. The link is for adults only.

   Want a helper to run the clock and log the game? Tap Share PA Link under PERFORMANCE ANALYSTS. They join as your Performance Analyst and run the live screen while you coach.

   Borrowing a player for the day? Tap + Add Guest Player. Guests play and get minutes but stay out of your season stats.

Defaults. Change the half length under HALF TIME and the side under TEAM SIZE: Default, 7, 8 or 9 from U10, and Default, 5, 6 or 7 for the minis.

Until your first match, HOME shows a BEFORE YOUR FIRST GAME checklist. Tap any line to go straight there. Your three free matches include every stat, so you can see what Team Stats adds before you choose a pass.

About 60 seconds on the sideline.

1. Mark who's here

   On the home screen, tap any player who didn't turn up to grey them out. Everyone else is in.

   Type the other team's name under OPPONENT if you like. It shows on the live screen.

2. Set your team

   U10 and up: tap Set Lineup and fill the wings, centres, five-eighth, fullback, halfback, dummy half and lock, or tap Auto-fill to build a fair-share starting nine from who turned up.

   U6 to U9: there are no positions. You can pick who starts on Set Lineup (or tap Auto-fill), or skip it, and Kickd rotates to share game time.

   

3. Tap Start Game

   The clock runs two halves at every age, at the length you set on the TEAM tab.

   From U10, if your starting nine isn't set, Start Game opens the lineup first. It only asks for as many players as turned up.

The live screen.

1. Log the tries

   Tap your score cell and pick Try +4 or Bonus Zone Try +5, then tap the scorer.

   From U10, Kickd then asks GOAL or MISSED for the conversion. The try scorer takes the drop kick, so there is nobody to pick. Tap Cancel only if the kick was never taken.

   On a tablet, tap the try in the stats column beside the field, then the scorer.

   

2. Log theirs

   Tap their score cell and pick Try +4, Bonus Zone Try +5, Conversion +2 or Field Goal +1. It adds straight away.

3. Roll the subs

   Two taps: the player coming off, then the player going on. Interchange is unlimited and goes through the bench side. Every swap updates everyone's minutes.

4. Keep it fair

   Every player shows their minutes, on the field and on the bench. Anyone getting too much game time turns amber.

5. If a player can't go on

   Long-press them and choose Mark Unavailable. Kickd takes them off, and from U10 you tap a bench player to fill the spot. For a no-show, choose Not Here - Mark Absent. It clears their minutes.

6. Fix a mistake

   On a phone, tap the amber Undo bar above the field. It names the last thing you logged, yours or theirs, and one tap takes it back. Tap again to step back further.

   On a tablet, tap Undo in the match log. Or say "undo".

   

There is no penalty goal in 9s. Field Goal sits on your score cell from U10 for a golden-point final.

Match stats, U13 and up

Match stats come with Team Stats: try assists, line breaks, kicks, handovers, tackles, missed tackles, intercepts, errors and penalties conceded. The stats screen counts tries and bonus zone tries per player.

On Team Stats, U10 to U12 teams can switch them on with EXTENDED STATS on the TEAM tab. Voice calls work for them too.

On a phone, tap the round stats button at the bottom left, pick a stat, then tap the player. On a tablet, pick the stat in the column beside the field.

On a phone, Tackle stays armed after each tap, so you can log tackler after tackler. Tap the stats button to stop.

Team Stats, U13 and up, or U10 to U12 with EXTENDED STATS.

A 9s set is four tackles. Kickd keeps a set log for both teams: who has the ball, how each set ended, and each side's completion %.

1. Watch the banner

   POSSESSION sits above the field with each team's completion %. Log what ends a set and the ball moves for you. Tap US or THEM if it ever needs correcting.

   

2. Log how your sets end

   A try ends the set by itself. For the rest, open the stats button: Kick, Error or Penalty Conceded, then tap the player. Handover logs straight away: tackled on the fourth with no kick.

3. Log how theirs end

   Tap their score cell. Under NON-SCORING, pick Kick (complete), Handover, Error or Penalty (we win it). Each one logs at once, and their try ends their set by itself.

   

4. Read it after the game

   Half time at a tournament is two minutes, so read the set log on the results screen: completion % for both teams, then Set Breakdown for every set, tackle by tackle. The break card shows the same when there is time.

   

On at every age.

Rotation times are up to you: any interval from 2 to 15 minutes, to suit your draw and your bench. Nine on the field, up to 15 in the team and 9-minute halves add up to a lot of changes in a short game.

Kickd runs the alarm and lines up each swap: the player with the most minutes comes off, and the player who has waited longest on the bench goes on.

• Set how often under ROTATION on the TEAM tab. When it's time, Kickd buzzes and ROTATION TIME! shows who's coming off and going on.
• Rotate Now makes every swap in one tap, or tap Dismiss and play on.
• Big bench? Set SUBS PER ROTATION on the TEAM tab to swap a few players at a time instead of a full line change.
• From U10, Kickd prefers a bench player ticked for that spot (Wing, Edge or Middle).
• If nobody on the bench fits, the next player waiting goes on anyway, with an amber warning mark.
• You're in charge. Drag the GOING ON list to change who's next, or tap a name under COMING OFF and pick someone else on the field. Or ignore the card and sub whenever you like.
• Junior matches (U6 to U12) get a Fairness % plus a season chart on the stats screen.

Optional, at every age. Set it up once on the TEAM tab.

Some coaches give every player a partner. When one comes off, their partner goes on in that spot, and they swap back at the next rotation. Kickd runs it for you.

1. Pair them

   On the TEAM tab, go to PARTNERS. Tap two players to pair them. Tap a player, then a pair, to make a group of three. Tap ✕ to split a group.

   Pairs stay set from week to week. Anyone without a partner rotates the normal way.

2. Pick who starts

   On Set Lineup, the bench shows each pair together under PARTNERS · first listed starts. Auto-fill starts one of each pair, and two of a group of three.

   Next week the other one starts. On a tournament day, each game starts the one who rested the game before.

3. At rotation time

   ROTATION TIME! brings each partner on for the player coming off and marks the swap ↔ PARTNER. In a group of three, two play and one rests, and one comes in as one goes out each rotation.

4. If a partner can't play on

   Long-press them and choose Mark Unavailable or Not Here - Mark Absent. Kickd asks which pair to put their partner with for the rest of the game, and that pair becomes a group of three. Or tap Rotate the normal way.

   If one of a group of three goes off, the other two carry on as a pair. Next week starts from your pairs on the TEAM tab.

Nine a side. A pair shares one spot and a group of three shares two. A tournament team of 15 is three pairs and three groups of three.

Stoppages, early whistles, late arrivals.

• Tap Pause for a long stoppage and Resume to go again. On a phone it sits under the field. On a tablet it's the pause button in the top bar.
• The clock stops itself at each break. To end a period early, tap Finish Half (or Finish Q1 and so on for quarters) and confirm.
• At the break, make any changes, then tap Start 2nd Half (Start Q2 and so on for quarters).
• Clock beat the whistle? On the break screen, tap Half not finished, keep playing (Quarter for quarters). Keep logging as normal, nothing spills into the next period, then tap End 1st Half when play stops. Full time has the same button.
• You can lock your phone. The clock keeps running and alerts still come through. If play was stopped while you were away, tap Rewind, play was stopped when you come back.
• Someone turns up late? Tap + Add to Game next to their name under Absent on the live screen.
• The clock counts down each period. Prefer it counting up? Change MATCH CLOCK on the TEAM tab.

No rush at the huddle.

End the game and pick your player

1. At full time, tap End Game at the top of the screen. The match ends straight away.

2. Pick your Player of the Match on the results screen when you've got a moment. You've got an hour after the whistle, and Kickd sends a reminder if you haven't picked.

Who votes, and when

• Juniors (U6 to U12): parents vote Players' Player on their child's behalf, for an hour after full time. It's on by default, under PLAYERS' PLAYER on the TEAM tab.
• Every vote builds the season Players' Player leaderboard. Parents never see the tally.
• Seniors (U13 to Opens): turn on PLAYER VOTING on the TEAM tab and players vote after each match. Opens players join with your Player Code (TEAM tab). U13 to U18 players need a parent to switch on their login under PLAYER LOGINS on the parent's TEAM tab.

After the game

• Tap Share result to the team on the results screen to send the score to your group chat.
• Every match is saved on the STATS tab under HISTORY. Tap one for the full match.
• On Team Stats, tap Share PDF there to send the match report to your club or parents.
• Ran a test game by mistake? The head coach can remove it with Delete Match.

Dead spots, country grounds, carnival days.

• The whole match runs on your device. The clock, the lineup, scores, stats and subs don't need the internet.
• Finished games wait on the device and save to your season as soon as reception returns.
• Parents' live view needs signal. Their screens catch up once they're connected again.
• Voice works with no signal too, once the voice pack is on your phone. Download it at home on Wi-Fi: on the TEAM tab, tap Download in the KICKD CALLOUT row (about 68 MB).

Kickd Callout comes with every pass, at every age.

1. Pick your mic

   On HOME, tap Bluetooth headset or Phone mic (Tablet mic on a tablet). A headset with a boom mic holds up in crowd noise. The phone or tablet mic suits training or a quiet ground, and you tap the mic button each time you want it to listen.

   

2. Arm the mic

   If you picked a mic on HOME, it arms itself at the start of play. Otherwise tap the mic button in the top bar. Red means it's logging what it hears, and the bar shows what it heard and what it logged.

3. Mute when you step away

   Tap the mic again to mute for sideline chats or stoppages. On the phone or tablet mic, press and hold to mute. Nothing logs while it's muted. The mic stays armed through the break and switches off at full time.

Which headset

A Bluetooth headset keeps you hands-free, with your eyes on the game, so one person can log the whole match by voice. Most Bluetooth headsets work, and coaches have even used smart glasses, but results vary with noise cancelling. The Shokz OpenComm 2 boom mic is the best tested on a noisy sideline.

Mix taps and voice freely. Undo fixes either.

Speech recognition runs on your device. Your audio is never recorded, stored or sent anywhere.