NRL Bunker Changes

[Big Pete]

I'd be curious to know what the five mistakes were.

From memory the Gillett No Try against North Queensland and the Tigers try where Gal took a massive dive were both recorded as mistakes but anything else?

I recall Archer was happy with the Fifita Origin try, the Ese'ese No Try and the Kahu penalty try against the Titans. So what else was there?

Is he including the non-professional foul call in the Warriors-Roosters game and the Panthers illegal field goal wall?

 

[Nashy]

Could simplify everything though, the trajectory is forward it is simply forward, none of this grey area business that stuffs everything up.

I hate the "It left the hands backwards and floated forward". So what? It went forward.

 

[Super Freak]

Could simplify everything though, the trajectory is forward it is simply forward, none of this grey area business that stuffs everything up.

So a pass that goes backwards but gets blown forward by the wind should be called forward regardless despite the original trajectory being backwards?

That would cause even more problems and there would be even more complaints.

The system is fine the way it is.

All they need is just one more camera angle.

 

[Super Freak]

I'd be curious to know what the five mistakes were.

From memory the Gillett No Try against North Queensland and the Tigers try where Gal took a massive dive were both recorded as mistakes but anything else?

I recall Archer was happy with the Fifita Origin try, the Ese'ese No Try and the Kahu penalty try against the Titans. So what else was there?

Is he including the non-professional foul call in the Warriors-Roosters game and the Panthers illegal field goal wall?

I think those two they admitted the bunker got wrong. I know Archer said the bunker got the Wallace field goal call wrong.

 

[Foordy]

So a pass that goes backwards but gets blown forward by the wind should be called forward regardless despite the original trajectory being backwards?

That would cause even more problems and there would be even more complaints.

IMO, the reason so many forward passes are missed is two fold.

Firstly, the touch judges should be in line with the ball, then they would be in a perfect position to rule on forward passes. with 2 on field referees, surely there is no longer any need for the touchies to be marking the 10m's

secondly, they have over complicated it by making it the direction it leaves the hands, it is so much harder for the refs and touchies to pick up forward passes if the have to be concerned about hand positioning.

just simplify the bloody rule, if the pass goes forward it is deemed a forward pass, all it means then is that players will have to play to the conditions in high wind and not throw 40m cut out passes that are likely to drift forward

 

[Sproj]

That's true, especially considering the field is already mapped, the players already have GPS devices on them, place one in the ball and record every single movement on the field. Combine that with gridding the field (very achievable with location markers) and whilst tracking speed and direction with appropriate sensors on players and ball and we could just about rule out the refs entirely.

Exactly!! Hawkeye / Nall tracking should easily be able to show whether the initial trajectory was forward or back. It is used in cricket to show swing and angle, etc so why couldn't it work in league? Whether the conditions are windy or whatever, the end result shouldn't matter if the initial trajectory can be definitively shown. Take out the hands from the play, base it purely on initial trajectory.

 

[Nashy]

So a pass that goes backwards but gets blown forward by the wind should be called forward regardless despite the original trajectory being backwards?

That would cause even more problems and there would be even more complaints.

The system is fine the way it is.

All they need is just one more camera angle.

When it's windy, and the ball doesn't go exactly where the kicker desired, he doesn't get another go at kicking it. You play to the conditions, if it's windy, make sure it goes backwards.

 

[Morkel]

I don't think the "left the hands backwards and floated forwards" is to do with the wind. It's to do with the momentum of the ball, while held by the player, before passing.

If a player is sprinting at, say, 20kph, then if they pass the ball perfectly sidewards, the ball will still be going 20kph forwards due to the momentum (though it'll begin to slow as the air friction takes away from the momentum). What the officials are saying is that this momentum is okay. If you were to strap a sensor on to the ball, for it to literally go flat or backwards in an absolute sense, then the pass will need to be thrown backwards at at least 20kph. It would be almost impossible to do, at least almost impossible to do without losing all of the advantage of the break. It would mean that if a team-mate was supporting you ten metres to your side, they'd need to be about 10 metres behind you as well in order to receive it from a legit backwards pass.

 

[Sproj]

Sure but I don't think that is an impossible problem to overcome though. It doesn't even have to come in this season but give fans hope by putting a gps or sensor or whatever in the ball this season and collect a body of live action data.

From that, it wouldn't be that hard to make a standard by which to then compare suspect passes.

 

[Morkel]

Sure but I don't think that is an impossible problem to overcome though. It doesn't even have to come in this season but give fans hope by putting a gps or sensor or whatever in the ball this season and collect a body of live action data.

From that, it wouldn't be that hard to make a standard by which to then compare suspect passes.

Good point. Transparency is the key, something we rarely get.

 

[Morkel]

Not entirely true. If you are monitoring the players running speed and angle, a simple
algorithm could take into account the ball's direction and velocity pre-pass and post-pass, flagging anything that goes forward based on running speed. For more accuracy, the wrists could be monitored through wristbands containing sensors. It wouldn't be the first time wristbands found their way on to the field.

Even better, surgically implant chips all over the motherfuckers, or better still, let's just make em all cyborgs. Too far..?

I get that. I know that it can be accounted for. But like @Sproj said, it needs to be decided whether that is acceptable as "backwards". A massive Pearce-esque 20-metre floater may be thrown 10 metres from the line, and travel for so long that it is caught on the try line. Technically this could still be "backwards" if thrown while running. Is that acceptable?

Just highlights I guess that even something as simple as "passes can not be thrown forward" isn't even black and white, nor has it been ever been addressed by the NRL.

 

[john1420]

It's very, very simply to overlay motion graphics of a perspective grid that's motion tracked to the ball.

Ignorance is the only reason this hasn't been done. I could do this with my eyes closed.

I think the current refs use this technique already :)