'downtown' rule

[Slackboy72]

Kicking the ball dead on the last tackle has been around for a lot longer than Billy Slater.

According to some it was only invented on Friday night by that cheating mob from St George.

 

[S.R.]

well it didnt take long for Ben Cummins and Gerrard Goose Suttor to forget this rule..was non existant last night eg: inglish puts up his bomb and everybody is offside..

Oh come on don't be like that.

They forgot most of the rules!!!

 

[dragonfire]

I like the rule. Nothing better than a fullback carving through an unstructured line and at the moment there are way too many brick walls waiting for fullbacks on kick returns. It very likely that the defenders are starting in an offside position.

your actually more likely to have a solid line of defenders if they are all waiting till it is kicked as they all advance through at the same time. The only real difference this will make is that a guy like Soward who would kick from so deep will be forced to kick a lot closer to the advantage line. I thought the good players made plenty of opportunities last season anyways from kick returns

 

[westie]

Can someone explain to me why the kickers aren't standing as deep if the chasers just have to be behind the play the ball? There's been heaps of charge downs and kickers put under unnecessary pressure this weekend. Have I got the rule wrong?

 

[ozjet1]

Ruleowntown, Section: Petula Clark
Downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown, no finer place for sure,
Downtown, everything's waiting for you

 

[The Elephant In The room]

Needs to be another "crack down" on the downtown.

 

[mxlegend99]

Section 14. Law 3.
Placed onside
3. An off side player is placed onside if:
(a) an opponent moves ten metres or more with the
ball.
(b) an opponent touches the ball without retaining it.
(c) one of his own team in possession of the ball
runs in front of him.
(d) one of his own team kicks or knocks the ball
forward and takes up a position in front of him in
the field of play.
(e) he retires behind the point where the ball was last
touched by one of his own team.

 

[The Elephant In The room]

You also need to refer to the Notes, directly below that rule mx.

 

[mxlegend99]

What notes? I just copied it from the previous page and that was the only part quoted.

 

[Jaegerex]

What notes? I just copied it from the previous page and that was the only part quoted.

"Down town"

Any player who is in front of the kicker in general play is not permitted to advance beyond the point of the previous play-the-ball until the ball has gone past the offside players. This rule delays the movement of the offside players downfield in an attempt to encircle the ball receiver as he collects the ball.

Brown had run a few metres past the play the ball before Inu had even kicked it, let alone the ball moving past him. Had he been behind the play the ball but in front of Inu, play on. This wasn't the case, so it really should have been a penalty to Manly.

 

[typicalfan]

The downtown rule was created to stop forwards racing down field before the ball is kicked to give the back 3 a fair chance to return the ball. In this instance Browne had zero impact on the play until the ricochet so I am happy with the play on in fact I think it is a good example of using discretion. Only issue was the mile forward pass but no one was in good position for that one.

 

[Timmah]

typicalfan has nailed it -the point isn't to automatically penalise any player in front of the kicker who starts running downfield.

He wasn't really "steaming downfield either", he was jogging til the ball deflected.

 

[typicalfan]

I had an issue with the apparent steal by Hiku on Low when clearly Low was trying to free the arms to offload as he was getting close to the sideline.

At best it was a 50/50 call, not something I felt the VR should have overruled the ref for.

 

[ek999]

I had an issue with the apparent steal by Hiku on Low when clearly Low was trying to free the arms to offload as he was getting close to the sideline.

At best it was a 50/50 call, not something I felt the VR should have overruled the ref for.

Seeing they overruled the Kasiano try I'm not surprised with that decision. I did like Maxwell completely ignoring the pocket ref twice. Awarding a try when he said to check it and then checking it when he said it was fine

 

[Danish]

typicalfan has nailed it -the point isn't to automatically penalise any player in front of the kicker who starts running downfield.

He wasn't really "steaming downfield either", he was jogging til the ball deflected.

That's exactly what the rule was created for. It is supposed to be an automatic penalty as he was running downfield when the ball was kicked, and besides which the dogs CLEARLY got an advantage out of it.

The fact he was plodding along lazily make it even more of a penalty as that is exactly who the rule was brought in for. Plodding lazy forwards wanting to get an easy jog down to the 1st tackle.

Penalty every day of the week. Refs f**ked it

 

[Jaegerex]

That's exactly what the rule was created for. It is supposed to be an automatic penalty as he was running downfield when the ball was kicked, and besides which the dogs CLEARLY got an advantage out of it.

The fact he was plodding along lazily make it even more of a penalty as that is exactly who the rule was brought in for. Plodding lazy forwards wanting to get an easy jog down to the 1st tackle.

Penalty every day of the week. Refs f**ked it

Exactly, it is to prevent offside players positioning themselves ideally without giving away an offside. In this case he was Johnny on the spot for a lucky deflection, they got a significant advantage from a downtown player. Had it directly found the touch line ignore it, as the player in question had an impact it should of been apenalty for Manly.

 

[Cammo]

The players were considered "downtown" until the Manly player played at the ball, thus nullifying the offside/downtown as they were outside 10 meters of the play.

Is this so difficult for people to understand?

 

[Danish]

The players were considered "downtown" until the Manly player played at the ball, thus nullifying the offside/downtown as they were outside 10 meters of the play.

Is this so difficult for people to understand?

No they aren't. A downtown offender can't be played onside by an opposition player touching the ball.

Simply by running past the play the ball before the ball is kicked past you it's an automatic penalty. You can't be played onside, you can't stay 10m away and it's ok, it's just a penalty.

The whole purpose of the rule is to stop lazy forwards from getting an easy headstart downfield so they don't get as tired chasing the kick.

 

[innsaneink]

Seeing they overruled the Kasiano try I'm not surprised with that decision. I did like Maxwell completely ignoring the pocket ref twice. Awarding a try when he said to check it and then checking it when he said it was fine

Yep
Thats how I saw it...Maxwells leanings were evident

 

[Timmah]

That's exactly what the rule was created for. It is supposed to be an automatic penalty as he was running downfield when the ball was kicked, and besides which the dogs CLEARLY got an advantage out of it.

The fact he was plodding along lazily make it even more of a penalty as that is exactly who the rule was brought in for. Plodding lazy forwards wanting to get an easy jog down to the 1st tackle.

Penalty every day of the week. Refs f**ked it

I don't know how much clearer it can be.

Manly's
player
touching
the
ball
rendered
everyone
onside.

It was never a penalty ever. Move on.