Ruck penalty. : Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:55 am
Is anyone else getting sick of the penalty for being behind the ruck? It's the softest, most cringe-worthy rule in our game and one that is becoming a real issue. Teams are now playing for it. In the Saints game a player actually straddled another to hold them in place while they played the ball into them! Again, last night there were multiple examples of players using this to get easy yards up field. Whilst you can't blame coaches and players for taking the easy route, I think it's now a case where the interpretation of this rule is against the spirit of the game. There are literally hundreds of free metres being doled out by refs unable to distinguish between a player deliberately trying to slow play down and one simply caught on the wrong side. Every instance is an automatic penalty. We're actually at the point where players are being penalised for being unable to magically disappear! Surely that's the point at which it's become a farce?