The problem with rugby league...

How many North American sports fans out there can say they watched the World Club Challenge of rugby league this week? Not many I suspect, but rugby league is one of my favourites and I downloaded the broadcast of the game as soon as it was available on my favourite BitTorrent site and sat down to watch the intercontinental matchup between the NRL premier Melbourne Storm and the Leeds Rhinos, champions of Europe's Super League.

The game was a very good one as the Australians scored a late try to cruise to an 18-10 victory on the rain slicked pitch at Elland Road. In reality, the game was much closer, with veteran Rhino centre Keith Senior's big mouth being the difference in the game. In the 60th minute, with the teams tied at 10s, Senior grew frustrated with the Storm's tactics in the ruck, specifically their failure to release ball carrier's in a timely manner. Apparently he perceived the actions of the Melbourne tacklers as a an attempt to delay the game and allow the rest of their team to get back in defence, and he expressed his frustrations to the referee. And it cost his team a penalty which resulted in two points, the game winning points, from Cameron Smith.

This is the problem with rugby league as I see it. For those of you familiar with the game, just skip over this paragraph as I will have to explain a little bit about the rules. Rugby league is like rugby union (the rugby you are more familiar with), but with a few different rules. One of the most significant of these rules is that, in rugby league, the rucks are uncontested. That is to say that, once a player is tackled, the defensive team must release the ball carrier, allow him to stand up and roll the ball to a player behind him with his foot, and retreat ten yards. Two players may remain within the ten yards but have to be square to the ball carrier, but that is another rule for another day.

Welcome back experienced rugby league fans. The problem is that there is no clear definition regarding how long the tacklers may hold the ball carrier on the ground. It seems that every referee has a different interpretation. The result is inconsistency and what appear to be random and arbitrary penalty calls. On Sunday, the Rhinos were frustrated by the fact that the referee was allowing the Storm tacklers to hold the ball carrier down for longer than they were used to. The crowd booed mightily after virtually every Melbourne tackle and, according to the commentators, the Leeds brass complained forcefully to the officials at half-time. Melbourne, meanwhile, after being allowed to hold the ball carrier on the ground for three or four seconds throughout the game was penalized on more than one occasion when the referee buckled under the pressure of the home team. On one tackle they would be allowed to hold the man down for close to five seconds and on the next they would be penalized for holding him down for half as long. The reality is that the inconsistent application of the rule actually favoured Leeds, which makes Senior's outburst all the more dimwitted.

But back to the problem. The law regarding when a player is tackled in rugby league needs to be better defined. There is nothing more frustrating than having the momentum of a game changed, or even the outcome decided, because a referee decided to call an infraction that he has been allowing to occur up to that point. Currently, the laws of the game (from the Super League) simply state that:

11.2) A player in possession is tackled:

a) When he is held by one or more opposing players and the ball or the hand or arm holding the ball comes into contact with the ground.

b) When he is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that he can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball.

c) When, being held by an opponent, the tackled player makes it evident that he has succumbed to the tackle and wishes to be released in order to play-the-ball.

Again, this law leads to inconsistent interpretation and application. A more appropriate definition would state that a player is deemed tackled after any of the circumstances in the current law occur, after which the referee will inform the tacklers (verbally) that the man is tackled. The tacklers will then have three seconds to release the ball carrier and allow him to play the ball. Not two seconds, and not four seconds. The referees are already yelling constant instructions to the players so they could even count off the three seconds for the players. This would lead to more consistency and fewer arbitrary penalty calls. Its quite simple, if the tacklers don't release within the three seconds, their team would be penalized. A tackled player who intentionally interferes with a tackler who is trying to release him should also be penalized.

It may sound trivial but, as someone who has only recently discovered this great game, it is an enormous thing to have clear and understandable rules. Clear and understandable rules legitimize a sport in the eyes of the new and casual observer. All codes of rugby, by their nature and with its many rules, already provides its officials with incredible influence of the result of a contest. Any opportunity to minimize this influence should be exercised. If rugby league is to flourish outside of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, this is a change that must be made.