NRL to trial two new technologies to help detect forward passes

[EaglesDontTweet]

SMH - Adrian Proszenko

The NRL is just months away from trialing new technologies whose inventors claim can definitively determine whether a pass has been thrown forward.

While the Bunker has revolutionised the way rugby league is officiated, the video referees are still unable to rule on the seemingly subjective area of forward passes. That could soon change after two separate firms approached the NRL with supposed solutions to the age-old problem.

One of them comes from London-based firm Sportable, which proposes to insert a microchip into the Steeden to track whether the ball leaves a players’ hands forwards or backwards. Former Wests Tigers and Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens introduced the firm to officials from Rugby League Central.
The governing body is also in talks with another firm that uses limb-tracking technology to make the determination.

Both potential solutions will be trialled this season during club scrimmages to determine whether they actually work.

Full story link..

NRL to trial two new technologies to help detect forward passes

Arguments over forward passes could soon become a thing of the past as the NRL prepares to trial technologies that could provide a definitive call.

www.smh.com.au

 

[manlyfan76]

We will never see the likes of scam Smyth again.

 

[Loobs]

Is it really the case that the video ref can't work out whether a ball goes forward out of the hands with the current technology? Isn't it just drawing a line on the screen at the point the ball leaves the hands and seeing if it immediately goes forward..? Am I missing something???

Anyway, could just be that they are scared the balls now can catch the scary quintuple pike with a half twist Steeden covid strain so they got a call from the worlds number one playboy Bill Gates who wants them micro-chipped and tracked vaccinated

 

[Frogz]

"While the Bunker has revolutionised the way rugby league is officiated"...are they f#cking kidding....

 

[SeaEagle21]

Is the ball covered in LEDs that flash red when it goes forward? Otherwise how would they know on the spot?

 

[court83]

I don't understand why it's such a hard part of the game to ref...
I can sit home on the couch sucking down tinnies of iron jack and be able to see the forward passes the minute they leave the hands... Pretty sure 99% if you lot can too ..
Esp when they show replays 5 million times before each try is confirmed .. so maybe just put me in the bunker and save a few million bucks...

Just a thought

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

"While the Bunker has revolutionised the way rugby league is officiated"...are they f#cking kidding....

Well, not all revolutions have positive results, Frogz…

 

[sheridanstand78]

This is a long overdue introduction of technology to finally eradicate the mistakes that officials make over forward passes.

Ironic that this is discussed a few days before we return to the scene of the crime that we suffered last year when a winning try was denied to us by a boof headed touch judge after Tommy put Reuben away and he scored a great try, not!

 

[globaleagle]

 

[47MVEagle]

Amazing that refs can actually detect & call out SOME forward passes in real time yet completely miss other more obvious ones during the game.

Why not trial the bunker ruling on forward passes? They rule on everything else & as has already been said, if we sitting at home can see a pass is forward on our TV screens, the bunker should be able to determine it from all the angles & replays they have access to.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

@globaleagle thanks I was just going to look for that clip!

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I reckon most of us watching in on the telly can pick up a dead set forward pass in a second , but I guess it’s those ones that are marginal that this might fix ( a la the no try last year against the squeals).

The jury is out but could be a good thing.

 

[Loobs]

Is the ball covered in LEDs that flash red when it goes forward? Otherwise how would they know on the spot?

Bigger question - which gambling company will sponsor the microchip and subsequent 50 replays..?

 

[SeaEagle21]

Bigger question - which gambling company will sponsor the microchip and subsequent 50 replays..?

Always opportunity for someone to make a buck. But the failure of the bunker doesn't fill me with any confidence of an official making a correct decision with replays/drawing lines/hand movement etc...it needs to be taken out of human interpretation if they want it correct and consistent. Just look at the balls up of what they deem a knock on and knock back

 

[Tragic Eagle]

I agree that human interpretation is the problem, it inevitably leads to inconsistency.

 

[Blucky]

No, the problem is "forward / backward out of the hand". Anyone with even a pre-school understanding of physics knows that things cannot change direction in flight unless other forces are applied (I get that spin on the ball makes it move in the air for a kick, but this doesn't happen for a pass). So if the ball goes forward then it was also forward out of the hand.

The definition of a forward pass shouldn't need to include the relative velocity of the passing player. If a player is smashed to the ground at the point of passing, it makes the forward pass seeeeeeeeeem more obvious, but it is no more or less forward than when the passer carries on running.

(In my opinion)

 

[QLDSeaeagle]

so maybe just put me in the bunker and save a few million bucks...

I can see them too, I'll join you, I'm only free when Manly plays.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

I agree that human interpretation is the problem, it inevitably leads to inconsistency.

Humans are always the problem. Bleep. Bloop. Urt.

 

[Woodsie]

Mate ... will players wearing magic magnetic performance enhancing wrist bands interfere with the workings of the chip in the ball ... ?

 

[maxta]

Amazing that refs can actually detect & call out SOME forward passes in real time yet completely miss other more obvious ones during the game.

Why not trial the bunker ruling on forward passes? They rule on everything else & as has already been said, if we sitting at home can see a pass is forward on our TV screens, the bunker should be able to determine it from all the angles & replays they have access to.

I like that idea...only thing with this bunker stuff, I can't stand when they look at the same angles 5 x over and 4 - 5 mins later the game restarts, after losing all the momentum and often a drop in physicality.
As long as it's a few looks from appropriate angles and get on with it....but this is the same as my entire view of the bunker....30 - 40 seconds tops....no good trying to make this flowing game, then have massive delays throughout...no good for the players and certainly not great for viewers.