Eels Blogs

Replies

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  Snakey - Sack Dylan Brown July 13, 2014 at 10:09pm

  Very good blog and points Bean, ive no idea what the rule is, i thought you couldnt push, who knows what the actual rule is.

  You should be able to push and contest the ball imo, scrums have gone to shit in the last 20 years.
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  Skipper July 13, 2014 at 10:23pm

  I also noticed at one point we played the ball near their line and someone reached out and hit the arm of our dummy half - play on. Hayne has been penalised every time he does this.
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    Bernie Dowling > Skipper July 13, 2014 at 10:44pm

    I am not sure of the rule but it should be a penalty every time. You cannot call it poor ball security when someone gets his arm knocked in trying to pass. Yet I've seen refs let it go heaps of times.
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  parra supporter July 13, 2014 at 10:26pm

  Fair call on the weekend, the refs usually make the players redo the scrum as that's easier then getting ridiculed if they make the odd mistake. Most rules are similar, the refs have on paper what can and can't be done, but they fail to take it into practice consistently. A major example is batting the hand when the ball is played, if the balls been played you have all the right to put your Hand around the player and make the, throw a poor pass, but the refs see it easier to just blow a penalty. Other examples are obstruction and the shoulder barge. It's a definate grey area in our game.
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  Will 5150 July 13, 2014 at 10:52pm

  I didn't think you could push anymore which is why scrums are full of backs these days and void of pushing / movement / contest etc. If what the Warriors did was allowed then surely it would a) happen regularly and b) teams would actually fill a scrum with forwards. That said, if pushing is not allowed then Parra would have blown up about it or the Kiwis would have been penalised one would think. What happened yesterday doesn't make much sense either way.

  Mind you - parking the rules for a sec (whatever they actually are), I thought it looked great. I'd love to see scrums full of forwards, ball in the middle, loose head and feed being the only advantage and a true contest. All Blacks would have been proud of that Warriors scrum!

  What we have now is an absolute blight on the game - the scrum doesn't know what the hell it is or is meant to be - nor do the refs or even players. Surely it is not hard to just go one way or the other? Have it be a proper contest between hookers and bound pushing forwards.... or piss it off altogether. Unfortunately, this is NRL admin which means we will just continue along in some wishy washy grey middle area and say we're always looking at things but they're complicated etc.
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    Bernie Dowling > Will 5150 July 13, 2014 at 11:09pm

    I can't see any reason why a knock on or forward pass could not be just be change of possession,  You would have to allow players time to get onside, but that happens anyway. Why not give it a go in trial matches to see if it needs to be tweaked.
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  Cranky Brad is here!!! July 14, 2014 at 12:20am

  You have always been aloud to push in the scrum but no one does it. When someone does it they freak out.
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  mrbrightside July 14, 2014 at 4:56am

  We won one against the feed a couple of weeks back if i recall correctly....
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  Eeldarado July 14, 2014 at 4:58am

  Correct me if I'm wrong or a rule change that may have come into affect, and I played this to grade level many ,many years back pushing in the scrum was part and parcel of contesting the ball, you were allowed to push as soon as the ball was fed into the scrum, regardless of who "fed the ball" it seems the scrum has become a fixture in the game that has been kept to appease the traditionalists in the game instead of just having a "turnover" the issue seems that clubs just don't place any effort into scrums anymore and are just glad to quickly pack the scrum and retrieve the ball back, "through a second row feed " or otherwise!
  
  Now as I said maybe the rule changed but I doubt it and if any penalty were to be given a " differential penalty" would have to be given meaning the side cannot take a shot at goal!
  
  if you ask me Parramatta's attitude the other night was that poor they were caught with their "pants down" in a simple scrum the other side showed their real knowledge of the rule book and Our sides lack of muscle up front and lack of determination and urgency in the scrum, was their undoing, they did not expect it!
  
  As I said maybe the rules have changed but, I don't think they have as I see it from the "old rule book the warriors did nothing wrong and played by the rule book!
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  Will 5150 July 14, 2014 at 8:33am

  Found the rule:

  Pushing

  4. It is permissible for forwards to push - except where the Safeplay Code applies, once the scrum has been correctly formed but if it moves an appreciable distance to the disadvantage of any one team before the ball is put in then the Referee shall order the scrum to reform in its original position.

  So nothing wrong with what the Warriors did at all. Question - why do more teams not do this then? It would seem that most teams would never be ready for a strong push from a tightly bound pack.

  Also interesting is that the way the rules are written, it should be only forwards in the scrums - it does not say 'acting as' with reference to the forwards nor does it simply say 'players'. The exception being injuries to the forward pack then a team is allowed to pack a scrum 'less' players starting from the back.