Breaking: Players unfairly forced to play the ball correctly in 2018

[josie andrews]

Stunning scenes at Rotorua on the weekend saw several first-grade rugby league players penalised for not playing the ball correctly.

In a shocking twist, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg’s promise to crack down on illegitimate play-the-balls means that now players will have to roll the ball with their foot.

Aren’t players of today under enough pressure to perform without the added stress of actually attempting to genuinely play the ball correctly?

New Zealand rugby league great Darryl Halligan echoed similar sentiments following the Warriors versus Storm trial, where both sides were pinned for failing to get boot to ball.

Halligan voiced concerns that it may be too difficult for players to change their ways as “they’ve been doing it for so long… you basically have to re-teach yourself”.

Cronulla Sharks prop Andrew Fifita is one of the worst offenders when it comes to lazy attempts. Halligan is undoubtedly right in this instance – it is completely unreasonable to expect Fifita, who is being paid approximately $800,000 a season, to go out of his way to practice striking the ball backwards with his feet instead of simply rolling it through.

In addition, how can players be required to remember all the way back to their childhood, when they were first taught how to play the ball correctly? It is completely absurd that such difficult demands are placed upon professional athletes.

Fortunately, there are videos out there that should be of assistance to players struggling with this rule, such as the following video:


I guess we will know by the close of 2018 whether Todd Greenberg took his position of authority one step too far in making this extreme request.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2018/02/20/br ... ctly-2018/

[josie andrews]

Is it any wonder our game is going down the pan when the Aussies are allowed to dictate & change the rules of the game willy nilly & the ruling body over here accepts it & copies them! ????

The ruling that really gets my blood boiling is the referee referring a try to the video ref with the “I have/have not a try”!

The video ref should only be used to confirm there have been no infringements not to have to find a reason to agree or disagree. Bloody crazy rule!

It either is or it isn’t! They don’t have that luxury on non televised games!

Sky are bringing the kick off times earlier to avoid over running the broadcast due to the video refs slowing the game down! They wanted video refs in the first place now they’re moaning about them

That’s a rant over ????

[doc]

If you crackdown only on the defending team it gives the attacking team too much advantage at the PTB allowing them to make easy yards by scooting from dummy half. Making the attacking team play the ball properly evens things up a bit.

[southportcdm]

It's a fundamental part of the game and all players should be expected to play the ball properly at all times. When some do and many don't it just makes the whole thing farcical. It really can't be that difficult for professional players to sort this out. A couple of weeks with lots of penalties and then all would be well.

[Wintergreen]

Lol

It's not exactly rocket science is it?

1. Put foot on ball.

2. Roll back foot whilst maintaining contact with ball.

3. Er that's it.


You could train a Gibbon to do it...........

[OAMJSONA]

Lol

It's not exactly rocket science is it?

1. Put foot on ball.

2. Roll back foot whilst maintaining contact with ball.

3. Er that's it.


You could train a Gibbon to do it...........

or a Stains fan

[moto748]

Well I started writing a post yesterday saying this is just enforcing existing rules (hence, good), but, thinking about it, that's not quite true, is it? My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that the current laws just talk about "making an attempt to play the ball with the foot", or words to that effect. In which case, it should be regarded as a tightening of the rules. But still not a bad thing, I think.

Certainly the way Fifita (easily the worst offender) plays the ball should be penalised nearly every time.