RUGBY LEAGUE'S NEW RULES GOING INTO SUPER LEAGUE IV (From Warrington Guardian)

RUGBY LEAGUE'S NEW RULES GOING INTO SUPER LEAGUE IV

WARRINGTON Wolves fans should prepare themselves for some technical law changes being played in Super League next season.

Sections of the game affected are tactical kicking, drop goals, restarts, scrums, play-the-balls and misconduct.

A Red Hall spokesperson revealed the new look will come into place following agreement with the Rugby League International Federation.

The new rulings come into play immediately, to fit in line with the professional clubs entering the third round stage of the Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

It is an attempt to unify the laws in both hemispheres as in Australia there have been some variations.

The biggest changes include Britain adopting the Australian '40-20' rule. This will come into play when an attacking team kicks the ball from inside its own 40metre zone and finds touch within their opponents' 20m area. From now on the attacking team will receive head and feed at the scrum.

This means, baring in mind a team which feeds a scrum rarely loses the scrum, that a team which puts in a successful '40-20' kick will then have six tackles to attack the opponents' try line.

The spin-off from this rule alteration could be that a defending team will not wish to concede a scrum in their own 20m area and will therefore let their wingers drop back to cut this option out of the attacking team's play.

In return, this will open up play for attacking out wide and could result in a more adventurous game plan being introduced.

On the other side of the coin, you would expect an attacking team to clear their own 40m space with a few drives up field and then the '40-20' option would not apply. But having a good, strong kicker in the side will be an advantage to any team as it will always make the opposition think twice.

Another kicking change is the zero tackle being scrapped from kicks. This came into action when a defending team retrieved a kick and the first tackle then counted as a zero tackle. It was introduced to encourage defenders not to allow the ball to trickle into touch from kicks when they could have easily picked up the ball and ran it out. The zero tackle still applies when a defending team picks up on an attacking team's mistake, such as dropping on the ball from a knock-on.

Still on the subject of kicking, there is a new law to protect kickers from being hindered in chasing the ball. From now on, defenders will not be allowed to dive at the feet of a kicker once the ball has been kicked.

Another change is a revert back to an old and traditional law. After a team has scored either a try, penalty goal or drop goal, since 1995 the team which has scored has re-started the game from the centre spot. This will no longer be the case as the team which conceded the points will now re-start the game.

And there is another new slant on re-starts, either from the centre spot or from drop outs. If the kicker finds touch beyond the 10m clearance area then his side will be given head and feed at a scrum.

There is a new angle on drop goals too. From a drop at goal, if a defender touches the ball deliberately or accidentally before it goes between the sticks the one-pointer will still stand.

In future from a play-the-ball situation the attacking team no longer has to retire five metres.

On the misconduct side of the game there is an alteration too. If a player trips, kicks or strikes another player, OR attempts to, then he will be considered to be guilty of misconduct.

One of the major differences between the game in Britain and Australia will still apply though. This is with regards to the use of substitutes. In Britain six substitutions can be made from four replacement players while down under it will stay as unlimited substitutions from four replacement players.

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