Radford calls for RFL meeting to sort out “cheating” at the ruck

James Gordon

Hull coach Lee Radford says the RFL needs to hold a coaches meeting to sort out the penalties given when a defending player is trapped in the ruck area.

Despite apparent steps to eradicate players deliberately playing or throwing the ball on to a defender caught behind the play the ball, there has been an increase in penalties for not clearing the ruck in general this season, and Radford’s Hull were penalised for it on a number of occasions in Saturday’s dramatic win over Catalans.

He told the club’s official website: “If Golden Point is the best rule, the worst might be when the other side earn a penalty when you have a man trying to get out the back of the ruck – I can’t tell you how frustrated I am with that today.

“I’ve spoken to the RFL about it and we need a coaches meeting for it to be sorted out. The NRL have sorted it and it’s working for them so we need to revert to what they’re doing over there.

“It could have cost us a game today which I don’t believe we deserved to lose. Ultimately, it is cheating.”

According to the RFL’s laws of the game, clause 10(d), “the tackled player may not play the ball before the players effecting the tackle have had time to clear the ruck.”