The better first start would be to re-eductate referrees in the rules of the game, instead of incorrect interpretations. They don't work to the rules at all, and the game has been completely ruined as a result.

The biggest start they could make over all, and they did it in the NRL is make them play the bloody ball properly. Literally nobody in our competition anymore actually play the ball at all. In a hell of a lot of cases, they don't even mimick the foot movement, but just simply roll it backwards. This is unacceptable, and part of the reason so much wrestling goes on at the play the ball.

To be honest I think the lack of entertainment, if it exists, would be down do the lack of real quality players than anything else.

Reducing interchanges might be beneficial on a number of levels.

I think it's important not to over-complicate rules, or introduce too much interpretation to referees who are already struggling it seems to me. For example, if a defending team is loading more than two players into a tackle, it's up to the attacking team to play quickly at the edges and keep them honest IMO.
The ruck is a mess though - but that's not a new thing.

:1kc5iqo9

Completely agree with this, no more "interpretations" or pre-season rule negotiations with clubs and coaches, let's just play to the rules10. The play-the-ball shall operate as follows.

Release tackled player immediately (a) The tackled player shall be immediately released and shall not be touched until the ball is in play.

Regain feet (b) The tackled player shall without delay regain his feet where he was tackled, lift the ball clear of the ground, face his opponent’s goal line and drop or place the ball on the ground in front of his foremost foot.

Player marking (c) One opponent may take up the position immediately opposite the tackled player.

(d) The tackled player may not play the ball before the players effecting the tackle have had time to clear the ruck.

Play with foot (e) When the ball touches the ground it must be heeled (i.e. backwards) by the tackled player. The ball must not be kicked or heeled by the player marking him. The ball is in play when it has been played backward.



With regards to (d) it really annoys me to see a defender knelt just pushing down on a tackled player while looking at the referee waiting to be told to release the attacker.

Looks like Golding playing second hooker this week.

Johnson, Trout, Mcclelland all playing for Fev in midweek cup match. So all overlooked again. Interestingly Albert also on dual reg.

Which is easier said than done. We can align all the rules easily but what happens when the NRL want to change a rule?

The game creates an international committee that agrees the rules. It's nothing new

And what if the NRL doesn’t agree with the formation of an international committee to set its rules?

There’s no such thing as “The Game”. There’s the NRL, The RFL and that’s about it. There isn’t the diversity of power in the game like in football for a FIFA or UEFA style body with enough power to override the objections of one side.

If the NRL doesn’t agree to it it doesn’t happen.

I’ve said this before but I wouldn’t be opposed to the NRL taking over the game over here. Their resources far outstrips the RFL, we would have a unified rule set, judiciary process etc. It doesn’t need to be us v them (aside from on the field).

I'm with Gotcha... again. The officials have to start applying the rules. As it stands the only players that try to play the ball end up playing it forward by accident and getting penalised. Probably why they roll it with their hand. Seeing as refs are currently letting them get away with it. Also whilst after a break when 2 on 1 against the full back I've seen a lot of final passes that have been forwards and not getting pulled back. I don't know if this is due to the officials not keeping up with play or just the BS momentum rule.

If you're talking rule changes, please get rid of the attackers not onside having to give the catcher 10 metres, because it lets people off with spilling the ball, because of a player that was nowhere near them.

100% this.

Its not actual rule changes that have done the damage, but the never ending changing "interpretations" aka ill thought-out tinkering. The leaders of the game should establish the set of rules they want and implement them regardless of the short term input of clubs and coaches.

The momentum rule may be incorrectly named but isn’t BS. Without it you would have an entirely different game and teams would be taking it in turns to hand over possession so they weren’t pushed back in attack or it would turn attack’s to simple 1 out plays.

As for offside players within 10m of the catcher. How can they be within 10m and be nowhere near the catcher?

These are entirely different issues to making players play the ball properly which naturally slows the play the ball and so eliminates some of the need for defensive wrestle.

I don't know. Maybe if I did I'd be doing more than just offering opinion on here. At the end of the day it's a joke to have a 'professional' sport where the rules differ depending in which way the wind blows. I do know the Aussies find it hard to look past their own coastline but surely with the right people holding the meetings, they can make people realise the state of the game and what needs to be done.

I never said they weren't entirely different issues.

a) It's hard enough for a full back to achieve anything when 1 v 2, without blatant forward passes like Fax's penultimate try v Dulls.

b) If a chaser is 9m away from full back, he isn't in their eye line or the reason they dropped it, Therefore IMO it should be a knock on.

I don’t see it as a joke, it’s simply where the sport is at. Until we develop more nations that can compete with Australia or SL improves its on and off field strength then the Aussies are going to call the shots.
The only alternative is for us to accept whatever rule changes they bring in regardless of whether they’re suitable or not.
Or we have slightly different rules. I don’t see it as an issue at all. It’s not like one set of rules has eliminated forward passes or offside or anything. They’re very minor differences.
Most sports also have slight differences in rules from league to league or internationals. Such as the multi-ball system or VAR in football along with different rules to rank teams level on points between leagues and European/International comps.

It is hard for a full back on a 2 v 1. Rightly so. He should try and buy time to allow his team mates to get back and help out. That’s not the same as getting rid of the momentum rule which would massively affect the attacking side of the game.

Really? A player 9m away isn’t in their eyeline? At any point? It’s irrelevant whether the full back drops it or not. That player is offside and should be penalised. If the offside player takes himself out of play or is clearly backing off he won’t be penalised. But if he’s still moving forward he should be penalised the same as defenders setting off to early from the defensive line. The knock on is irrelevant.

Walker
Briscoe Newman Hurrell Handley
Sutcliffe Myler
Seumanufagai Dwyer Singleton
Ferres Watkins
Merrin

Oledzki Cuthbertson Smith Sutcliffe / Donaldson / Holroyd

That obviously depends on the fitness of Ferres, Cuthbertson, Walker and Holroyd.

If Watkins is behind Newman as a centre why would you pick him in the forwards? He isn't a second row at all. It might not be a bad thing for him to have a longer break to try to work on basic fitness, particularly speed. If we're down to that I really don't see why we wouldn't pick one of our Academy players ahead of him.

Watkins has played 2nd row for a while now.

A chaser could easily be at an 80 degree angle and not seen by the recipient. Especially seeing as the guy will have his eyes on the ball.

An error has been forced and they've gotten away with it on a technicality.

With regards to these final 2 v 1 passes for tries, I've seen loads that have been forwards (nowhere near even flat). Maybe the refs aren't deeming them to be the momentum rule. Maybe they're just not keeping up with play. If so, they need help from merry flag wavers.

This with Golding in at 17 as back up hooker.

Watkins may have played second row. So has Sutcliffe. Playing there is not the same as being any good at it.

I hope Hurrell is fully fit again for this one. We might still lose but at least we’ll get some entertainment.

We should be desperate in every game until we’re clear of relegation, it’s no good relaxing now London are dead bottom. We could still easily get sucked back into the dogfight here.

But the error is irrelevant. The player is offside. Are you saying a penalty should only be given if there is no knock-on? That would seem a bizarre rule. The player is offside, if he’s still moving forward toward the play he should be penalised, same as in any other situation.

I really haven’t seen that many that are forwards. They might have been caught in front of where they were passed but then that’s usually because in a 2 v 1 the passer often is travelling at speed and so isn’t a forward pass.

One problem with forward passes is how flat supporting players run nowadays. How often do wingers run almost parallel with a centre who's made a break? It makes any kind of pass very high risk, especially as the player with the ball is often at full pace themselves.