No, As it was deliberately passed - As opposed to a Knock on which is an non-deliberate action so the Forward pass rule doesn't apply
In that instance it is relative to the ground

PS

Whether it was or wasn't a forward pass is a subjective opinion.
BUT the number of people who constantly refuse to acknowledge the FACT that any player running forward as in Sunday's game can pass a ball backwards in relation to the player in support yet the ball will travel forward in relation to the ground is astonishing.

It's pure physics
Try chucking a ball out of a moving car and expect the ball to go backwards from where you threw it!

I have no axe to grind on either side of this but ThePrinter and Rhinoshaund III are perfectly correct on the Theory behind this and the laws of the game

God knows what we would do if the rule changed to the ball having to go backwards in relation to the ground - Any winger and support player 2 on 1 with a FB for example would almost have to Stop running before passing!!!
That would be fun!!!

Thats the exact distance if someone throws a flat pass whilst running at 10 miles per hour and stops running on release of the ball. At a velocity of 10 miles per hour the ball travels forward at 5 metres per second if the ball is caught or falls to the floor in one second its gone forward 5 metres.

As per the videos,try at sprinting speed throwing the ball about 10 feet high behind your head and stop dead the ball would land in front of you by quite a few metres.

Refs will always try and look at the hand/arm position on release of the ball but if another player his blocking his view then its all guesswork.

Having just seen the try in question on video for the first time (view from the Kop wasn't the clearest) I can't understand how this is even being discussed. It's clearly a legitimate pass, other than going to ground it's a text book rugby pass, he so clearly throws it backwards I'm embarrassed for anyone claiming otherwise.

There are plenty of forward passes in any game, mostly from dummy half, but picking this one out and moaning about it shows a complete lack of understanding of the laws of both Rugby League and physics.

Moot point as it leaves the Leeds players hands forward, travels forward in the air and bounces forward(although bouncing forward isn't supposed to be relevant)

Save your embarrassment....


A couple of feet is momentum, but the fact the ball bounces a meter in front of it's intended recipient, who was travelling at the same speed as the passer and was 2 Meters behind him when the ball was passed, points to this being a forward pass, pure and simple.

I get the science of the momentum rule BTW......but as the images grabbed a second apart show, the ball was passed forwards.....not intentionally BTW, it was just a very bad pass

So Watkins was 2 metres behind at the start of the pass and the ball was only 1m ahead of him when it hits the floor actually goes to show the pass was fine as the gap has closed. Also to say they were travelling at the same speed is very generous bordering on laughable if you actually watch how painful it is to see Watkins try and keep up. Alex Sutcliffe was charging down the line, Watkins as has been the case since his injury was struggling to keep up. Had Myler, Dwyer, Walker or even Watkins of old had been their instead they probably catch it on the full.