Ball in touch or touch in-goal or dead in-goal (Section 9)

A player is deemed to be in touch if any part of his body touches the touchline or anything outside of the playing field. Similarly, a player is deemed to be touch in-goal or dead in-goal if any part of his body touches the touch in-goal or dead-ball line or anything outside the field of play in those areas. If a player who is in touch, touch in-goal or dead in-goal touches a moving ball then the team who kicked the ball or knocked on are responsible for the ball going out of play. However, if the ball is stationary in the field of play and is then touched by a player who is in touch, touch in-goal or dead in-goal then that player is responsible for the ball going dead.

Yep, should have been a 20m restart for Wigan not a drop out.

you can forgive a Ref for getting a decision wrong when unsighted, but not knowing the rules of the game is unforgiveable...I blame "scummins" thank f**k he is going......

The problem with him is that he always seemed to take the side of the refs. Very rare he didn't and by doing that he just made things worse because things that looked clear cut wrong were often explained away in a very obscure manner. So no one was any the wiser as to how laws should be interpreted.

In the case of Hick's I'd be interested to know what he thought about that decision but then again I'd rather he just kept quiet rather than make something up on the cuff to try and explain it!

no doubt he will say that he thought sam still had a foot in the field of play.......even though all pictures and stills from the game clearly show he was outside the in goal area....

You would have more respect for the ref if he actually owned up and said he got it wrong but it was a spur of the moment decision.

I've watched it on Wigan t.v.The in goal judge made the call, but when you watch it he was looking too see if Liam Colbon was about to score and not where Sams feet were.

It's the in-goal judge and touch judge who should take the flack for that imo.

But IIRC Hick's was on the spot anyway. If I am right the pair of them got wrong.

End of the day Hick messed up, just like everyone messes something at work. It would be good however if Cummins or the referee involved just said it once in a while.

The main point from all this is the same bone of contention we've had for some time. Whilst I agree Sam should have held his tongue, it's not hard to understand his frustration at the sheer incompetence of the officials. Let's be honest, this wasn't the only example during this match! The problem I have with it is, as is too often the case, when a ref gets it wrong (which happens) they aren't big enough to accept this and handle the situation accordingly. Hicks chose to compound the error by sending Sam off when he could just as easily have put him on a warning. In fact a simple "I may have got that one wrong but the decision has been made so let's deal with it." would probably have calmed the situation. All too often we see refs 'flexing their muscles' and, in the process, making things worse. It was a sad indication of the refereeing standards we currently 'enjoy' that the referee had more impact on the first of that game than any of the players on the pitch. That should never be the case. Refs are human and make mistakes. A little dose of humility and understanding that we, as spectators, are paying to watch the sport and not them wouldn't go amiss.

Can I just add this one to the debate as it happened a few time on Sunday.

A pass goes behind the receiver, he reaches back and touches it. The ref deems it a knock on because it seems he has slowed it's 'backward progress' Fair enough assumption but look at it this way.

If that player had a London shirt on it would be a dead set knock on.

So what I'm suggesting to the refs is, if it's not clear cut, imagine the touch came from the opposition player. It would be crystal clear one way or another and you can't have both.

Whether he's right or wrong, you can't question a referee in the way that Sam did.

The ruling on a knock on these days seems to be that if you mis handle a pass then it's a knock on regardless of which way it goes. TBH I agree with it. I bet most coaches would put it down as an error.

On the end of his legs ?