I assume Cummins explanation is correct as per the rules because I always thought you could ground it with the forearm

So if you have possession, lose it from the hand and don't regain it you cant score by simultaneously grounding the ball with your forearm like last night where as if you never lost the ball, from a kick for example, downward pressure with the forearm is sufficient?

I suppose in reality there was little control last night when McGuire 'scored' but then, if chasing a kick and grounding with a forearm, how much control do you really have?

Anyway glad thats cleared up :p

Loves a big 10 does Phil Bentham

it should be

Except the laws say it isn't.

"If, after 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."

Without watching it back frame-by-frame, I'm not sure the ball didn't make contact with the ground before/at the same time as Lomax kicked it though.

Much like the McGuire one at the DW a couple of years ago, where he knocked on then kicked through for someone to score, only for the VR to chalk it off.

The try that Hall scored in the GF I think it was 2008 the one where he kicked through looked like it his wrist.Must take a look

As I said above from what Cummins said, downward pressure is fine with other parts of the body, but if the ball has dropped from the hand it has to be regained by the hand before anything else in order to not be a knock on in the act of scoring.

he did but he kicked it ahead and never lost it as mcguire did

As opposed to knocking on deliberately?

Just be glad RL doesn't have 'kick n clap' rules - YET....... The players this year are scared to try and intercept anything - if they don't quite make it, they end up with a 10 minute sin bin for a deliberate knock-on ..... killed off breakaway tries in one fell swoop, that rule has.

The McGuire no try was similar to the Menzies no try at the KC Stadium the week before and both were correctly ruled out by the video referees involved (Smith and Thaler) for the same reason. Good consistent work from the officials.


People hold up the NRL system on video decisions as the way forward but it also has a built in deficency, IMO. A referee calls a try and the video referee will be forced to call a try without a significant error is detected. So last week in the Manly game a try by the Manly winger had to stand because there was insufficient evidence to overturn the decision. Had the on field referee ruled no try the video referee would have had no problem confirming the decision. The try in that instance had to be awarded but probably shouldn't and wouldn't have been under the SL way of calling decisions.

If I don't see an almost identical try (to the McGuire one) given by the video ref next year I'll be amazed. That's what's annoying, on another day it'll probably be given.

What I find far more annoying is sets of fans, who don't know the rules or didn't see the incident properly, berating officials for getting the decision spot on.

In Saints game:

Watkins reaction looked like he didn't think he'd scored....but he did.

McGuires reaction looked like he thought he scored....but he didn't.

Trust nobody.