falling foul of the rules : Tue May 29, 2012 8:04 pm  

Having just watched the video of the York game and previously seen the Dewsbury video I noticed identical errors by the Dewsbury and York fullbacks. Namely collecting the ball which had been kicked through and gone over the goal line in into touch but not touched the ground and hence still being in play whilst they themselves were out of the field of play.

On both occasions this resulted in a dropout and benefitted the Cougars (to the initial bemusement of the opposition fullbacks). Hope that we don't fall foul of this at any point although it surprises me that you can play a game and not know all of the rules disadvantaging yourself and your team.

Re: falling foul of the rules : Tue May 29, 2012 10:27 pm  

I think it is one of those rules that is going to take a while for some players to get used to. If you've been taught and used a technique for many years it can be difficult to adjust when you can't use it anymore.

I remember as a lad getting penalised a few times for striking at the play of the ball whilst at marker the year they banned it (1996?)

Re: falling foul of the rules : Wed May 30, 2012 6:11 pm  

Even the Superdooper League refs can get it wrong, it happened twice in the same match at the Magic Weekend.
1. The ball was kicked into touch and the defender caught it before it touched the ground, thinking that having one foot in touch gave him possession, he did get the ball at the resulting scrum but that was wrong.
2. The ball was kicked in goal and the chasing defender again caught the ball before it touched anything outside the field of play, the defending team was given possession, i.e. Tap on the 20 mtr. Line, but again that is wrong according to the rule.

Neither incident was picked up by the wonderful Eddie & Stevo, but Phil Clark made a passing comment. The following day when the referee made the correct decision, E & S made a big issue of the new rule.
I also seem to think that the “2 feet behind the line” rule has been forgotten, amongst others, it’s time the RFL and the Refs got their act together, won’t hold my breath though.