According to the laws, 11.10 "Regain feet (b) 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 [udrop[/u or place the ball on the ground [uin front[/u of his foremost foot."



So the laws still allow a player to drop the ball and in front of his front foot. Watch the old tapes and this was quite common. How come that without exception a referee in today's game will invariably award a knock-on?

Because the dropping of the ball in order to play it has to be a deliberate act and not accidental. If the player made a show of deliberately dropping the ball to play it then he should be allowed to continue. However if he's lost possession (ie accidentally dropped it) it should be given as a knock on.

So i guess as long as he dosnt touch the ball with his foot or make an action of playing the ball then it would be play on?

Well yes, he's just rolled the ball through his legs in a backwards direction. It's not a play the ball, so he's not pretending to be tackled in order to con the ref. But why would he?!

You are Ben Thaler



Team A is playing against Hull Kingston Rovers





Team A gets the ball on the 7th tackle, throws 3 forward passes to the centre who then kicks ahead. The ball is regathered by Team A's winger who was in an offside position, he cuts back across field running behind several team mates before throwing another forward pass to the winger on the other side who drops the ball forward, regathers and is halted just short by the Rovers fullback. The winger proceeds to reach out double movement style and drop the ball on the try line



What do you do?





Obviously wipe the tackle count and award a try before sending off the closest Rovers player to you for incorrect wearing of the mouth guard

You ignore everything any Rovers fan says as they only have one eye, and watch out for the full back who is trying to break your leg

Why not try attending a match officials course then demonstrating to the world your perfect application of the rules, without any ambiguity or interpretation?

Who are you addressing here?

Calm down, no-one in particular, just the average fan who holds an opinionated voice about the rules without ever reading them, and/or their interpretation without ever trying to apply them.

I am calm, don't worry. I've taken the Match Officials course so I'm alright!

But that's not what the law says, it makes no distinction between deliberate and accidental and a referee cannot determine intent.

Because a deliberate drop would have to be played immediately (backwards) by the foot. A player accidentally dropping the ball will not have time or presence of mind to do this so it invariably won't be a correct PTB anyway.