I've noticed lately that these are very untidy and was wondering why they don't get penalised anymore.

Two examples spring to mind one being the Kevin Sinfield short drop-out on Saturday night. He didn't drop the ball to the floor and kicked it with the side of his foot so that it only travelled the 10 metres.

Also Lee Briers consistently drops out closer to the 10 metre line than to the try-line. I noticed the NRL are now penalising any such infringement. Why are we turning a blind eye to it?

Really? Lee Briers is dropping out from more than 5m in front of the sticks?

Slight exaggeration maybe, but not far off on some occasions.

In the NRL their coming down on basic infringements, the drop out been one, in front of the ball at kick offs and players taking a step of the mark at the play the ball, even breaking before the balls out of the scrum.

I noticed the Sinfield one. It wasn't a drop out, he just grubbered it 10 metres and ran and picked it up, should have been penalised.

As for Briers, he does run well over the try line, but most players take a few steps over the try line before kicking it, he just takes a lot more than a few. It should be monitored more closely, IMO.

I'm not sure about that. The rule states:



The rule simply says the ball has to travel ten metres forward. It does not say the ball has to be air borne for those ten metres.

You are spot on, there was nothing at all wrong with Sinfield's short kick-off according to the rules. As for players creeping over the line slightly when taking a drop-out it does happen and most do it and maybe an announcement to fans and players that it will be cracked down on is due?

Doesnt a drop out mean the ball has to touch the floor before being kicked? Prescribed manner?

Sinfield kicked it before it touched the floor.

Nah you're wrong...

[size=65JJB picked it up, not Sinfield[/size

The ball must be struck immediately it rebounds from the floor, according to the laws of the game.

In practice, if there's simultaneous contact between ball, ground and boot that's usually good enough.

Given I only watched the game at the game and don't have the benefit of Sky (I do have Sky, just not watched it again), this is just a stupid pedantic comment. Sinfield kicked the ball along the floor (grubber kicked) and clearly was intending to do this with the rules. If his foot struck the ball slightly ahead of it hitting the ground then it makes sod all difference to anything because he kicked it along the floor. The whole idea of a drop-kick within the rules is to limit distance and the accuracy over distance the ball can be kicked... you understand this don't you! The worst I would expect from a ref in the situation of a miss-kick is that he would bring the side back to take it again, unless he thought it was totally deliberate for some reason, which does not make sense either!

And so should SL, is there also a time limit on drop outs? which is something else that should be enforced here.

Im also fed up of teams not managing to form a correct scrum, if where going to have them, lets do them right. To many teams wasting time by not forming a correct scrum, get them penalised!

Brent Webb made about 4 forward passes in that game. I'm pretty sure none of them were intentional - should they have been allowed?

It does make a difference, because it's easier to aim and control the ball when it's dropping down than when it has dropped and is bouncing back up! If it didn't drop completely then it's not a drop out it's a grubber kick straight from the hands!!

EH was piping on about this the other night too. Does make sense. My main gripes are the drop-out's, quick tap restarts and playing an advantage.

I suspect some posters will challenge your view about Webb throwing out intentional forward passes mate BTW but your comment is even more dumb and pedantic than the first one and totally misses the point! If Sinfield did =#FF0000obviously fail to strike the ball at exactly the same time as it struck the ground, because I can't comment on the validity of this comment as I was too far away, then Silverwood should have made him take it again. However, having a go, even at Silverwood, for potentially missing this is taking things a little too far.

In many walks of life, you need to be pedantic about the basics even when it seems overkill, otherwise whatever situation you're trying to govern will descent to .

The same point I made above applies here (although on reflection you are correct about the grubber v a drop-kick making the ball slightly easier to control) and I am not saying you are right or wrong about when Sinfield struck the ball but come on, over analysing this event is nonsense! If Silverwood was not happy with the kick he should have made him take it again, but in a game where Silverwood was at best average and both Leeds and Saints scored tries that both should have been disallowed because of poor calls, then Sinfield's little kick is small beer... he caught Saints out with a little moment of quick thinking, that is all!

Yes, if week in week out we were seeing kickers taking quick drop-outs where they clearly were intended to gain a slight advantage by not kicking the ball quite correctly then I fully agree. But we are not are we mate!

The day you get "outsmarted" by Kevin Sinfield is the day you should take up knitting.

There's a simple question to ask yourself - was the "drop-out" that Sinfield gained an advantage from legal?

I'll give you a clue - if he kicked the ball before it had touched the floor, the answer is no.

I keep posting this, I have no idea whether Sinfield did or did not strike the ball before it touched the ground. I assume your opinion is that he did? So Silverwood got it wrong... just like several other decisions during the game, two of which lead to tries! Of all the poor calls that were made, this is the one I am least worried about. We lost, you won and that looked like a fair reflection of the game to me, despite two tries that should have been disallowed for both sides!

You did.

So move on.

Forget about it.


You have Wakey next. Leeds should beat them. They only win against really [upoor sides [/ulike Hull FC and Catalans.


Ah......

It is a good idea from the NRL to clamp down on these rules, it makes the game cleaner and ensures no tiny advantages can swing to one team.

The key word in all that is 'Drop-kick' something he didn't do.
You may call it a stupid pedantic comment but his kick was incorrect.