Play the Ball penalties

[Billythekid]

There were at least 3 or 4 penalties awarded in the Eels v Panthers match last night for play the balls. It's a real momentum killer for the attacking side to be penalised with the ball. Hope we don't see to many penalties for this over the course of the season.

Its not even a big problem anyway, no one cares about it. A much bigger problem right now is players walking off the mark. If they were going to crack down on something i would much rather it be that.

Its actually having a pretty significant impact on the game rather than jsut being a nitpick.

 

[Parra]

its not the players .. its the coaches ... they no doubt tell the players of the importance of quick play the balls, catching the markers offside and walking off the mark to create space for the DH to run ... blow the penalties until the coaches get the idea and actually coach the players to follow the rules

It is not that simple. Top players & coaches will learn what they can exploit. Top players will do it on-the-fly during a match.

A quote from the best:

"“How can the referee see everything at once? I always try to understand what referees are ruling and if I give away more than two penalties a game, I’ve got it wrong.”

 

[BDGS]

There were at least 3 or 4 penalties awarded in the Eels v Panthers match last night for play the balls. It's a real momentum killer for the attacking side to be penalised with the ball. Hope we don't see to many penalties for this over the course of the season.

If there is 400 times in a match where players don't do it right then i hope its picked up 400 times. NO penalising things like this leads to poor referring seasons as we saw last season.

 

[Lambretta]

If there is 400 times in a match where players don't do it right then i hope its picked up 400 times. NO penalising things like this leads to poor referring seasons as we saw last season.

The thing is though that we see players play the ball the same way for 20 or 30 times and then a penalty is blown - often against the same team for some reason.

Players stand slightly wonky when they play the ball so the marker looks "not square" and the marker is penalised. FMD - not standing square at the play the ball is one of the most piss weak penalties in the game and drives me nuts. As long as there's not three blokes standing there and as long as the defender isn't interfering with the ball, then who gives a rats anus if he's not standing absolutely bang on straight. Don't blow a penalty, just let it go.

As for the incorrect play the ball, some players don't attempt to try and put foot to ball whilst others wave their foot vaguely in the general direction of the ball whilst not making contact and only making 1% effort. One is a penatly sometimes, the other isnt. The ball goes backwards the marker picks it up, the defensive team isn't unfairly impeded - yet someone decided that not waggling your foot in the general direction of the ball for a fraction of a nano second constitutes a penalty. Why? What logic is there for this lunacy?

As long as you dont drop the ball on the floor and knock it on and as long as it goes backwards, who cares? Seriously. Why must a half hearted foot waggle make the slightest bit of difference?

The penatly per se isn't at fault, the reason for giving the penalty though, is.

 

[Lambretta]

Its not even a big problem anyway, no one cares about it. A much bigger problem right now is players walking off the mark. If they were going to crack down on something i would much rather it be that.

Agreed - and this is one of the things Billy Harrigan has highlighted in his review for the 2011 season.

As well as penalising players for not playing the ball straight in an attempt to try and make the marker look like he's not straight when he is. OK, I understand what Billy is trying to do here and good on him for being able to spot what was becoming a blight on the play the ball, but seriously this not straight stuff is silly. As long as the player isn't facing due South, West or East when he's supposed to be heading North, who cares? North by North, North East is good enough. Just play on.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

If they're going to slow down the ruck by making sure the ball is heeled, then they should bring back contested play the balls. Adds a great element of uncertainty to the game.

 

[Danish]

Going to cause massive problems for the first 4-6 weeks of the comp before Harrigan caves and relaxes the order.

I wouldn't care if refs penalised it consistently, but it simply will not happen. We will see teams getting pinged at random for this and just like every other rules change the morons at the NRL and/or coach's meeting come up with this crack down will be rightfully scrapped after a month.

Whats going to be an even bigger problem is pinging players in front from the kick off and players stepping over the mark for line drop outs. Anasta got pinged for the latter in the foundation cup, but I haven't seen it applied to anyone else in other trials, despite this infringement occurring on all drop outs

 

[LineBall]

As previous posters have shown, there are several issues at play here.

Firstly - it seems most would agree that losing possession, as well as likely 20-30 metres and possibly conceding two points for an incorrect play the ball or walking off the mark, seems grossly out of proportion to the offence.

Secondly - In my opinion, I am happy for referees to penalise as much as they need to - as long as it is consistent. The play the ball should never have gotten to this point in the first place that it needs such attention now.

Thirdly - The play the ball needs a major overhaul. Originally it was a means to restart play after a tackle was completed in the form of a two vs two scrum - which allowed a contest for the ball. This is why we have rules of having markers square, etc. However with no striking at the play the ball allowed, a lot of these rules have become archaic - with their originally purpose no longer being justified. So much emphasis is now placed on the play the ball and winning the ruck by officials and referees, that it has become more and more the focus of the game, rather than ball play.

 

[Eels Dude]

If there is 400 times in a match where players don't do it right then i hope its picked up 400 times. NO penalising things like this leads to poor referring seasons as we saw last season.

There are always grey areas within the rules. If you penalised a side every single time for every single discretion then yes we would have 400 penalties per match. Great entertainment that. May as well drop the term 'league' from our sports name and basically turn into the sport that is just known as 'rugby'. Or better yet, have as much stoppages as American Football where 10 minutes on the clock equates to 45 minutes viewing time because it is so nlow.

 

[Chook Norris]

Number one problem with the game. Nit picking penalties ruin the spectacle and momentem in a game. A penalty is way too harsh. Solution- make the player play the ball again and take a tackle off them. Simple

wow, can't believe this hasn't been suggested before

great idea + a million

 

[mattyf]

Yep, I agree with the original poster.

It interupts the flow of the game, who cares if he doesn't touch it with his foot? Get on with it

 

[BDGS]

and while we are at it, lets just lose the tag of "professional sport" while we are at it.

 

[Quidgybo]

and while we are at it, lets just lose the tag of "professional sport" while we are at it.

Part of being a professional sport is recognising when certain areas of the game are harming the greater good of the sport, facing up to them, and doing something about it. And it's also part of being a professional sport to recognise when a solution that has been tried many times isn't working, accept it and try something different. Crackdown after crackdown followed by the inevitable backpedal has proved that cracking down within the existing rules just doesn't work to solve the problems of the play the ball. In fact the whole reason we always backpedal on the crackdown is because it actually makes the situation worse.

Every time we crackdown on the play the ball all the extra penalties ruin the flow of the game, turn matches, and put the referee at the centre of controversial results. And the situation doesn't get better by just persisting, it festers. Strict enforcement with penalties that result in loss of possession + territory or points just doesn't work. If we're not prepared to accept the status quo of loose enforcement then we need to accept there will be a lot of penalties and do something to neutralize the negative impact of those penalties on the game. Hence the suggestion of a lesser penalty that does not cost possession.

Leigh

 

[BDGS]

Part of being a professional sport is recognising when certain areas of the game are harming the greater good of the sport, facing up to them, and doing something about it. And it's also part of being a professional sport to recognise when a solution that has been tried many times isn't working, accept it and try something different. Crackdown after crackdown followed by the inevitable backpedal has proved that cracking down within the existing rules just doesn't work to solve the problems of the play the ball. In fact the whole reason we always backpedal on the crackdown is because it actually makes the situation worse.

Part of being professional is playing the by the rules correctly.

Too many crackdowns? Maybe, but when was the last time there was a crack down on playing the ball with your foot? not in the last 5-8 years at least.

 

[Quidgybo]

Part of being professional is playing the by the rules correctly.

Telling people to play by the rules is fine. But if a rule results in an unacceptable number of penalties and/or the impact of those penalties is unacceptable for the game in the greater scheme of things; and if it doesn't get better with repeated attempts because the players won't or worse simply can't get it right often enough, then it is the rule that is at fault, not the players.

Leigh.

 

[BDGS]

Telling people to play by the rules is fine. But if a rule results in an unacceptable number of penalties and/or the impact of those penalties is unacceptable for the game in the greater scheme of things; and if it doesn't get better with repeated attempts because the players won't or worse simply can't get it right often enough, then it is the rule that is at fault, not the players.

Leigh.

You are telling me that it is not the player fault they can't touch the ball with their foots? haha right.

If there is an "unacceptable" amount of penalties due to this, it is the fault of the coaches (for not coaching it correctly) and/or players. Blaming a rule that has been around forever is the easy way out.

 

[Holla if ya hear me]

its not the players .. its the coaches ... they no doubt tell the players of the importance of quick play the balls, catching the markers offside and walking off the mark to create space for the DH to run ... blow the penalties until the coaches get the idea and actually coach the players to follow the rules

Exactly..and who whinging bout it...tim sheens

 

[Mr Fourex]

As long as you dont drop the ball on the floor and knock it on and as long as it goes backwards, who cares? Seriously. Why must a half hearted foot waggle make the slightest bit of difference?

The penatly per se isn't at fault, the reason for giving the penalty though, is.

Play the ball with your foot......it's in the rules of the game. It's not that hard is it?

As long as the refs are using the crackdown with a fair amount of common sense ie: not giving away foot/ball playing penalties in the last 10mins of each half when the players are tiring, then I for one don't have a problem with it.

Walking off the mark is just as bigger problem and I hope we see a crack down on this too.

I would like to see the teams line up at halfway and have the ref direct them as to what he will be looking for from the players as far as abiding by the rules of the game go.......shake hands.......lets get it on.

 

[Noa]

if players begin to heed the warnings of the new crackdown it could in fact improve the flow and momentum of the game, taking a split second longer to ptb properly allows the defense to get back - no offside penalties interrupting the flow, allows markers to get square, no penalties there, gives the dummy half a split second more time to compose etc

make it a differential penalty if you must, losing possesion these days is penalty enough

the ptb is a mess and needs cleaning up....much like scrums in the past

qft

 

[Dragonwest]

"letting things go" is what has got us in this mess in the first place. I hope Harrigan is extremely strick with this all season! The smarter teams will soon learn to comply and reap the rewards accordingly (just like the smarter teams have learnt to bend the rules in the past to their advantage).