I'm trying to clarify the rules. As I understood a deliberate knock on was not penalised in rugby league, I wanted to find out if it ever was a rule. I emailed the RFL who also stated "there is no deliberate knock on rule in Rugby League. However acording to the rules on the RFL site (dated both 2002 and 2004) www.therfl.co.uk/~rflmedia/docs/ ... 2007_%20(2).pdf .. under section 10 'Knock-on and Forward Pass' it states "A player shall be penalised if he deliberately knocks on or passes forward."

I'm trying to clarify the rules. As I understood a deliberate knock on was not penalised in rugby league, I wanted to find out if it ever was a rule. I emailed the RFL who also stated "there is no deliberate knock on rule in Rugby League. However acording to the rules on the RFL site (dated both 2002 and 2004) www.therfl.co.uk/~rflmedia/docs/ ... 2007_%20(2).pdf .. under section 10 'Knock-on and Forward Pass' it states "A player shall be penalised if he deliberately knocks on or passes forward."

As far as I'm aware there is a rule which states that (your link doesn't work btw)





What I struggle with is why anybody would deliberately knock on and what advantage you get from it?

copy and paste the link.



A deliberate knock on would be an advantage if you knock on to stop a pass reaching another player that could score.

That rule is probably an antiquated hangover from the days of competitive scrums. If one side had a massive advantage in the scrum, they might deliberately knock on so they could roll the scrum down the field.



I know deliberate forward passes exist and the only place I've ever seen them given is on the RL Xbox game.

As joetwizzy says rule exists to counter defending players deciding to knock-on deliberately instead of intercepting a pass by catching the ball.



Saddened I can see your point but this would have been extremely dangerous to do especially before limited tackles were brought in given turnover ball often relults in line breaks or overlaps.



I thought this rule was brought in a very long time ago (as in the early part of the 20th century), but rarely seems to be penalised.

Sky have frequently mentioned and my email from the RFL backed it up that "Rugby League does not have a deliberate knock on rule". Bit strange.

There is a rule for deliberate forward pass but not knock on.



I remember playing last year with a lad who was a union convert, and he was expecting me to get sin binned and penalised cause I purposely knocked down a pass from centre to winger about to score. It was just a scrum.



Has there been a change in rules since we brought in about accidental knock ons in a tackle, basically saying that every knock on given is just a player losing an attempt at keeping the ball rather than purposely knocking it down.

That other code do penalise if you knock on with one hand when you have no chance of recovering/intercepting. You will also see it penalised in the NRL as oposed to a scrum awarded.

The rule states that a player will be penalised for deliberately knocking on or passing forward. This does not mean it will be a penalty, which is what I think the OP wanted to know. He will be penalised by way of a scrum with head and feed to the opposition.



In terms of a penalty, one CAN be given for a forward pass:



(my emphasis)

But other than that, he would normally just be penalised by a scrum.





So why the reference to a "deliberate knock on", you may ask? Quite easy. Though only understood by experts and select aardvarks. The reason is this:



nearly all knock-ons are deemed accidental, but all knock ons are defined thus:





Most people think it is only a knock on if the ball touches the ground or an opponent, or the sticks. Not so. Generally true, but not if you knock the ball forward deliberately - for example, over the head of a defender - and run round him and catch it at the other side.



The judgment for the ref to make, for example in an intercept situation, is whether the intercepting player tried to catch the ball, or whether he deliberately knocked it on, juggled with it and caught it. I would suggest that the fact penalties for deliberate knock ons are rarely if ever given is it is hard to make a call that a player meant to knock on, when catching the ball would be a great advantage, and so officials presume that must have been the player's intention, however optimistic.



But in theory, it could be given. I expect the next one you'll see given will be against the Bulls in the last minute of some key game. But that could be my bias.

A thread on, say "Ah Van's deliberate knock-on" would never reach the legendary stature of "Joynt's Voluntary Tackle". Just get used to it

Quins were penalised for a deliberate knock last year at Headingley - in about the 79th minute when they were getting pasted anyway - incredibly harsh by the ref to give it at any time but that was just rubbing salt into the wound.



The last deliberate forward pass I saw penalised was in the 1992 World Cup final (technically the receiver was in an offside position when the pass was given).



So both rules have existed but they are as rare as the legendary voluntary tackle!