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Pirates committee member Daniel Johnson with his children and budding Pirates players Tatum (9), Teina (3) and Kobi (1) have a run around outside the clubrooms in St Kilda yesterday. PHOTO: STEVE HEPBURN

The club dropped out of club ranks in 2017 and was seeking to return next year. But the rest of the metropolitan clubs voted against allowing Pirates back into senior ranks, saying they had to go through the process of winning the premier two grade and then having two senior teams.

Pirates committee member and former club president Daniel Johnson has been leading the drive to get a team back into the premier grade and said yesterday he was very disappointed with the decision.

"When I left the meeting [of all clubs] I was thinking we had a 90% chance of going to make it. Then they were two-faced and after telling me one thing went ahead and voted against it," he said.

"They did not vote for the betterment of rugby. They voted for the betterment of their own clubs."

Johnson said the clubs were scared they would lose players but that is exactly what had happened to Pirates when they lost players and eventually did not have enough to field a team.

He said the club had 15 premier players ready to play for it but that would not now happen.

The premier two grade was weak, he said, and even if Pirates won it, he would have to then assemble a whole new team to play the premier grade.

No player would come to a club if it did not have a premier team.

Getting a premier side on the paddock would be a boost for the club and facilities with the Hancock Park ground hosting Caversham Football Club and then softball in the summer.

Council of Metropolitan Rugby Clubs chairman Paul Dwyer said there was a long discussion by the council about Pirates. The council could see the benefits of getting another side in the grade as it would get rid of the bye.

If a club dropped out, it had two years to get back in but four years was longer and there was no precedent for that length of time.

The club needed to get back into the premier grade through winning the premier two grade. Taieri had done the same thing in 2008, after also winning a promotion-relegation game, and dropping out of the top grade for a few years.

The rules stated teams had to have two senior teams to be able to play in the premier grade. To do that a club had to have upwards of 70 players and there were doubts whether Pirates would be able to do that.

All premier clubs along with Eastern, West Taieri, Pirates and Brighton were part of the vote and a clear majority voted against letting Pirates back in.

Even if Pirates won the premier two grade, the match committee of the council had to be satisfied they would have enough players to field two teams.