Brissie Kid
Bencher
Wabbits got pinged out of the blue last night under the 'downtown' rule.
My vague recollection is this rule came in during the mid 1980s as players on the last tackle were already a few metres up field past the play the ball, before the play the ball had taken place. What Souths did last night was ok under the original downtown rule.
The rules have always allowed offside players, but added that they can't get involved in play until the opposition has moved the ball 10m, which Penrith did last night.
As is the way, the NRL has taken this rule and extended it into something else. The current downtown rule says:
Downtown Chasers
A player is considered ‘downtown’ when: A player who is in front of the kicker in general play who intentionally advances beyond the point of the previous play the ball before the ball has gone past him. https://www.nrl.com/siteassets/operations/documentation/nrl_laws_interpretations_2020.pdf
Former Manly player Luke Phillips explains the current NRL rule and last night here (why does Luke's twitter bio only mention the Roosters?)
My vague recollection is this rule came in during the mid 1980s as players on the last tackle were already a few metres up field past the play the ball, before the play the ball had taken place. What Souths did last night was ok under the original downtown rule.
The rules have always allowed offside players, but added that they can't get involved in play until the opposition has moved the ball 10m, which Penrith did last night.
As is the way, the NRL has taken this rule and extended it into something else. The current downtown rule says:
Downtown Chasers
A player is considered ‘downtown’ when: A player who is in front of the kicker in general play who intentionally advances beyond the point of the previous play the ball before the ball has gone past him. https://www.nrl.com/siteassets/operations/documentation/nrl_laws_interpretations_2020.pdf
Former Manly player Luke Phillips explains the current NRL rule and last night here (why does Luke's twitter bio only mention the Roosters?)