Is touch footy RL?

[RL1908]

In the wake of this discussion on touch footy at http://www.rugbyleague.org/index.php?showtopic=159248&st=0&gopid=1660747&#entry1660747 and whether it is rugby league, I wondered why touch footy isn't used as a vehicle to promote and spread interest/profile in rugby league across Australia and the globe.

It clearly came from RL (history: http://www.austouch.com.au/index.php?id=185) and has a body in every Australian state and has a growing international spread (http://www.international-touch.org/).

Are social/bush RL players opting for touch footy instead of 13-a-side under the 10m rule?

I don't think I've ever seen any promo/stat on RL that has trumpeted the numbers playing touch footy, even though it is a form of RL.

Or does Touch Footy Australia want to have nothing to do with RL?

 

[Perth Red]

It's really annoying that it isn't branded as RL. In WA there are thousands of touch footy players, would be great to lay claim to them and actually use it as a vehicle to get more people interested in the real thing.

 

[TinghaExpress]

It's funny you mention that RL1908 I was thinking the same thing a few weeks ago while the Oz-Tag Grand Final was televised on Fox. With all these so-called "soccer mums" out there now I see Touch and especially Oztag as a perfect introduction to the game of Rugby League for kids at a young age.

I dont think its a case of one organisation not wanting to be associated with the other i see it as if both are too lazy to get up and do something about a possible affiliation. The NRL should really get in there and form connections with both Touch and Oz-Tag because the participation rates for both games are huge. I read somewhere Oz-tag has over 3500 teams with 360,000 players in all the major cities...

 

[sooperdooper]

no it is not rugby league, it is touch footy. A different sport, different rules

 

[Azkatro]

I don't think I've ever seen any promo/stat on RL that has trumpeted the numbers playing touch footy, even though it is a form of RL.

It's not a form of RL, it's Touch Football. If you consider that a form of RL, you would have to consider RL a form of Union, which it technically is, but it'd be a bit stupid if the NRL and AFL approached the ARU and expected them to promote their codes.

 

[RL1908]

Thanks for the comments above - I agree - aren't all these people, in effect, playing RL? Yet we never hear/read those numbers in connection with promoting RL. Conversely, RL doesn't seem to promote touch footy.

The growth nationally and globally is very impressive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_football_(rugby_league)

Under the 10m rule the modern game of RL is going to force more social/bush players to take up touch footy as a means to get their RL fix.

And, as TinghaExpress says, touch/beach/tag RL footy is a far safer game to get into.

 

[Eels Dude]

What's touch footy, 5 on 5 or something, no kicking, no tackling, no dummy half running, stay back 5 metres or so, no goals or field goals, no scrums. If you're going to label it rugby league you could just as easily label it rugby union.

In saying that I used to play it every lunch at school, exactly the same as above but we'd kick the footy. Good fun, good fast game.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

does that mean union is infact league?

 

[stuke]

played properly it would more closely resemble a game of tips that you used to play at school.

 

[ouwet]

What's touch footy, 5 on 5 or something, no kicking, no tackling, no dummy half running, stay back 5 metres or so, no goals or field goals, no scrums. If you're going to label it rugby league you could just as easily label it rugby union.

In saying that I used to play it every lunch at school, exactly the same as above but we'd kick the footy. Good fun, good fast game.

It originated from RL and is a lot closer to League then Union!
Don't Union have a touch Rugby or Touch Union game? Different from the touch we all play?

 

[RL1908]

What's touch footy, 5 on 5 or something, no kicking, no tackling, no dummy half running, stay back 5 metres or so, no goals or field goals, no scrums. If you're going to label it rugby league you could just as easily label it rugby union.

In saying that I used to play it every lunch at school, exactly the same as above but we'd kick the footy. Good fun, good fast game.

It has a play-the-ball and 6 possessions (with a hand-over). It clearly is a stream-lined version of RL.

The point I was trying to make was that touch footy is a form of RL, and, as such, it is something that the NRL/ARL ought to be working with to help generate wider interest in RL. Maybe they do that now (I don't know). Maybe touch footy sees itself as a separate sport and wants no connections to RL.

 

[boxa777]

Touch Footy today is a total different game to league. Watch how it's played. it's all about dumping and catching the opposition running backwards. it's not natural footy.

Oztag resembles league much more closely.

 

[Eels Dude]

It originated from RL and is a lot closer to League then Union!
Don't Union have a touch Rugby or Touch Union game? Different from the touch we all play?

The only differences are that touch footy has limited 5 tackles, and getting back onside after the play the ball. All other main differences between league and union are eliminated by the non use of scrums and kicking etc.

 

[RL1908]

It originated from RL and is a lot closer to League then Union!
Don't Union have a touch Rugby or Touch Union game? Different from the touch we all play?

The international Touch rules use the RL derived game.

There is no recognised version of RU touch, though many RU clubs etc could (and do) come up with their own versions.

The RFU is (ironically) merely branding the RL derived form of touch:
http://rugbipensador.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/touchrugbybooklet.pdf

 

[Eels Dude]

It has a play-the-ball and 6 possessions (with a hand-over). It clearly is a stream-lined version of RL.

The point I was trying to make was that touch footy is a form of RL, and, as such, it is something that the NRL/ARL ought to be working with to help generate wider interest in RL. Maybe they do that now (I don't know). Maybe touch footy sees itself as a separate sport and wants no connections to RL.

I think you'll find that most schools have touch footy or OZtag as both an in school or representative sport. And not just for boys. One of the reasons behind it is because league is popular. There's plenty of local touch footy or OZtag comps for being to join. I don't see what the NRL can do to help out.

 

[RL1908]

I think you'll find that most schools have touch footy or OZtag as both an in school or representative sport. And not just for boys. One of the reasons behind it is because league is popular. There's plenty of local touch footy or OZtag comps for being to join. I don't see what the NRL can do to help out.

It's not "what the NRL can do to help out" - it's using the spread and popularity of touch football to aid the wider interest in the NRL.

Plenty of people who play touch footy in Vict, SA, WA & Tassie would have no idea of its RL origins and that its play-the-ball, 6 possessions, running, passing, try-scoring, are all features of RL.

All I'm saying is that touch footy is a door-way for potentinal new fans of RL to enter the fuller version of the game....to give them a taste of it.

If we're trying to convert new fans to RL, surely starting with touch footy would be a good place to begin.

 

[RL1908]

The only differences are that touch footy has limited 5 tackles, and getting back onside after the play the ball. All other main differences between league and union are eliminated by the non use of scrums and kicking etc.

Try looking at it the other way around.. If someone had only seen touch footy, and they went to a RU game and then a RL game, in which rugby code would they see a tackling version of touch footy?

 

[RL1908]

It's not a form of RL, it's Touch Football. If you consider that a form of RL, you would have to consider RL a form of Union, which it technically is, but it'd be a bit stupid if the NRL and AFL approached the ARU and expected them to promote their codes.

RL is not a stream-lined version of RU. RL and RU split in 1895 and followed different evolutionary paths. Rucks, mauls and set-placed scrums all came to RU after 1895. A form of play-the-ball and "held" rule existed in RU before 1895.

Touch footy was invented as a stream-lined non-tackle version of RL.

 

[Perth Red]

well said RL1908. It has little to do with if it resembles RL (having said that the play of the ball and six tackle ruling clearly align it with RL) and a lot more to do with a golden opportunity to market RL and get fans interested in the game that may not otherwise be so. With the concerns re injuries at schools touch RL (as it should be called!) would be a great way to introduce 6-10 year olds to the game and if there was a clear link up with the NRL they may well go on to support an NRL team in the future. the potential is huge and as you say it isn't limited by geographical boundaries like full RL is. It is a great seed to be planting in WA,SA,NT and Vic.

 

[RL1908]

well said RL1908. It has little to do with if it resembles RL (having said that the play of the ball and six tackle ruling clearly align it with RL) and a lot more to do with a golden opportunity to market RL and get fans interested in the game that may not otherwise be so. With the concerns re injuries at schools touch RL (as it should be called!) would be a great way to introduce 6-10 year olds to the game and if there was a clear link up with the NRL they may well go on to support an NRL team in the future. the potential is huge and as you say it isn't limited by geographical boundaries like full RL is. It is a great seed to be planting in WA,SA,NT and Vic.

An effective counter to the AFL's Aus-kick numbers perhaps?