The point is "out of the hands" is irrelevant.  A player could have his shoulders facing tryline to tryline, pass the ball backwards out of the hands and it go forward relative to the player.  This could be a player running across field or twisted in a tackle.

It all started when the proved a ball passed backwards can travel forwards due to the momentum (Speed) of the player who passed it.

I don't think they ever formally changed the rule, but they did change the interpretation, some of the time.. 

Forward passes, play the balls and stripping are the hardest areas for consistent decision making... it will never be perfect.

Why I like the game flowing under the current rules, and higher scoring games generally is individual refs calls don't change a result, very often.
Have a game that finishes 8-6, one ref call can change the result.
Have a game that finishes 28-16, the ref can make 2-3 unchallenged  howlers and not change the result. 

A secondary benefit is a game with more points scored is more entertaining to watch and only very good defensive teams can keep the other side to a low score.
So IMO it is sensible to bias the game slightly in favour of the attack, and that helps cover up a lot of problems...

This is true.
I do however think that there is sufficient technology in a Hawkeye type system that can adjudicate far more accurately.

All it has to do is show a continuation of the passing player's forward momentum (as a superimposed line) and then freeze it at the point it is caught by the receiver. If the ball is in front, its forward. If it behind, it's ok and if its line ball, it can be on-field ref call.

Nothing to it.

No one argues with the ball tracker at the cricket. 
Same here. It will finally end the debate over "float forward" passes. It will have nothing to do with direction of hands. 

It is possible, but needs to consider the speed and direction in which the player was travelling at the point at which they released the ball and the effect of that on the balls trajectory... or perhaps the speed and direction of the ball immediately after release....  the problem is having sufficient cameras or people blocking a camera's view..

It is possible but it may may be expensive, we also want the game flowing.. training the touch judges or just living with it is easier and cheaper... IMO call most of them forward, especially the shorter passes...

The problem is with bias comes inconsistency

Or maybe they can just call any pass that is caught in front of the position from it was passed as forward. This would eliminate flat passes, make the attack stand deeper therefore ensuring passes are definitely backward. 

The issue there ODF is that it is quite hard to pass a ball backward running at full speed.

If you consider say Tommy Turbo making a break and passing whilst running at 14.4km/hr (4 metres per second) and he then fires a long pass to a Rueben Garrick who is 10m away and the pass takes 1 second to get to him, the pass (assuming it was thrown dead flat) would travel 4m forward from the point where Turbo initially released it.

All this needs is the same technology as used in the cricket with the LBW ball tracker, which extends the line of the ball and takes into account its speed and direction.
You then just need to freeze the point where the catcher receives it and compare the two.

HD is right in that it can be affected by players who may be in front of the camera that is best fit to monitor the ball carrier as this is not something can be added to all cameras I would think. I still think its possible with maybe just the 2 side cameras and would definitely be better than human judgement that we have now.

If the camera is blocked, the on-field decision stays. Same as any other try. 

I suggested this the other day. It would simplify the process.  Everything else is being changed.

Holy Ryan Tandy...we get 17.5 start vs Rorters this week.

First half or the whole game?

It's a 2 horse race

.... their horse has 24 legs and a jet engine,

....ours has 3... and Crusher Cleal in the saddle..

I’m alive...
It just happens I now celebrate every win like a GF win...
Thanks for stumping up for bail Villi...

Villi probably needs another week to save for the next lot..

I'm happy that Harper will probably get a shot, I hope he does..

IIMO he is a good defender, and Averillo did some good stuff in defence last game

Looking at the big picture I hope we promote Sue to the starting line up and drop Tolman back to the bench..

I hope we promote Ogden and Wakeham for Crichton and Britt.

Best chance of a miracle upset win is to run plenty of traffic at Keary, he is their most potent attacking weapon, we want to tire him out, apart from that, defend well, high completions drag them into a grind... It is going to take a lot to stop them scoring too many points..

Regardless it is a good opportunity to practise competing against quality opposition, maintaining and lifting our standards... even on 3 legs...

No way I could take us at $1.90  -17.5...
Rorters $1.09 Dogs $7.50 the win on TAB...

#gambleresponsibly...

You had me at "drop Tolman".....
But the you fekked it by adding "to the bench"....

7 to 1 on...Rorters first try Toupou jumps above pack to take ball and score....actually odds could even be tad shorter

Getting off to a good start is essential this year.

Possibly a mock.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/06/11/belmore-boost-st-helens-reluctantly-ready-to-release-test-star-to-dogs/

This is big I can't overstate how much of a difference I think he will make... and it will help our recruitment or 2021,

We also finally get to see if Pay can coach, because our squad shoudl be competitive.

Well player Dogs management, I must have missed the tip from the hot dog seller on this one.

I must say young Coates from the Broncs is a great talent, but I noticed one problem.

He got through the whole game without making a single tough run that I noticed the other winger  Herbie Farnworth took lots of tough runs...

The Broncs do have an abundance of attack talent, do they have enough players who will stand up and do the hard work?

This season will answer that question..

I have to say Milford started the game with real intent in defence, I still think he is a great fullback.. but catching the high ball is an issue.
Matty Bowen did have a great career but there are a lot of athletic tall players around these days. life isn't easy for a short fullback.

I wouldnt overstate it. He's a forward.
If he plays with an up tempo attitude and it's in his nature to push up in support and run decoys, he will be a positive influence. If he is just a follower, he will become a clone of what we already have and expect to be dissapointed. 

We need players who have been playing the game correctly all their lives and cant degenerate into the one out crap we've dished out last few years. 

Being from St Helens, suggests he plays the game correctly and should be good. I just hope all our players and coach have woken up and realised where we have been faltering. 

We should now be able to offload the Tolmans of the side at years end.

Luke Thompson "I really look forward to playing with Aidan Tolman. He has been an inspiration for me and I have modelled my playing style on him"

Good news hey fellas on Thompson. 

Can see him making a huge difference and reluctantly agree with Marki. 
(Spoilt it with the bagging of Tolman though).

Tolman is a workhorse who other players look up to. It's probably on Pay to get the 4th tackle hit up out of our gameplan. Monday night against Dragons, he didn't do it much and was all the better for it.

Things are looking up and we aren't that far off if we get those 2-3 top players and Pay picks the best 17.

As usual good points raised on BDP.

Tolman unfortunately stands out when the side is going badly, he has some bad habits and get too involved in attack at the opponents end.

However, in our win against the Dragons he did a lot of good things more good than bad..

If our team plays better, he probably looks better.

Barry Toohey reports Thompson arrives tomorrow.

Two weeks quarantine and then still won't play for a week or two (maybe more?) after that considering he hasn't played or trained since Jan. Still, great to have him here because if he takes a few games to find his feet it's better this year so he can hit the ground running in 2021.

And quiet word around the twittersphere and beyond is we will have a couple of quick outside backs of renown in 2021.

No halves unfortunately, but i say stiff shit because there's f*** all outstanding halves in The NRL at present anyway. Excepting Keary then there's DCE probably coming in 2nd and while he's good if he's top 2 or 3 it just shows how quickly the quality falls away through the game.

Re-sign Foran, work with Wakeham/Averllo. The former stays fit and the latter two develop they could be as good a pairing as the game's got for a while anyway.

I'm happy with our halves options, even Lewis is improving, I don't see him as a long term option in the halves, but I do think he is NRL standard.

I would like to see us have a crack at Tex Hoy from the Newcastle Nights to play fullback, especially if they don't think Meaney is the answer. 

With Thompson on board we should show enough to be an attractive destination for 2021, we will get the answer of he is sufficient or we need another prop. 
I still think we are lacking an Andrew Fifita type, but the answer might be to start Renouf. 

I just read on one social media platform that the two were Addo-Carr and Saab.

Too many big forwards is not the answer in this new format, (unless they are big and mobile). I thought the biggest negative for the Dogs so far is the information that we may be losing Harper. What a shame if this news is found to be true.