Forward Passes

[Angry_eel]

Is it me or ever since the 2 refs have come in, the number of forward passes have gone up?

 

[RedAndWhiteThommo]

Agree - I've thought the exact same thing myself. I would like to know what the touchies are doing - are they being pushed further into the background by the 2nd ref and the video ref?

 

[bartman]

Is it me or ever since the 2 refs have come in, the number of forward passes have gone up?

It's not just you. It's the one main weakness of the two ref system. No-one watches for the forward passes anymore, and it's a lottery when some are picked up, and some are not.

The touchies do nothing even though they are in line with the ball, they don't seem to want to say anything because there are already two refs talking in the middle.

 

[maple_69]

If we'd just give the touchies some power, setting the 10, calling on forwards passes etc we wouldn't even need a second ref. Waste of space they are.

 

[Pierced Soul]

i reckon it's been getting progressively worse over tyhe past few year

 

[Twizzle]

I agree.

When did the rules change ?

I think they are referred to as flat passes now, thats the new term for a legal forward pass.

 

[Shifty]

They've been on the increase since the video referee came in IMO. The refs are very reluctant to pull anything up when a break is made or it looks like a try is on. The video referee can't rule on a forward pass so by then it's too late.

 

[Sir Biffo]

They've been creeping into the game for a few years now. It seems like it's acceptable to throw foward passes out of dummy half.

 

[Shifty]

I agree.

When did the rules change ?

I think they are referred to as flat passes now, thats the new term for a legal forward pass.

There was a change in interpretation around the mid 90's when the momentum imparted on the ball by a player running started to be taken into account. This is when they started paying a lot of attention to the ball "backwards out of the hands".

In these cases a player running at full tilt could release the ball "backwards out of the hands and it would "float" forward.

There was an example in Origin 1 where NSW passed the ball from the field of play and it ended up "floating" into the in goal and a try was awarded.

 

[Shifty]

They've been creeping into the game for a few years now. It seems like it's acceptable to throw foward passes out of dummy half.

Agreed. Cam Smith is one who likes to play very "flat".

 

[Pierced Soul]

maybe its become more prevalent with the 'flat attack' and subsequently a lot of younger plaeyrs who were exposed to that have just gotten into the habit of doing it that way still

 

[Michaelson]

There was a change in interpretation around the mid 90's when the momentum imparted on the ball by a player running started to be taken into account. This is when they started paying a lot of attention to the ball "backwards out of the hands".

In these cases a player running at full tilt could release the ball "backwards out of the hands and it would "float" forward.

There was an example in Origin 1 where NSW passed the ball from the field of play and it ended up "floating" into the in goal and a try was awarded.

How this ever became the widely accepted interpretation baffles me. Whenever a pass like this comes up all the commentators fall over themselves to explain the rule (try riding a bike and throwing a tennis ball out to the side etc etc etc), and then everyone looks to see if the initial movement was back and no one can really tell. It really surprises me someone like Gus Gould hasn't pointed out how absurd it is: just make it so that the ball has to land behind the point it is thrown from.

 

[JB]

Surely forward passes have to be ruled on by touchies. Their the only one's in line with the play. With the dual ref system one ref is 10 metres behind the team in possesion, while the other is keeping the 10 for the D. There's no way they can confidently call line ball's.

 

[God-King Dean]

Passes that are a few cms forward don't bother me, & fans use em as a cop out when they lose, rather than focus on their team's mistakes.

The ones that are blatently forward piss me off.

 

[liaaam_]

there are heaps from dummy half that are rarley called there is at least 5 a game that are a few cm's in front but there are the blaiten ones like the billy slater one that piss me off when they arent called

 

[LL3]

Is it me or ever since the 2 refs have come in, the number of forward passes have gone up?

Yep and knock ons have increased also regardless if the ball goes back and should be play on.

 

[Shifty]

Passes that are a few cms forward don't bother me, & fans use em as a cop out when they lose, rather than focus on their team's mistakes.

The ones that are blatently forward piss me off.

Agreed.

Particularly when you have the defense scrambling well and managing to cut down a movement only to see a pass go to someone who has overrun the play. Same goes when you have a player who has overrun the dummy half close to the try-line.

When there's an overlap, the defender has to make a decision on who to go for and they should be able to rule out someone in an offside position.

 

[*Paul*]

Used to be something you could make fun of union with, forward passes unchecked, pathetic jumper grabbing tackles, and an over reliance on kicking. But we've got all that now and more.

 

[Jason Maher]

Bumping this after watching last night's game. I swear Aaron Payne threw the ball forward at least once per set. He got pulled up 5 or 6 times, but there were a number he got away with. Not that the Roosters were angels, a couple of their breaks were off the back of forward passes that allowed a player to beat the defence, and I saw a few Payne-style forward passes from dummy half that went unchecked.

Then you get a case like last week where cutie threw the ball 3 meteres forward for a Broncos try, yet later in the game an El Masri try is called back for a pass that wasn't forward. I'd rather see the odd forward pass let go than see tries called back for passes that aren't forward. You could cite the Dragons Cowboys game as well - the pass from Cooper to Creagh was a mile forward, yet up the other end a try was called back because a pass from Thurston was marginally forward at best.

The inconsistency is I'm sure what sh*ts all of us - either call all of the line-ball ones, or call none of them and only call if it is a blatant forward pass. I'd prefer the former, as it places the clear responsibility on the player with the ball to make sure they pass it backwards.

 

[beave]

My team are the worst for it, Henry has the cowbs playing a real flat style and it p!sses me off watching Payney almost every pass it forward everytime from Dummy Half.

One thing that would have been interesting last night for the Roosters, when Pearce was running in that big break in the last 10 mins and had the brain explosion and threw the speculator back in field, it was right in line with my seats and it was a mile forward. When the ball hit the ground, the cowboys regathered it but it would have been interesting to see if the roosters player regathered the loose ball if it would have been play on. What really p!ssed me off with it was that the touchie was a mile back and didnt keep up with the play to be able to make a call that was fair to both teams.