An unusual rule in League...

[Knight87]

Ok, I was watching a replay of the '94 Grand Final between Canterbury and Canberra today, and there is an unusual rule that sorta caught my attention. Numerous times throughout the game, when a player was being tackled, the player with the ball quickly put the ball on the ground (as he was getting to his feet), tapped it with his foot and then ran (instead of playing the ball with his leg to the dummy-half). I didnt think that was allowed at all.

 

[Red Bear]

that rule was changed ages ago (probly after that season im not exactly sure when). Although i think its a decent rule

 

[Knight87]

so, what was the rule exactly? (was it if someone was still holding you whilst you were playing the ball, you could just put it on the ground and do a quick tap)? And when was this rule outphased? Any of you devout league fans, your help is appreciated

 

[rabbs]

If there was no marker you could tap the ball forward and play on.

 

[Timmah]

It was all dependant on whether there was a marker. Now there's almost always a marker so the rule became useless.

Either way, any chance you can just compile all your inane ramblings into one "J T's questions or something?

 

[Geohood]

I liked a try Fittler scored when he was tackled a metre before the tryline, got up, tapped it forward over the tryline to dive and score.

 

[S.S.T.I.D]

Mmmmm, I remember a rule where you could call a mark, take the ball on the full and take a shot at goal. When...ahh...did they get rid of that one?

 

[Kurt Angle]

It was a rule taken out by Super League, and agreed to be removed when the two comps joined back together again.

 

[Nuke]

The tap rule that you ask about I'm pretty sure they got rid of that before the 1996 season. Like Rabbs said, you could only do it if there were no markers in front of you. I recall a few instances where someone would do it because the marker wasn't square and sometimes the ref blew a penalty against him (because he thought the marker WAS square), and other times it was play on. I'm guessing they got rid of that rule to eliminate any grey areas in that part of our game.

I remember in one Knights game in 1997 Andrew Johns doing it (temporarily forgetting the rule no longer allowed such a thing)!

I used to like the rule where the marker could strike for the ball in a play-the-ball (hence the need for a 2nd marker - in case the first marker struck at the ball and effectively played-the-ball himself). I'd like to see that rule still around actually. I don't know why that one went the way of the do-do ...

 

[Kurt Angle]

The tap rule that you ask about I'm pretty sure they got rid of that before the 1996 season. Like Rabbs said, you could only do it if there were no markers in front of you. I recall a few instances where someone would do it because the marker wasn't square and sometimes the ref blew a penalty against him (because he thought the marker WAS square), and other times it was play on. I'm guessing they got rid of that rule to eliminate any grey areas in that part of our game.

I remember in one Knights game in 1997 Andrew Johns doing it (temporarily forgetting the rule no longer allowed such a thing)!

You sure? I thought it was a SL thing, and was still in the ARL comp in 1997?

I used to like the rule where the marker could strike for the ball in a play-the-ball (hence the need for a 2nd marker - in case the first marker struck at the ball and effectively played-the-ball himself). I'd like to see that rule still around actually. I don't know why that one went the way of the do-do ...

As I stated in the other thread, this is definately a SL rule that was introduced into the merged comp in 1998.

It was Bill Harrigans baby.

 

[Apey]

You sure? I thought it was a SL thing, and was still in the ARL comp in 1997?



As I stated in the other thread, this is definately a SL rule that was introduced into the merged comp in 1998.

It was Bill Harrigans baby.

Kurt, look at the brackets after it It says "forgetting it was no longer a rule"

 

[God-King Dean]

Either way, any chance you can just compile all your inane ramblings into one "J T's questions or something?

Get a life.

 

[The Engineers Room]

The striking in the play the ball and playing it forward was the same rule. Basically once a tackle was made the area between the tackled player and the marker was called the ruck and the ball was placed down and couldn't be picked up again until it cleared the ruck.
If there is no marker then no ruck so the player could simply tap it ahead before picking it up.

 

[Kurt Angle]

Kurt, look at the brackets after it It says "forgetting it was no longer a rule"

That sentence implies that the rules was illegal, but the referee temporary forgot to enforce it.

I'm saying I believe the rule was still in effect in the 1997 ARL competition, it was only in the SL comp in 1997 that it was illegal.

 

[Quidgybo]

Like Rabbs said, you could only do it if there were no markers in front of you.

Not entirely true. You could always play it forward, even with a marker. In fact you could play it in any direction. The key part of the rule was neither you or the marker could pick the ball up in the ruck, it had to clear the ruck before it was handled. If there was no marker then you could just tap it with your foot and pick it up again because effectively there was no ruck to clear. But if there was a marker then you could still kick it forward as long as you didn't pick it up until it cleared the ruck which basically meant you had to kick it past the marker/s. The most common situation where this occurred was when playing the ball close to your opponents goal line. Rather than playing it back you'd just kick it past the marker/s thru into the in goal and then dart forward to try and beat the opposition to score a try or trap the opposition in-goal for a drop out.

The way I always viewed the old play the ball rules was that it was effectively a mini scrum. The tackled player would feed the "scrum" by placing (or dropping) the ball to the ground in front of him and then both he and the first marker (if present) could strike for the ball to hook it back for the dummy half or second marker to pick up. This is why you have to touch the ball with your foot when playing it. The original concept was that you were striking for it just like a hooker in a scrum. And just like in a scrum you weren't allowed to use your hands, it had to be your foot striking. In practice the first marker wouldn't always strike for the ball and so the play the ball looked pretty much like what we have now. But there was nothing to stop the first marker striking for the ball and nothing to stop the ball exiting from the ruck in whatever direction resulted from that contest. The rules have now changed so that only the attacking team can "strike" and they must play it back.

Leigh.

 

[Kurt Angle]

Not entirely true. You could always play it forward, even with a marker. In fact you could play it in any direction. The key part of the rule was neither you or the marker could pick the ball up in the ruck, it had to clear the ruck before it was handled. If there was no marker then you could just tap it with your foot and pick it up again because effectively there was no ruck to clear. But if there was a marker then you could still kick it forward as long as you didn't pick it up until it cleared the ruck which basically meant you had to kick it past the marker/s. The most common situation where this occurred was when playing the ball close to your opponents goal line. Rather than playing it back you'd just kick it past the marker/s thru into the in goal and then dart forward to try and beat the opposition to score a try or trap the opposition in-goal for a drop out.

The way I always viewed the old play the ball rules was that it was effectively a mini scrum. The tackled player would feed the "scrum" by placing (or dropping) the ball to the ground in front of him and then both he and the first marker (if present) could strike for the ball to hook it back for the dummy half or second marker to pick up. This is why you have to touch the ball with your foot when playing it. The original concept was that you were striking for it just like a hooker in a scrum. And just like in a scrum you weren't allowed to use your hands, it had to be your foot striking. In practice the first marker wouldn't always strike for the ball and so the play the ball looked pretty much like what we have now. But there was nothing to stop the first marker striking for the ball and nothing to stop the ball exiting from the ruck in whatever direction resulted from that contest. The rules have now changed so that only the attacking team can "strike" and they must play it back.

Leigh.

Good summary there leigh.

Ever read Sean Fagan's historical view on the evolution of the play the ball and ruck in League/Union ?

His view was the original rugby game used to have a contested scrum after every tackle. The play the ball come around as a virtual self-feeding scrum, and the union ruck a scrum that forms quickly after the tackle.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

That sentence implies that the rules was illegal, but the referee temporary forgot to enforce it.

I'm saying I believe the rule was still in effect in the 1997 ARL competition, it was only in the SL comp in 1997 that it was illegal.

I'm very confident that the rule was scrapped after 96.

 

[Kurt Angle]

After 1996 ?

So 1997 was the first year.... are you sure for both competitions?

 

[The Engineers Room]

(or dropping) the ball to the ground in front of him

No placing, as dropping is a knock on.

And you have basically just written what I wrote just my point was reached much earlier.

 

[Quidgybo]

No placing, as dropping is a knock on.

Check your facts. The rule as written was orginally that the tackled player should get to his feet and place *or* drop the ball to the ground. It is only later that this became a knock on. In the original concept a controlled drop into the ruck (as opposed to fumbling the ball away from the ruck) was perfectly legitimate. The player "feeding" the play the ball could no more be called for a knock-on than the half back can be called for a knock-on for throwing the ball into the scrum. The man playing the ball is effectively considered out of play once he is called tackled which is why even in the current laws he can stand on the sideline and not get called in touch. In a similar vein he could drop the ball into the ruck without being called for a knockon.

Leigh.