Five rules you probably forgot existed … the refs have

With the NRL finals kicking off tonight with a monster clash between minor premiers the Roosters and the Melbourne Storm, fans and players are pretty tense.

Although there won’t be a whole lot of thought their way, referees will also come under increased scrutiny, and therefore pressure, over the coming weeks.

Unfortunately the standard of refereeing, especially in the video box, seems to have people more frustrated than ever.

There seems to be a “crack-down” of sorts on certain rulings for a few weeks which are then soon forgotten.

Below are five rules that fans may have forgotten existed due to the fact that referees seem to have forgotten, or stopped caring, about.

Drop outs behind the line

There were a few weeks earlier in the season where EVERY time the ball was dropped over, or on, the line when taking a drop out, a penalty was blown. Players were soon dropping the ball well behind the line to avoid penalised.

Fast forward to recent weeks and we’ve seen players dropping the ball well in front of the line only to be allowed to play on.

Some saw the ruling of a penalty, ten out right in front, as harsh, but the crack-down certainly worked.

Since the penalties have stopped, so has the adhering to the rule.

When was the last time a player was penalised for this?

Feeding scrums

Rugby league scrums are almost a pointless part of the game in the modern day.

We no longer see rehearsed scrum plays as sides insist on placing players out of position.

Hookers have become ‘dummy halves’ as they no longer attack the ball in a scrum.

If by some miracle a team not feeding the scrum does manage to win possession, nine times out of ten the scrum is called back and re-fed.

Referees who pull up infringements in the scrums now do so, only to allow similar activity go within seconds.

The ball is supposed to be fed into the scrum, not rolled behind the front rower’s legs.

Teams break from the scrum early every game, yet are VERY rarely penalised.

It’s almost at the point where a scrum should be replaced by a tap, or the halfback should simply just feed the ball to the lock, who routinely breaks with the ball to create a brief one man overlap.

Using the foot to play the ball

A pet peeve of mine, and talking to people on social media, many others, is when a player simply lifts his foot over the ball rather than playing it with his foot.

To be honest if referees were to pull this up there would be 30 penalties a game on this alone, which would frustrate fans.

Players are meant to rise to their feet before placing the ball, then raking it back with their foot.

In an effort to force a faster play the ball, players lean on the ball to make it to their feet, and then step over the ball.

It certainly creates a quicker play the ball, but it against the rules.

I’d like to see players warned on the run for doing this, with a penalty resulting should they do it again.

Not every incident needs to be pulled up, just those who blatantly step over the ball.

Attackers taking out the markers

This is one of the most infuriating occurrences on a rugby league field, and it almost always goes un-penalised.

The attacking player is not permitted to step forward from their mark to impede the markers, yet it happens multiple times every week.

This is probably another rule that is policed to the letter of the law, would frustrate fans with multiple penalties every week.

To be honest I cannot remember the last time a player was penalised for stepping forward and impeding the markers, other than when a try is scored as a result.

Plenty of these rules only seem to be policed when a try is scored.

Voluntary tackle

Until last weekend’s brief penalty, I honestly thought the voluntary tackle rule no longer existed.

For those who don’t know the rule, a player must at least show some effort to continue forward momentum rather than simply falling to the ground and accepting a tackle.

How many times in a weekend do we see fullbacks dive at the feet of defenders to ensure they’re not driven back into their own in goal?

Players simply dive on a loose ball to gain possession three or four times a game.

Until last weekend, this was fine.

It’s even been encouraged and lauded by commentators as brilliant play for avoiding conceding drop outs.

Diving at a player’s feet is one of those rules that seems to only apply at certain areas of the field.

Much like the double movement rule, which doesn’t apply anywhere other than when a player reaches the try line on a second movement, diving out of your own in goal is never penalised.

Come to think of it, until last weekend, it wasn’t penalised at all.