"It leaves a sour taste in my mouth," Dudley Redhead Junior Rugby League Football Club's George Hickey said.

"I was so annoyed that someone would pinch something that's devoted to six- and seven-year-old kids."

George said it was a "special little mini-field".

"Everything was made to scale. We put seats there for the parents and grandparents to sit along the fence, close to the game.

"It's all volunteer work. We scrounge around and get grants where we can."

He said the thieves took the posts from one end of the field.

"I made them out of water pipe, so they'd be heavy," he said.

He speculated that the posts were pinched for use in a backyard.