Quote: Disco "Aye ok..20 years of my eyes deceiving me.'"
Apologies for being dismissive in my previous post, I have managed to find the rulebook on the RFL website (not an easy task).
The rulebook states a knock on is [i'to knock the ball towards the opponents’ dead ball line with hand or arm, while playing at the ball'[/i.
It then goes on to state that ifafter knocking-on accidentally, the player knocking-on regains or kicks the ball before it touches the ground, a goal post, cross bar or an opponent, then play shall be allowed to proceed. Otherwise play shall stop and a scrum shall be formed except after the fifth play-the-ball.[/i It is clear that Westerman knocked the ball forwards. Now your quote that it is only a knock on if it touches the ground, an opposition player or a post looks right, however the important bit here is that the player who knocks it forward must regain the ball, and he didn't, therefor knock on.
Now this is where you may state that it is covered by the forward pass rule (as per your previous post), however a pass is defined asa throw of the ball from one player to another[/i. It is pretty clear that Westerman did not
throw the ball, so it cannot be classed as a pass.
This was my original point when stating that it had all the characteristics of a knock on (a knock towards the opposition line, and not regained by this player), and no characteristics of a forward pass (a throw of the ball).
