For a really good explanation check out this YouTube video recent meeting.]

Wish someone would tell stevo there is no such thing as the momentum rule- its a bleeding law of universal physics!!!!!
That's why you can't use cameras to determine a forward pass because when moving at speed the ball will always be caught in front if where it was passed- the only way of doing it would be to use gps to determine the speed of the person passing and the distance the ball travelled since linear momentum = mass of object x velocity of object. You could then calculate whether a force had been applied to the ball in a forward direction.

But couldn't you use video ref decision? All he would have to look at would be players hand movement? Even easier in slow-mo.

I'm in agreement with this.

Surely a system can be implemented into the video refs to edit the video, draw a line across the pitch where the ball is passed, and then draw a line where the ball is recieved .. If the second line is infront of the other then it's forward .. Simple, easy to use .. The same can be done for any very close onside/offside decisions?

Add a bit of 'Hawk Eye' technology and you can see the forward movement of the player passing and therefore easy plot whether the ball was passed infront or not.

Simple, easy to use and completely flawed. The ball has motion prior to it being passed and your proposal doesn't take that into account. The ball needs to move backwards in relation to the motion it had at the point of it being passed. A ball could end up being in front of the release point despite being passed backwards relative to the motion it had at the point of release and it is this that makes the issue more complicated than simply freeze framing twice and drawing a couple of lines.

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO! read the comments and watch the vid - because the ball WILL almost always be received in front of the first line if passed at speed. The ball has MOMENTUM it continues to move in a forward direction - the faster the player who is passing the ball is travelling the further forward the ball will travel - you can not determine speed from a video camera!
Run fast and drop a ball (backwards) over your shoulder when you reach a set marker - the ball will travel forward from that marker through the air and land in front of it - the faster you run the further in front it will land.
Its like if you crash a car into a wall - the driver is flung forwards when the car has been stopped by the wall due to momentum.

This should be decided by the crowd. If they can generate an agreed number of dBs from shouting the word forward, it's deemed a forward pass. Simples.

Every pass at an away game would be pulled up for a forward pass!!!!

Best shout for forward that I seen was at hull kr when I think Robinson dummied a pass and the crowd shouted forward even tho it didn't leave his hands.. Talking 3-4 years ago now. Anyways the video is perfect explanation just don't know why it can't be used in video ref. It's as simple as just looking at hand movement.

Quote: jools "Wish someone would tell stevo there is no such thing as the momentum rule- its a bleeding law of universal physics!!!!! That's why you can't use cameras to determine a forward pass because when moving at speed the ball will always be caught in front if where it was passed- the only way of doing it would be to use gps to determine the speed of the person passing and the distance the ball travelled since linear momentum The aussies are already looking at using GPS technology. www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl- ... public_rss

Quote: jools "Wish someone would tell stevo there is no such thing as the momentum rule- its a bleeding law of universal physics!!!!! That's why you can't use cameras to determine a forward pass because when moving at speed the ball will always be caught in front if where it was passed- the only way of doing it would be to use gps to determine the speed of the person passing and the distance the ball travelled since linear momentum The aussies are already looking at using GPS technology. www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl- ... public_rss

Really good video this.
Perhaps it should be shown to the sideline decoration known as linesmen that we regularly have.

Apparently it is, according to our recent speaker JC.