Rather than me in particular filling up other threads, I thought I'd open one for general questions for those of us with limited knowledge of the sport. Equally no problem you regulars raising topics that even as knowledgeable followers you want to discuss. Not even sure a qualified referee knows everything!

Please be kind to those who look to help and don't try and ridicule them if their answer isn't perfect; it just stops people helping if they think they will be judged. Years ago I attended a presentation/Q&A in a bar by a professional Basketball Referee. It was very good. But even he left us flabbergasted at one point. A fan was asking about the intricacies' of basket interference (differences between the NBA and European rules).on an alley oop. He didn't have a clue about the question however well the fan repeated it. Pretty certain he understood the calls to make though if it happened on court, but he seemed oblivious to the term "alley oop". But the fans respected that and didn't treat him with disdain because of that and just moved on to the next question.

As to whether there are other newbies on this forum at the moment mind !

So I have a question.

Is AFC Wimbledon's pitch a bit short for a Standard Rugby League pitch. I believe it is 105m x 68m looking at the internet.

Is a Rugby League pitch meant to be 100m plus 2x6m in goal? If so are exceptions allowed?

Looks like the width is spot on, but those in goal areas look like 5.5m's or so. I was very confused by the lines at around 20m for example. A second line was added on match day (wasn't present at the football the day before) about a metre from from the other. Was this because each half was less than 50m. So when running out from the 10 yard line the defence had to start at the line (probably 20m) nearest the centre. But when defending from the 30m line, the defence had to use the line (probably 19m) nearest the goal. Easy examples to illustrate.

Am I anywhere near the mark. On the day I thought the groundsman had got his first lines wrong, but now I think there was more to it.

It's a good question. The pitch itself is a decent size and better than a lot out there. In goals look tight but then look at old Trafford in goals when that is used.
For markings, 10 and 20 need to be correctly spaced from goal line. 40 mtr is interesting one generally it's 10 mtrs from centre line.
As for defensive line, it's the referee who is setting the 10mtr back from the PTB. The lines on the pitch notably 30 mtr are not always spaced correctly. Example used if ptb is on the 40 mtr line, then the 30 mtr line is not always 10mtrs so players and referees need to be aware of spacing. Yes I am a ref, at community level, I personally pace out the lines to check if they are 10 mtrs and if I can use them as a guide. At higher grades I know officials judge 10 mtrs without to much reliance on the pitch markings due to different length pitches.
If the ref is not in defensive line not setting the 10 players are still responsible and expected to be onside, so players should also be aware of short markings.

Thank-you ... I should have looked at more than the first result returned by google. Schoolboy error !

Very interesting. Thank-you.

Does that suggest that the two lines (extending touchline to touchline) about a yard apart at around 20m were the result of the original line being incorrect (maybe even identified by an official) and the correct one added last minute? They were basically rail lines and not just at 20m. Certainly looked strange.

Best advice I can give is to watch old challenge cup finals and internationals on video.
When I started folowing I borrowed tapes and got a far better understanding of the game and rules from that than trying to grasp them at a live game

Yes I agree trying to grasp the rules etc from a live game isn't the best way.

I'll probably check out some of the current season matches on Channel 4 / Premier Sports to get a feel for the flow of the game etc.

Can't remember seeing those lines. I know multiple markings can cause confusion with players, york City knights and fev game showed that, Jesse injured himself I think from not being sure of which line was try line at LNER..
TBH didn't look too close at markings at plough Lane, penalty box line can't be too far from 20 mtr but that does not go line to line.
SL on sky depends on the commentary, Eddie and Stevo got into habit of criticising every decision rather than just calling the game.
So depends on who is commentating this season.
Premier sport commentary was not too bad.
Don't forget RFL and NRL play different rules in some areas

ur https://imgur.com/a/iA6Io5L This link shows the pitch at Plough Lane last night with lots of unusual (?) markings from the Rugby League.

ur https://imgur.com/a/iA6Io5L This link shows the pitch at Plough Lane last night with lots of unusual (?) markings from the Rugby League.

Just had a look at club video, certainly looks like the groundsman got his lines wrong with the double lines on the 20/40 mtr, see what you mean now. Reckon someone spotted em marked wrong and they needed re doing

My initial thoughts were probably correct then. It didn't look right to me.

Thanks very much for taking a look at the pitch on the club video, as my description didn't really paint (sic) the picture.

It was quite funny after the practice night a week ago with football fans asking what the big crosses were at the football match afterwards. Haven't heard anybody refer to the additional tram lines after last night mind..

If you're at a game there could be a live commentary on the BBC Sounds app so you could pop an earpiece into one ear and listen in. Obviously it'll be on a Northern regional station and shockingly biased, but it could help you get an idea of things like penalties, refereeing decisions etc...
Sometimes I find , especially if the ref is wearing green ( against the background of a green pitch) , it is not always easy to spot the ref and if he makes his signal quickly you find yourself thinking ' what was that for?'

Brilliant idea. Thank-you.

Although the days of going to the cricket and you could listen to the radio in sync to what you are seeing have gone due to the digital delay, it's more the little details I need to hear, in fact b the time I've gone "what happened there" I'd probably get my answer!

Will certainly look out to see if there is any commentary for any of the future matches.

I often find the same even when the ref is clearly visible.

The Dons Trust confirmed a week ago that the lines were incorrectly marked and had to reapplied on the Widnes match day.

Whilst todays match with Whitehaven was a write-off I did learn something. Now don't laugh, but it is one of those things attending a live match helps with. I realised I've never known how teams (typically) set up defensively. Now that I know the Broncos player positions (obviously squad numbers only help a bit, rather than the starters wearing 1-13) I was able to watch the defensive line. It was interesting watching the half backs who appeared to slot between the wingers and centres, although they seemed to not always cleanly slot in, perhaps because the are moving from centre field areas when attacking to wide out when defending.

Smithers, sounds like you are actually enjoying watching the game
Our defensive structure today was interesting at points, smallest London player was tackling biggest haven player, so not ideal, even if he did a good job of it

Now that is getting to advanced for me! At the moment I'm just trying to work out what each role appears to do and linking it to the individual Bronco players. At some point I'd like to be in a better position to praise or criticise a player on a play, and at the even more advanced level, recognise where that good or bad play is more attributable to the coach than the player.

Today was frustrating as the teams appeared reasonably matched, but I'm struggling to remember any highlight moments from the Broncos. Generally in ball sports between two teams low on quality you at least get scores and excitement from mistakes etc. The Broncos looked so poor on attack and both defences looked solid (although I suspect that was more attributable to the oppositions poor quality offence).

I have the advantage over most of you, that this is effectively my starting level with the bonus knowledge that the quality can't really fall any lower (that's different from hammerings likely to happen). I'm not sure how to read the fact that Workington only lost 10-26 to Featherstone today. I watched the youtube highlights of Featherstone/Leigh and Featherstone looked very good against top opposition. Workington achieved that a week after an annihilation by Widnes, a team who for 60 minutes against London were better, but not ridiculously so.

Have scrums always been like this? I know they were never the alpha Union style, but they look like a coffee morning meeting! The only "action" I can envisage is an against the head strike, but how often does that happen considering the apparent lack of any physicality in the scum?

I was a little surprised that scrums came back after they were suspended for COVID. I'm not aware they have changed much in recent years and to me serve little purpose other than perhaps creating space for the backs.

Scrums are very seldom contested in RL teams don't seem to want to even try.
Ball usually goes in through the loose head prop fwds legs, straight into the second row, soon as it is behind second row feet ball is out.
The art is breaking from the scrum at right time
They are supposed to bind correctly , loose fwd binding as long as his arms are around second row, head should be down.
So yip in comparison to ru its a coffee meeting g

Smithers you are bang on with assessment of the game, it was pretty basic RL and defenses were pretty evenly matched from 2 pretty equal team. Haven had the edge all the way through though, mainly due to more enthusiasm rather than skill.
The worky fev game, fev likely went into that game disrespecting the opposition a little bit hence the result
Good teams performance sometimes drop when playing against weaker teams.
Our first game against widnes, they were not great and likely got a roasting from coach for not taking us to the cleaners, hence last week's result.

Smithers, the telling point on which team were winning the defensive battle was evident with which team were getting penalised for offside, and which team were getting set restarts