wonder if it would help for the video refs to have use of a system whereby they can mark with say a red line the point at which the ball is thrown and another to show where it is caught which shows forward or not???

No, because as explained at some length in this thread the point at which the ball is thrown and caught is irrelevant to whether it's a forward pass or not.

I guess whilst there is no definative answer it will always remain a grey area open to interpretation by any given official then but i know i may be old school but if a ball is thrown forwards regardless of speed or size etc its still simply a forward pass to me
RL was a simple game made very difficult by additions to the rules over the years

I wouldn't say that this was an addition to the rules, its just the correct interpretation of what constitutes a forward pass

this surely isn't that difficult to understand.....

But there [iis[/i a definitive answer. It's in the Laws of the Game.


It's not about being 'old school'. It's about ignoring the real world. You can throw a ball backwards and it will still travel forwards relative to the ground. It really is very simple and something you experience all the time in everyday life.


The Forward Pass Law hasn't been changed.

I've come to the conclusion that some people just don't [iwant[/i to understand. They prefer being able to shout "FORRRWARRRD!" every time a pass (only by an opposition player, mind) drifts so much as a millimetre towards the opposition sticks.

There needs to be a forward pass campaign to create forward pass awareness!

Looked forward to me.

He passes it on the 20 metre line and Monaghan catches it after the 20metre line....FORWARD PASS.

It is Paul....no amount of old fanny will change the fact it was a bloody mile forward.

They were both moving forward..... oh, forget it!

You could do that with a perfectly legal pass if you were running fast enough and passed sideways.

As I said, at full speed I'd have called that forward. With freeze frame it might be legal. In play you'd expect that to be called forward TBH.

OK, with numbers;

If a player is running at 10mph (might be fast but is a good example) this equates to 4.5 metres per second,

If they pass the ball exactly level (assuming no wind resistance), it will continue to move forward 4.5 metres for every second that it is airborne,

If the ball is in the air for 1 second, and passed exactly level, it will have moved 4.5 meters past the place where the player passed it