Yep, that's the other one that gets on my nerves that's crept into the game the last few years, along with the second marker holding onto the back of his teammates' shirt but standing a meter or so to the left or right of the actual PTB.

Yes I agree. Hicks remains the worse for me he literally gifted leeds the game Thursday last week. His attitude stinks of big headedness

They're all easy to deal with - but there seems to be no appetite to do anything that could be perceived as slowing the game down.

Again I totally disagree IMHO.

How is it possibly right that one player, in this case Fifita is penalised for an offence virtually none of his peers ever are. RL is a game of split seconds, those suspect PTB' can make all the difference and often do. Why would anyone want one of their players to be the only one not to take advantage, utterly bizzare especially when in this case it was incredibly borderline! If we were to follow your ethos and not take it to the limit on occasions then I hope you enjoy visiting Dewsbury and Batley.

As for CC how do you know thats what he was referring to because I seriously doubt he was. Fifita wanted a quick PTB so we could score and wrap the game up, thats what any sane person would want because the game simply wasn't won and at that point a DG wasn't on IMO. What happened next was a pedantic and imho an unjustified penalty which gifted Salford the ball. What happened next was some sloppy defending, its that which cost us not Fifita who was only doing his job.

Yours is such a negative and defeatist view and its held this club back for years, though clearly i'm not directly blaming you for that. To win you simply have to take a chance and push it but with that comes risk, thats when teams have to man up and fans have to live with it instead of pointing fingers.

I don't know where I got this stat but apperently 90% of tries are either scored because of a breakdown in defences caused by the defending team losing it's formation etc or by an illegal move by the attacking team that has disadvantaged a defender but went unseen by the ref - you simply have to push it to win most games - why do you think they scaled back the VT to just the last play? - it was getting embarrassing for refs that's why.

It's simply a case of Fifita is being picked on for this particular infringement and it's unfair, it's not a heresy to think that.

In my opinion it’s not about the p t b but the laying on at the tackle with the player looking at the ref that is more important, this should be penalised it slows the game down too much

Chester specifically said in his interview they were setting up for the drop goal.

I think you're probably over thinking this. Fifita is a fantastic prop forward, I just think sometimes he becomes a little bit over exuberant at times and that's when the mistakes come in. I don't mind players taking a risk, but there is a time and a place.

Also, I don't think for a minute he's being picked on, but if he is then there's only one way to stop it. Same goes for any player who feels their a marked man.

How about the fact that as Fifita was attempting to play the ball he was being pulled down by his shirt. Clear penalty to Wakefield to me.

Haven't seen the incident so can't talk specifics. However, in response to those calling for the letter of the law to be applied to the PTB, I'd suggest that as well as more penalties for incorrect PTBs you'd also see a lot more for very trivial instances of interference that might, theoretically, be deemed to have resulted in a failure to play it correctly. And while James Child might like it, I'm not sure I would.

"The tackled player shall without delay regain his feet where he was tackled, lift the ball clear of the ground, face his opponent’s goal line and drop or place the ball on the ground in front of his foremost foot."

"No part of the tackled player’s person other than his feet should be in contact with the ground when he releases the ball."

I'm the one over thinking it

The abject failure of successive referees to properly police the play the ball has led to the current mess we have to endure. The problem has now spread as the ball technically returns to play when it is heeled backwards at the PTB. As that doesn't happen, penalties for moving up too quickly are a lottery. Most teams get off the mark as soon as the tackled player regains his feet.

Has anyone questioned why we have this headlong pursuit to increase the speed of the game. It is already the quickest and most physical game on earth. Perhaps the whole game would benefit from being slowed down slightly and played at a less frantic tempo. This would probably allow that more gifted players that extra millisecond of time to weave their magic. At the moment the game has been dumbed down to whoever is quickest off the mark. We could look at Union, they take about 5 minutes for a scrum and 2 minutes for a lineout once the players have had a little huddle. Successive players then dive to the ground with the ball to achieve 227 phases of play until a penalty is given. And yet they still get crowds prepared to pay for almost 10 minutes of action out of 80 and the way the BBC is wetting itself over the Six Nations defies belief.

But perhaps we are missing the point. The slower pace of Union allows for a more measured, considered, intelligent commentary even though there is no action to discuss. Then again, with the peerless Eddie, Baz & Tez, perhaps we do need to speed the game up further.

I much prefer RL to RU and RU at international level tends to be a more negative experience. The difference being at club level R U come along way from the kick and run churned out 10 years ago.
The international games are more of an event and attract many spectators who have little or no interest in the game itself. The corporate sides excellent more often than not booked well in advance.
Trying to book a corporate event at Wembley for the cc a nightmare and not inviting.
I don't think RL will ever be able to provide the full package to anyone without an interest in the sport.

Another rule that seems to have disappeared is that of the "voluntary tackle". I thought that on receiving the ball from a kick then the player must make an attempt to move forward and not fall to the ground and wait for an opposing player to complete a "tackle" otherwise it would be a penalty. All teams do it and Grix made a blatant vt last Friday with no consequences OR has the rule been scrapped?

I agree. Kendall is a bit younger so let's not be harsh. In refereeing terms he's still a young one. He'll get better.
Thaler is by far the best ref though. The older I get the more respect I have for refs. Don't half hear some rubbish from the stands. You usually look a fool when you see incidents back on tv. Not to say they don't make the odd shocker though. The call against Fifita was pretty unforgivable.