Should amend the laws so that any player caught wrong side must drop to the floor. Too often they distract or impede the passer.

Yes he use to do it quite a lot in our derby games especially when the opposition player was down injured, he did it against Wellens (hip injury) Wilkins (head injury) Roby (Rib Injury).

Ah, you're describing Sean o'loughlin blocking the dummy half whenever the opposition need a drop goal, scenario.

I thought the penalty against wire was a joke, Johnson was up and halfway back to the line, powell had to let it after him to throw it at him,it was so obvious and calculated. Though arguably it was in the same grey area as the not square penalties, some refs give them, and give them to certain players, others never give them.

As much as I didn't like it, & it sums up Wigan in one moment, I thought it was intelligent by Powell & naive by Johnson.

It's a cheap and cynical play - but so long as the rules allow it, one can't fault a DH for taking the opportunity.

As has been said - if the defenders get out of the way, the opportunity no longer exists.

He did it this year, when we played at Catalans. Did it in last 60 seconds, milked the penalty which gave them the win. Small margins make all the difference at the end of a season you know.

It’s not as simple as that, how many times have we seen a tackler trapped under the ruck and the opposition gets up and steps over the bloke and plays the ball into his body. And to make it worse sometimes the tackler tries to roll to one side but the acting half plays to that side and passes the ball 6” off the ground.

The ruck and ptb is too heavily weighted to the attacking team, yes teams slow stuff down but as a ball carrier you can trap arms and legs, struggle on top off on below of, throw yourself forward play the ball into a tackle on the floor, move off the mark and even play on without a penalty nowadays,they just send you back.

You literally have to chin someone when in possession to get penalised

That would constitute moving off the mark - and if it were properly penalised on every occasion, it would also negate the situation that the OP was highlighting.

I'm not naïve enough to think it's entirely straightforward in every case; and there should be some allowance for a player being technically in the way, but making an obvious effort to not be - am I right that in the NRL, in those cases, the DH is penalised for deliberately bringing the defender back into play by throwing the ball at him?

The fundamental problem with tackle and ptb infringements is the wild west that the ruck has become; if that were sorted out, a lot of the corollary issues would disappear - but that ship has well and truly sailed, with no real attempt by the governing body to intervene.

Its no different to releasing a ball in a tackle and looking at the ref in the eye and saying "it was stolen sir", like the penalty against SOL in the good Friday derby which was the margin that decided that match

Did it against us in GF to milk a penalty and they took the 2 but it gave us the respite we needed as we were out on our feet. The rest, as they say, is history!

PTBs seem to be quicker in the NRL, perhaps due to the influence of two officials and some more consistent rulings. It looks to be the only way out of the mess. Unfortunately we don’t have enough officials to bring this in over here.

Bellamy and Maguire have a lot to answer for. The way they revolutionised defensive play, especially at the PTB, and had their methods copied by everyone else has ruined the game as a spectacle.

Totally agree. I would like to see 2 refs in SL and see how we go. Personally i think it will make a difference for the better.