Assisting the ball carrier when he is tackled

Beatified

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This happens a lot when a player is tackled close to touch. The tacklers try to push the ball carrier into touch. His team mates help him resist. Is this legal? If so, why don’t the ball carriers team help him in every tackle. If not, why don’t refs blow up for it. — they don’t seem to
 

Zebra1922


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Seems legal to me, once players from both sides engage we probably have a maul, and as long as teams adhere to maul law I see nothing wrong with this. I am not aware of a law that prohibits driving a tackle/maul into touch, or resisting said drive.
 

Christy


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Has a tackle actually occurred .
If ball carrier is brought to ground including 1 knee .
The tackler has to release , so now once released he has to leave ball carrier alone & play for ball only ( via gate ) .
So in this instance , even if the ball carrier is holding the ball , the tackler cant drag him into touch .

I would say , that in posters question .
No tackle has taken place ,, all players are on their feet & therefore as zebra suggests .
We are probably in a maul situation ..and therefore pushing out of touch is legal .
 

tim White


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I worry more about assisting or pushing the ball carrier as he is about to be tackled by a single opponent; Two bodies legally crashing into one- not much fun being on the receiving end of these.
 

Rich_NL

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Seems legal to me, once players from both sides engage we probably have a maul, and as long as teams adhere to maul law I see nothing wrong with this. I am not aware of a law that prohibits driving a tackle/maul into touch, or resisting said drive.

This is the League forum, and RL doesn't allow mauls.
 

Christy


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This is the League forum, and RL doesn't allow mauls.

Thanks ,,i didnt realise it was rugby league forum bit .
So if there are no mauls ,, is it still legal
 

Elpablo73


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If any of the 4 ways a tackle can occur has happened then you can't push, drag or carry a player to try to get them into touch, but up until this point an opposition player can try to get the ball carrier into touch and it then upto the referee to judge if and when a tackle has taken place.

RL tackles -

1 Grounded - held on ground by one or more opposing player and the ball or hand/arm holding the ball comes in contact with the ground.
2 Upright - held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that they can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball.
3 Succumbing - when, being held by an opponent the tackled player makes it evident that they have succumbed to the tackle and wish to release the ball to play it.
4 Hand on player - ball carrier is lying on the ground and an opponent already grounded places a hand on them.
 

L'irlandais

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There is a foornote to the Law Elpablo73 cites
[LAWS]Moving tackled player 2. (a) Where opponents do not make a tackle effective in the quickest possible manner but attempt to push, pull or carry the player in possession, it is permissible for colleagues of the tackled player to lend their weight in order to avoid losing ground. Immediately this happens the referee should call “Held”.[/LAWS] Laws of the “other” game
 
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