This thread shows the fan problem, everyone is banging on about what's wrong and how it should be reffed - but your opinions as to WHY it's wrong are very different. If you can't all agree with each other on how it should be done then clearly no ref can please all of you!
The refs do seem to have been told to speed up the PTB this year, this has led to a lot of early penalties while the players get the message, but as to the specifics,
a) you're dealing with fractions of a second, there IS no "magic moment" where a ref has to call held, it is all a matter of interpretation.
b) I disagree that "held" should be called quicker as many teams have become very good at offloading in the tackle, quite a few players manage to turn and pass significantly after their main forward momentum has been halted, and I don't want that eliminating from the game. And, by definition, if the player is able to pass, then he is not "held", is he?
The worst thing about the PTB to me is the fact that the refs have clearly been told to ignore the laws of the game on how to PTB. In many games you can go a whole half seemingly without a single player actually playing the ball with the foot, and this is giving the attacking team a huge unfair advantage. EVERY time a player rolls the ball back to the acting half-back it is a clear penalty, it HAS to be "placed" (or "dropped", but that's another story). The ball is almost never "placed", because then this causes the delay while your foot gets to the stationary ball and propels it backwards. it is almost always illegally rolled.
Either sort this out, or change the rule to permit it.