100% this.

Its not actual rule changes that have done the damage, but the never ending changing "interpretations" aka ill thought-out tinkering. The leaders of the game should establish the set of rules they want and implement them regardless of the short term input of clubs and coaches.

The momentum rule may be incorrectly named but isn’t BS. Without it you would have an entirely different game and teams would be taking it in turns to hand over possession so they weren’t pushed back in attack or it would turn attack’s to simple 1 out plays.

As for offside players within 10m of the catcher. How can they be within 10m and be nowhere near the catcher?

These are entirely different issues to making players play the ball properly which naturally slows the play the ball and so eliminates some of the need for defensive wrestle.

I don't know. Maybe if I did I'd be doing more than just offering opinion on here. At the end of the day it's a joke to have a 'professional' sport where the rules differ depending in which way the wind blows. I do know the Aussies find it hard to look past their own coastline but surely with the right people holding the meetings, they can make people realise the state of the game and what needs to be done.

I never said they weren't entirely different issues.

a) It's hard enough for a full back to achieve anything when 1 v 2, without blatant forward passes like Fax's penultimate try v Dulls.

b) If a chaser is 9m away from full back, he isn't in their eye line or the reason they dropped it, Therefore IMO it should be a knock on.

I don’t see it as a joke, it’s simply where the sport is at. Until we develop more nations that can compete with Australia or SL improves its on and off field strength then the Aussies are going to call the shots.
The only alternative is for us to accept whatever rule changes they bring in regardless of whether they’re suitable or not.
Or we have slightly different rules. I don’t see it as an issue at all. It’s not like one set of rules has eliminated forward passes or offside or anything. They’re very minor differences.
Most sports also have slight differences in rules from league to league or internationals. Such as the multi-ball system or VAR in football along with different rules to rank teams level on points between leagues and European/International comps.

It is hard for a full back on a 2 v 1. Rightly so. He should try and buy time to allow his team mates to get back and help out. That’s not the same as getting rid of the momentum rule which would massively affect the attacking side of the game.

Really? A player 9m away isn’t in their eyeline? At any point? It’s irrelevant whether the full back drops it or not. That player is offside and should be penalised. If the offside player takes himself out of play or is clearly backing off he won’t be penalised. But if he’s still moving forward he should be penalised the same as defenders setting off to early from the defensive line. The knock on is irrelevant.

Walker
Briscoe Newman Hurrell Handley
Sutcliffe Myler
Seumanufagai Dwyer Singleton
Ferres Watkins
Merrin

Oledzki Cuthbertson Smith Sutcliffe / Donaldson / Holroyd

That obviously depends on the fitness of Ferres, Cuthbertson, Walker and Holroyd.

If Watkins is behind Newman as a centre why would you pick him in the forwards? He isn't a second row at all. It might not be a bad thing for him to have a longer break to try to work on basic fitness, particularly speed. If we're down to that I really don't see why we wouldn't pick one of our Academy players ahead of him.

Watkins has played 2nd row for a while now.

A chaser could easily be at an 80 degree angle and not seen by the recipient. Especially seeing as the guy will have his eyes on the ball.

An error has been forced and they've gotten away with it on a technicality.

With regards to these final 2 v 1 passes for tries, I've seen loads that have been forwards (nowhere near even flat). Maybe the refs aren't deeming them to be the momentum rule. Maybe they're just not keeping up with play. If so, they need help from merry flag wavers.

This with Golding in at 17 as back up hooker.

Watkins may have played second row. So has Sutcliffe. Playing there is not the same as being any good at it.

I hope Hurrell is fully fit again for this one. We might still lose but at least we’ll get some entertainment.

We should be desperate in every game until we’re clear of relegation, it’s no good relaxing now London are dead bottom. We could still easily get sucked back into the dogfight here.

But the error is irrelevant. The player is offside. Are you saying a penalty should only be given if there is no knock-on? That would seem a bizarre rule. The player is offside, if he’s still moving forward toward the play he should be penalised, same as in any other situation.

I really haven’t seen that many that are forwards. They might have been caught in front of where they were passed but then that’s usually because in a 2 v 1 the passer often is travelling at speed and so isn’t a forward pass.

One problem with forward passes is how flat supporting players run nowadays. How often do wingers run almost parallel with a centre who's made a break? It makes any kind of pass very high risk, especially as the player with the ball is often at full pace themselves.