Newcastle - Pitch markings

[Big Picture]

3 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

I'll never pass up an opportunity to go on my rants about consistent pitch markings and full length fields. That said, I will give credit to Wigan who have recently started marking out the DW with full lines (normally spaced line on 10 and 30m) and at first I assumed it was just because it was the football off-season, but looking back at old footage they've never done this before. No doubt it'll go back to spaced lines when football kicks back off but for now it looks great. No idea why Leeds still play with the spaced lines - the old excuse was the Union side but they're long gone now. Just odd there is no consistency.

I'm in full agreement with you about field dimensions and markings, major and minor sports alike enforce their rules about such things for senior competitions as can be seen here:

RL's failure to enforce its standards is incredibly Mickey Mouse.  It reflects the English game's small time poor cousin mentality of having to make do with whatever it can get, likely because historically it had to make do.

[Scubby]

43 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

I'll never pass up an opportunity to go on my rants about consistent pitch markings and full length fields. That said, I will give credit to Wigan who have recently started marking out the DW with full lines (normally spaced line on 10 and 30m) and at first I assumed it was just because it was the football off-season, but looking back at old footage they've never done this before. No doubt it'll go back to spaced lines when football kicks back off but for now it looks great. No idea why Leeds still play with the spaced lines - the old excuse was the Union side but they're long gone now. Just odd there is no consistency.

Some of the pitch markings and in-goals from the 1990s looked awesome. I used to love it as a kid growing up. They used to do some great stuff with the in-goal areas too. 

[Griff]

4 hours ago, Scubby said:

I meant in the years after the merger ...

So did I.

They weren't ready to start the 1999/2000 season and didn't reform until the start of 2000/01.

[Scubby]

42 minutes ago, Griff said:

So did I.

They weren't ready to start the 1999/2000 season and didn't reform until the start of 2000/01.

I lived there for a couple of years and was a season ticket holder in Thunder's SL season of 1999. 

I also attended the reformation meetings which were only weeks after the decision to merge with Hull. Even donated towards their set up. 

There were a few thousand core fans then just getting into RL who were well shafted.

So glad it is still around and thriving at pro level as the amateur scene is strong. Pitch markings are least of their challenges tbh.

[bobbruce]

On 13/07/2021 at 12:51, Barley Mow said:

I think it should bother us - whether at Newcastle, Toronto or anywhere else.

Are the markings not there for a reason?

As I understand it, union has a line on 40m like us, so judging 10m from a kick-off should be okay, but how is the ref supposed to judge a 40/20 or 20/40? If held up in goal, there is no 10m line to show where the play the ball is to be. Same for a 20m restart. I'm sure there will be other examples.

Should we really be happy for, not only our second tier domestic competition, but also matches in the world cup to be played on a different sport's playing field? Should Hull FC be allowed to play on their pitch when marked out for Hull City?

Which other sport would allow it?

Cricket play first class and even a World Cup games on a pitch with a tree growing out of it. If you hit the tree on the bounce it’s a four if you hit it on the full it’s a six. To suggest RL is the only sport to turn a blind eye to their own rules/laws regarding pitches is wrong. 

[Barley Mow]

53 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Cricket play first class and even a World Cup games on a pitch with a tree growing out of it. If you hit the tree on the bounce it’s a four if you hit it on the full it’s a six. To suggest RL is the only sport to turn a blind eye to their own rules/laws regarding pitches is wrong. 

Cricket allows for that within its laws:

"Before the toss the umpires shall meet with the captains; the umpires shall determine... ...the boundary of the field of play and allowances for boundaries, including whether any obstacle within the field of play is to be regarded as a boundary."

First class cricket isn't (to the best of my knowledge) played on grounds where the prominent ground markings are those of another sport.

Rugby League's laws contain a diagram showing how the pitch is to be marked - there is nothing in them to suggest that any variance from that diagram is within the laws of the game.

In the Newcastle case it seems the issue is that the union markings are much more prominent than the league ones and the colour of the league markings can't be distinguished from the colour of the pitch (at least on some broadcasts) - My point is simply that this isn't ideal and should be addressed for the World Cup (and probably Newcastle matches as well).

[Barley Mow]

Having just watched the highlights of Newcastle v Workington from last weekend, it appears that this issue has eventually been resolved.

Perhaps it is because the union season has now finished, but the league markings seem to have been made more prominent, and can be seen in white on the field. Hopefully this is a good sign for the world cup matches at Kingston Park.

[yipyee]

Maybe its there so at the next world cup they can recreate the 2003 drop goal 

[Big Picture]

19 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

Having just watched the highlights of Newcastle v Workington from last weekend, it appears that this issue has eventually been resolved.

Perhaps it is because the union season has now finished, but the league markings seem to have been made more prominent, and can be seen in white on the field. Hopefully this is a good sign for the world cup matches at Kingston Park.

RL markings only should have been a requirement for all WC matches, whether at Kingston Park or anywhere else.  What major sport would ever tolerate having another sport's markings visible at matches in their World Cup?

[NERugbyDad]