FFS, apart from Stevo's imagination there is not nor ever has been a "momentum rule". A pass is deemed forward in relation to the man making the pass, not the flight of the ball. It doesn't matter if the ball is caught 20 metres forward of the passer, providing the player passing the ball did not propel it towards his oponents' dead ball line.



Look to the position of the passing player's hands, once the ball has left them, the flight of the ball is completely irrelevant

There are no "linesmen" in Rugby League.



There are however thousands upon thousands of clueless speccies, as this thread has shown



HTH

Spot on mate.

Rugby League is an absolute joke.

The rule should be alot more simpler i.e if the ball does not travel backwards then it is deemed a forward pass or if they player catching the ball is not behind the player passing the ball then it is deemed forward, simples realy

funny because the RFLs own operational rules use the word momentum to describe exactly that....clearly they are describing a situation were momentum of the player induces the same to the ball hence why the ball appears to travel forward from point of release. Whilst not specifying a 'momentum' rule it is exactly that.

"A player running towards his opponents’ goal line may throw the ball towards a colleague who is behind him but because of the thrower’s own momentum the ball travels forward relative to the ground. This is not a forward pass as the thrower has not

passed the ball forward in relation to himself. This is particularly noticeable when a running player makes a high, lobbed pass."

Now compare the above to Stevo's "momentum rule". What you have quoted is a guide to the forward pass rule: there is no momentum rule. It has nothing to do with where the passing player starts or stops his run. Phil Clarke tried to tell Dumb & Dumberer but they were having none of it. The clarification you have quoted serves only to reinforce the point that the pass is deemed forward relative to the player making the pass and not the flight of the ball.

Nothing needs changing, it is already "simples". It was only made difficult by an idiot offering an explanation that Sir Stanley Unwin (you young'uns look him up on youtube), would've been proud of

Indeed, which is down to momentum

This would require just about every pass to be made while standing still or jogging slowly. The current rule is fine - it's just the morons on Sky who've confused the issue.

I know this thread is about forward passes but I think the RFL has to look into the role of touch judges in general much more. It seems that a touch judge only offers his opinion when asked by the referee, they don't seem to intervene enough. I don't want them on the pitch all the time but if they see something they need to support the referee more.



I think it was against Cas that the touch judge in front of me in the West Stand ran on with flag raised because of a dangerous Cas tackle, only to run back to his line as play continued. If he saw something that warranted him entering the field of play, then he should have had the courage of his convictions to bring it to the attention of the referee.



On Sunday, Cudjoe took out Yeamo after a Hull knock on but Huddersfield were awarded the scrum with no action against Cudjoe. The touch judge could not failed to have seen the incident but was satisfied with the award of the scrum.

Don't blame the TJ for that one, Alibert also saw the incident and clearly stated he had already blown for the knock on. Now I don't know when or if any guidelines have changed but I was always under the impression that a penalty will always trump a scrum