League Questions

[O'Rothlain]

Okay...I watched the NRL Grand Final yesterday, and have been watching a few of the Super League Matches, and have some questions. As you might assume, I'm way more familiar with Union, so things like "Dummy-Half" completely baffle me. What is that? Why are people always "moving" out to dummy half?
Also, what is the 40 - 20 rule? Some help on basic RL info would be great.

 

[ShowMe]

40/20 is like when the team in possesion kicks the ball from their 40m line and the ball goes out inside the oppositions 20m line, that team keeps the possesion and a new set of 6 from a scrum where the ball went out. Its something they hardly do but rewards you for skill i guess.

 

[Fester Front Rower]

It's to reward really good line-kicking.

Dummy half is simply the man who takes the ball after the ball is played (the action where the fella gets up and plays the ball back with his foot). Anybody can be the dummy half, but this is often the hooker. The hooker usually passes it to the first receiver, who is often the halfback.

 

[O'Rothlain]

Can the dummy half be tackled straight away, or is he forced to immdiately offload the ball?

 

[St Helens RLFC]

Can the dummy half be tackled straight away, or is he forced to immdiately offload the ball?

[/b]

No, he can be biffed instantly. Providing the player is onside of course.

 

[O'Rothlain]

Are there any other apparent differences between union and league? I know that the scrum isn't really full on in league, there aren't any line outs...anything else I'm missing? Like any fun facts one may not be aware of?

 

[jeffb]

Points scoring is different as well. 4 pts for a try, 2 pts for a conversion/penalty goal and 1 pt for a drop goal.
13 men instead of 15.
Layout of field is different as well

Jeff

 

[O'Rothlain]

Nice...I like the picture! ("I like...It's nice...In my country..." said with a poor Borat impersination)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Rugby
If anyone is interested in helping I started the Rugby Portal (and the Union and League Portals) on Wikipedia.org. They've been up for a while, but the articles on wikipedia could use updating and source checking to ensure they are as accurate as possible. Welcome to my ultra-nerd side.

 

[O'Rothlain]

So do people in the UK and Australia grow up playing League? Or is going into league only an option at the pro (or semi-pro) level?

 

[Caledfwlch]

i was wondering how defending teams can achieve ball turnovers without rucking. is the only way to achieve turnover to intercept passes?

 

[jeffb]

opposition get ball back by either:

interception
scrum
turn over after 6th tackle
penalty

i was born in the north west and i was brought up with league, saying that though i spent a number of years overseas and a number of years in Kent, League was a no no down south.

Jeff

 

[O'Rothlain]

i was born in the north west and i was brought up with league, saying that though i spent a number of years overseas and a number of years in Kent, League was a no no down south.
[/b]

So, does that mean that they play League at school level and junior level?

 

[jeffb]

yeah, certain high schools in Wigan, St Helens, Warrington and other League areas play league, and local teams have junior levels, ie u12, u15 etc.

Jeff

 

[O'Rothlain]

Does anyone on this forum play League?

 

[BigTen]

Does anyone on this forum play League?
[/b]

I used to play league back in my school days. Also whenever we'd have a kick-around in the park eventually everyone would start playing league. It is much easier to self-referee than rugby (which is impossible, really to play without a ref). We normally have a rule for league which meant that you have to be back three steps (metres) from the play-the-ball. Getting the 10m mark was always a struggle.

I found that I'd be a lot more bruised from league than I ever got from rugby. Maybe that was a positional thing as in rugby I would pass more so as not to get tied up in the rucks but with league you'd just hit the ball up all the time and try to bust out of tackles.

Playing league is awesome - probably more fun socially than rugby. If you haven't played it get some mates around explain the rules and do it - you are guranteed a great time and some awesome bruises too haha. I prefer watching rugby though.

 

[RoyalBlueStuey]

I have to say I prefer the intricacy and the tactical cut & thrust of Union although I can see how someone might choose League going for the sheer spectacle of the game.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

Does anyone on this forum play League? [/b]

A long time ago. I have coached and want to coach in the future though.

 

[loratadine]

i played league last year, to raise money for a trip to germany, we played a localish league side, we played 40 minutes each, and league was alot of running, which suited a flyer like myself.

i prefer union though, tho leagues still sexy.

 

[DonBilly]

One of the coachs of my Union Club used to play league at quite a high level actually, he was with Roanne XIII when they were still in the RL 1st division. So in our training sessions, once every two weeks we had a short league match. This was done in order to improve our hand play skils as well as our speed of reaction. This was also useful for the defnsive skills. I apreciated a lot playing League although I follow prefering union.