From the kick off, if a receiving player is straddling the dead ball line when he takes the ball, if the ball has bounced, a goal line drop out should be awarded as the ball has gone out of play. If the ball has not bounced when he catches it, it is a penalty on half way as the catching player did not take it dead, it is already dead if/when he catches it.
From a kick in general play, whether the ball bounces or not, if a player catches the ball straddling the dead ball line, it is a 20 metre restart as the ball is deemed already dead because he caught it when outside the field of play.
With regards to the Whiting incident, as the kick was in general play and he jumped from out of play, the ball is already dead when he touched it, whether he touched the ball inside the playing area or not. It is about where he jumped from, not where he touched it. If he touched it having come from out of play, play goes on as if he didnt touch it and it just went out of play.
Before anyone questions me, I have passed the RFL match official course and that is my interpretation of the rules.
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