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Deliberate knock on, penalty?

Ciaran Trainor

Ciaran Trainor


Referees in England
Just back from local RL game and was stood watching with an RL ref friend of mine.
Deliberate knock on occurs from a pass, no attempt to catch the ball, ref gives scrum.
I say in my game (RU) that's a penalty and everyone knows that.
He says yes I know, it is in RL but it is never given!
Is that true?
 
Nope... knock on is a scrum in RL, whether deliberate or accidental.

Also, you also have to 'play the ball' for it to be a knock on. If the ball plays you is is play on, even if it goes forward.
 
[LAWS]Section 10:
1. A player shall be penalised if he deliberately knocks on or passes forward.[/LAWS]

It's certainly in the rule book but we don't use it for knocking down passes. Never even heard it discussed tbh!
 
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ctrainor said:
Deliberate knock on occurs from a pass, no attempt to catch the ball
Click to expand...

This is one of those irregular verbs. I have made an over-optimistic attempt to intercept a pass. He has deliberately knocked on. They have just conceded a penalty try...

I do think Union, or at least some people who post on here, can be far too harsh on players who go for intercepts; I've got tiny hands and I can catch a ball one-handed. On the other hand, deliberately knocking on is far less useful a tactic for a League defender because even though he's not going to get penalised, he's still given the attackers a fresh set of six.

Penalty for deliberate knock-on is still in the laws, but anyone who actually tried to give one in Skirlaugh or Millom would get laughed off the pitch.
 
Thanks for that confirmation. Would love to see that given in a league game.
I wonder if anyone would be brave enough to give a penalty.
 
ctrainor said:
Thanks for that confirmation. Would love to see that given in a league game.
I wonder if anyone would be brave enough to give a penalty.
Click to expand...
I don't think it would be a "brave" decision, I think it would be a ludicrous one, against the precedent which has been set for 100 years of the game.

I notice there seem to be a few referees on this forum who decide their reading of the law is different to the interpretation used almost universally and as such use that on the weekends. I don't think this is something which should be applauded. As referees we should strive towards consistency, not refereeing a law differently to 99% of other referees. The game is for the players, not for us.
 
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It's a fair point, but not really applicable here. We lose nothing through not using that law. I've literally never seen a situation where I've gone "you know, that really should have been a penalty for a deliberate knock-on".
 
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