The RFL has today confirmed that a series of rule changes which have been trialled during recent pre-season friendlies will be implemented during the 2013 Championships and Super League seasons, which kick-off next week.

The rule changes were implemented in all pre-season friendly games after being approved by the RFL Council last year following proposals from the RFL’s Laws Committee, a body comprising past and present players, coaches and administrators that was formed in 2012.

The most notable change will see new interpretations to the advantage rule in which a team gaining possession from a forward pass or knock on will only be deemed to have taken their advantage if they keep possession until the next tackle is complete.

If possession is lost before the tackle is completed, the referee will go back to the point of the original infringement and award a scrum against the team that infringed first. The referee will rule that the team in possession has not had an advantage if they are tackled close to their own goal-line.

Other notable changes will see amendments to the current marker tackle rulings, changes to the ball-in-touch, touch-in-goal and dead-in-goal rulings.

RFL Director of Standards and Licensing Blake Solly said: “Rugby League is proud of its position as a fast paced and entertaining sport and we have implemented these changes to help ensure that we enhance that reputation.

“The new rules were successfully trialled during pre-season games and we are confident that they will help maintain the game’s fast paced nature.

“We will continue to analyse the rules throughout the season and discuss ways in which we can improve the current system to make the game the most entertaining spectacle it can be.”

The law changes in full are as follows:

Ball in touch or touch in-goal or dead in-goal (Section 9)

A player is deemed to be in touch if any part of his body touches the touchline or anything outside of the playing field. Similarly, a player is deemed to be touch in-goal or dead in-goal if any part of his body touches the touch in-goal or dead-ball line or anything outside the field of play in those areas. If a player who is in touch, touch in-goal or dead in-goal touches a moving ball then the team who kicked the ball or knocked on are responsible for the ball going out of play. However, if the ball is stationary in the field of play and is then touched by a player who is in touch, touch in-goal or dead in-goal then that player is responsible for the ball going dead.

Scrum on 20m line

Other than as outlined above, the game is restarted after the ball has gone into touch by forming a scrum 20 metres infield opposite the point of entry into touch but not nearer than ten (10) meters to the goal-line.
In all aspects of general play, a player who does not deliberately play at the ball (e.g. ricochet or rebound) will not be disadvantaged by a consequent restart of play when the ball has gone dead or into touch.

Penalties – where taken

A penalty kick resulting from an offence at the kick off shall be taken from the centre of the halfway line. Any penalty kick arising from the restarting of play from an optional kick on the 20m line shall be taken where the offence takes place. Any penalty kick arising from any other 20-metre restart shall be taken from the centre of the 20m line. A penalty kick resulting from any offence at the drop out from between the posts shall be taken from the centre of the line drawn parallel to and 10 metres from the goal line.

Changes to Interpretations

Late challenge on the kicker

A late challenge on the kicker will no longer result in an automatic sin bin for the player who tackled late. The referee will still have the option to penalise, sin bin or dismiss the player if he sees it as appropriate.

Calling held if a player is dragged

The referee will call held if a player is being dragged when there is more than one tackler involved. The referee will call held once he sees one of the tacklers (where there is more than one tackler involved in the tackle) take up a position where he is holding up the player and moving backwards towards the touchline or his own in goal area. If the player continues to drag after “held” has been called he will be penalised.

Referee signal for team caution

The referee no longer needs to inform the captain verbally that his team has been placed on a caution. In order to keep the game moving, the referee will inform the team and spectators that a team has been placed on caution for a period of time by pointing at that team and circling his other arm in front of him.

Quick 20-metre restart

A team can take advantage of a quick 20m restart if the player collecting the ball after it has gone or been made dead in the in goal area runs back to the centre of the 20m line while retaining possession of the ball and takes the restart himself. In addition, all players from the team taking the 20m restart must be back inside the 20-metre area, the referee must be back on the 20m line and the restart must be taken at the centre of the 20m line. A mark will be placed on the centre of the 20m line as an indication to the players.

Advantage

If a team gains possession from a forward pass or knock on then they will only be deemed to have taken their advantage if they keep possession until the next tackle is complete. If possession is lost before the tackle is complete then the referee will go back to the point of the original infringement and award a scrum against the team that infringed first. The referee will rule that the team in possession has not had an advantage if they are tackled close to their own goal line. Foul play by the team attempting to take the advantage will be penalised at the point where the foul play occurs.

Markers not square when the ball is played

Where there is a quick play the ball and a marker(s) does not have time to get in position, he can be played onside by getting into the position he should have been in at marker. Once he has got to that position he can make a tackle. The referee should penalise players who get into a marker position but choose to leave early before the ball has been played.

So they trialed three major rule changes (advantage, restart from kick going dead in goal and charge down tackle continuation) and only adopted the worst one!

Get ready for 20 bombs a game!

So if I read that right.
Team A knock on 3 meters from Team B's line and team B pick the ball up.
Team B then run up field and then knock on themselves in the act of scoring without a tackle being made and they still get a scrumdown 3 meters from their own line.
I can see that going well!!

Unless these are to be ratified into the International Rules it seems madness to make these changes in the run up to the World Cup.

Exactly what I was thinking!

I've seen very similar happen previously, penalty given near the 10 after making 80metres upfield...

Wouldn't a knock on (if not on the last) be taken at the 10 metre line?

I'm glad about this, it means the referees'll have to use a bit of common sense rather than just flashing yellow cards all over the show.

Does seem a bit daft, they need to get there priorities right like raising the standard of referees first.

I was originally told the rule would be that once the ball was passed from the player picking it up to a team mate that advantage would be iver. Ie - team a knock on and player 1 picks up for team b. He has the advantage until he passes to player 2. Should player 2 knock on then team a get the feed at the scrum.

Obviously they've tweaked that slightly but the length of the advantage is still an issue I think. If team b go 80 yards and lose possession in the act of scoring, then the video ref decision if it was called for would be scrum defence as team b were in their own halfwhen tbe incident occured (or so I was told by a referee).

I'm glad that they have implemented the quick 20m tap rule. I suggested this be adopted after I had seen it working well in the NRL last season.
It won't have quite the same effect over here though I imagine, because they will still have to wait for our referees to get back in position, whereas in Aus the second ref will already be there waiting for play to restart.

I can also see that rule about markers not being square causing some trouble, yet another rule open to interpretation from the refs as to whether a player ever properly gets himself square. At least before the ref only had to look how they were positioned when the ball was played, but now they'll need to keep watching the markers to see if they ever get square [iafter[/i the ball is played and play continues.

What the change to the marker rules means is that if the tackled player moves one step sideways off the mark, the markers still have chance to get in the game rather than being out of it until the dummy half makes a cheap ten metres.

Sound like reasonable changes to me

it is pretty obvious in this situation that a common sense approach would need to be applied


therefore we are stuffed

What happens if Team A knock on, Team B pick the ball up and their player is subsequently abducted by aliens?

It's about as likely to happen as the other scenario being used to decry the change...

It is a joke, once you go past the advantage line that should be advantage over. It will basically give the attacking team a free play where they can try anything to score safe in the knowledge that they will get the ball back.

The sooner the RLIF makes rule changes, and the game across the world is standardised, the better. It is a complete joke that the English game and the NRL change the rules to suit themselves.

Who is decrying it?
I was taking it to a possible outcome with the obvious outroar that would follow from some.
Also a team knocking on and the opposition picking up and going full length is hardly unheard of and a player knocking on in the act of scoring is hardly unheard of either.

Watched Wakefield v Featherstone friendly and the advantage rule led to flinging the ball along the line with a hit and hope kick downfield. Then after the players had run the length of the pitch they had to return to form the scrum. To be honest it made the game look amateur.

Just my opinion, but i did quite like the other rules implemented in trial games which seem to have been overlooked.

I saw the new advantage rule in play today.

Scorpions knock on about 10 metres out. Wigan kids gather and rather than run just hoof a big angled kick to the winger.

Scorpions managed to get back and regather but the ref calls it back and it's a Wigan head and feed at the scrum where the original knock on took place. I think many a dozing winger/full back will be caught out by this as if the attacking winger (Wigan in this case) wins the race to the ball then it is a try most of the time but it is risk free as if the defence gathers they get possession back in the form of put in at the scrum anyway.

I'm not in a place to say whether it is a change for the better but it got people thinking that's for sure.

Having thought about it further I think it will see many sides simply view the advantage rule as a chance to punt through trying to expose space behind the team that have just knocked on no matter where they are on the field.

It is a free play as opposed to advantage though and I think it figures that some measure of what advantage is should be introduced. Once the player crosses the gain line being the most common sense approach.

Another idea would be to stop messing about with a game that wasn't broken from the off.

The advantage rule could encourage the chip over as if they fail to regather nothing is lost and they are back to scrum with feed.
Whereas in recent reasons it has been deemed to risky as completing sets and gaining ground have been the priority.

Looking at how teams are approaching it perhaps not!

In our first game against Dewsbury it was obvious the referee (Thomason) had not received this memo as he applied neither the advantage or dragging rules against either team