This has got to be the worst rule in Rugby League. Its impossible to referee and causes the most confusion and resentment amongst supporters. Like all subjective rules it belongs to Union.



Why cant we have a simple rule which states a forward pass is any pass that goes forward from the the position it was thrown.

There is no momentum rule. Stevo made it up.

There is no problem with the forward pass ruling in rugby league. As mentioned the momentum rule isn't actually used, they look for the direction the ball leaves the hands, ignoring the momentum of the player.



Obviously there is an adjustment for the minor axis difference at Headingly, meaning they add an extra 45 degrees of acceptable angle when a Leeds player is involved.

Firstly there is a momentum rule(I also assumed Stevo had made it up til I read the rulebook)

Secondly, dont you think the referee looking at the direction of the hands is a rubbish way of determining it. The best placed guy to check forward passes is the linesman-why dont they give him the job of calling it.



The number of tries being scored from forward passes and the acceptable angle appears to be increasing year on year. Its getting like American football.

p.s. Saints are the worst culprit

Because nearly every pass on the run would be then classed as a forward pass due to the laws of physics.

There is no 'momentum rule'. However, it is accepted that due to player momentum, the ball might travel forwards in relation the the ground, even though a running player has passed it backwards in relation to himself and the receiving player.



If you were sprinting flat out and tried to pass it backwards in relation to the point on the ground the ball leaves your hands, you'd literally have to hurl it behind you.



Except at Leeds, where they seem to forget the 'backwards' element of the rules.



The International Laws state:

Brilliant.

....we want to see players running forward at full speed be able to pass to a supporting team mate your "rule" would prevent this ever happening. I prefer the rules as they have always been (and currently are).

How would this prevent this ever happening? Not every pass made on the run is forward'"

yes it is...that's physics.

Because we live in a universe governed by the laws of physics and the RFL doesn't have the power to repeal them.



Plus it would be stupid to have a player pass to another player behind him, but have it ruled a forward pass.

If you've not noticed a ball passed backwards can float forward if a player is running fast. The ref only has to look at the players hands when the pass is made to decide whether it went backwards or not. Its probably easier to ref than deciding whether a ball has gone forward.