40/20 Restart - R24 onwards

[Graham]

NRL have issued a statement of how the troublesome 40/20 restart rule will be applied from now on after the hoohah last weekend.

 

 

Referees will blow their whistles to signal when a tap restart can be taken after a 40/20 kick from tonight.

The NRL’s Competition Committee today reiterated its support for the rule, introduced this year, which allows teams to take a tap kick after a 40/20, rather than a scrum.

The Committee said the new rule had made 40/20’s even more exciting for fans and would be retained

However, from tonight, the tap kick can only be taken after the referee has blown his whistle.

Referees will give defending teams a reasonable time to get into position before signalling a restart of play.

NRL Head of Football, Todd Greenberg said he was confident the change in the process would eliminate confusion while retaining the excitement of the 40/20 tap restart.

“The tap kick was never designed to allow teams a lightning fast restart of play,” Mr Greenberg said.

“It was introduced to eliminate time wasting in setting up a scrum which often negated the advantage of kicking a 40/20.

“The clarification of the rule is aimed at keeping the game flowing while giving defending teams a chance to get into position.”

All NRL teams will be sent a circular explaining the new process today and team captains will be reminded of the need to wait for the referee’s whistle for a 40/20 tap restart during the coin toss of each match this weekend.

 

It was a statement that was needed so that everyone including refs is clear.

Do you agree with how it will now go ahead?