Editing Rugby league (section)

== Rules ==
=== Laws of the game ===
{{Main|Rugby league gameplay|Laws of rugby league}}
[[File:WIN Stadium trial match.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|A typical game of rugby league being played]]

The objective in rugby league is to score more points through [[Try (rugby)|tries]], [[Goal (sport)#Rugby football|goals]] and [[Drop goal (rugby)|field goals]] (also known as drop goals) than the opposition within the 80 minutes of play. If after two-halves of play, each consisting of forty minutes, the two teams are [[Tie (draw)|drawing]], a draw may be declared, or the game may enter extra time under the [[golden point]] rule, depending on the relevant competition's format.

The try is the most common form of scoring,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/all/overall_ss.html|title=Season Summary|publisher=Rugby League Tables|access-date=7 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100512174712/http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/all/overall_ss.html|archive-date=12 May 2010}}</ref> and a team will usually attempt to score one by running and kicking the ball further upfield or passing from player-to-player in order to manoeuvre around the opposition's defence. A try involves touching the ball to the ground on or beyond the defending team's goal-line and is worth four points. A goal is worth two points and may be gained from a [[Try (rugby)#conversion|conversion]] or a [[Penalty (rugby)|penalty]]. A field goal, or drop goal, is only worth one point and is gained by dropping and then kicking the ball on the [[Drop kick|half volley]] between the uprights in open play. A field goal has a value of 2 points when kicked from beyond the 40 metre line.<ref>{{cite report|title=Rugby league laws of the game international level with notes on the laws and NRL Telstra premiership interpretations|publisher=Australian Rugby League Commission|date=July 2020|type=rule book|url=https://www.playrugbyleague.com/media/10100/nrl-international-rules-book-2020-a5-v2-web.pdf|access-date=5 April 2024|archive-date=10 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231210210625/https://www.playrugbyleague.com/media/10100/nrl-international-rules-book-2020-a5-v2-web.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Field position is crucial in rugby league,<ref>{{cite news|title=Stats Insider: Grand Final by the numbers|work=nrl.com|place=Australia|publisher=[[National Rugby League|NRL]].COM and [[Telstra]] Corporation Pty Ltd.|date=28 September 2010|url=http://www.nrl.com/news/news/newsarticle/tabid/10874/newsid/60459/stats-insider-grand-final-by-the-numbers/default.aspx|access-date=21 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930101955/http://www.nrl.com/news/news/newsarticle/tabid/10874/newsid/60459/stats-insider-grand-final-by-the-numbers/default.aspx|archive-date=30 September 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> achieved by running with or kicking the ball. Passing in rugby league may only be in a backward or sideways direction. Teammates, therefore, have to remain on-side by not moving ahead of the player with the ball. The ball may be kicked ahead, but if teammates are in front of the kicker when the ball is kicked, they are deemed off-side.

Tackling is a key component of rugby league play. Only the player holding the ball may be tackled. A tackle is complete, for example, when the player is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that they can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball, or when the player is held by one or more opposing players and the ball or the hand or arm holding the ball comes into contact with the ground.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playnrl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ARL-Rules-book-2015.pdf|title=RUGBY LEAGUE LAWS OF THE GAME INTERNATIONAL LEVEL WITH NOTES ON THE LAWS AND NRL TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP INTERPRETATIONS|publisher=PLAYNRL.COM|year=2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051045/http://www.playnrl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ARL-Rules-book-2015.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> An attacking team gets a maximum of six tackles to progress up the field before possession is changed over. Once the tackle is completed, the ball-carrier must be allowed to get to their feet to '[[play-the-ball]]'. Ball control is also important in rugby league, as a fumble of the ball on the ground forces a handover, unless the ball is fumbled backwards. The ball can also be turned over by going over the sideline.

=== Comparison with rugby union ===
{{main|Comparison of rugby league and rugby union}}
Rugby league and [[rugby union]] are distinct sports with many similarities and a shared origin. Both have the same fundamental rules, are played for 80 minutes and feature an oval-shaped ball and H-shaped goalposts. Both have rules that the ball cannot be passed forward, and dropping it forwards leads to a scrum. Both use [[Try (rugby)|tries]] as the central scoring method and [[Try (rugby)#Conversions|conversion kicks]], penalty goals and [[Drop goal (rugby)|drop goals]] as additional scoring methods. However, there are differences in how many points each method is worth.

One of the main differences is the rules of possession.<ref name="telfer2010-05-05">{{cite web|last=Telfer|first=Jim|title=It's Le Crunch for Magners League|url=http://sport.stv.tv/rugby/175081-its-le-crunch-for-magners-league/|publisher=[[STV (TV network)|STV]]|access-date=25 July 2010|author-link=Jim Telfer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515154613/http://sport.stv.tv/rugby/175081-its-le-crunch-for-magners-league/|archive-date=15 May 2010|date=5 May 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> When the ball goes into [[Touch (rugby)|touch]], possession in rugby union is contested through a [[Line-out (rugby union)|line-out]], while in rugby league a scrum restarts play. The lesser focus on contesting possession means that play focuses more on powerful running, hard tackling, forward progression and the contest for field position (commonly compared to an "arm wrestle"); as a result play stops much less frequently in rugby league,<ref>{{Cite book|author1=George Caplan|author2=Mark Adams|title=BTEC National: Sport|publisher=Heinemann|year=2007|page=99|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lTrntg0Fv3oC|isbn=978-0-435-46514-8}}</ref> with the ball typically in play for 50 out of the 80 minutes compared to around 35 minutes for professional rugby union.<ref name="cleary2000-10-05">{{Cite news|last=Cleary|first=Mick|title=Talking Rugby: No code like the old code|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=5 October 2000|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/4773076/Talking-Rugby-No-code-like-the-old-code.html|access-date=21 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315161349/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/4773076/Talking-Rugby-No-code-like-the-old-code.html|archive-date=15 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other differences include that there are fewer players in rugby league (13 compared to 15)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Breivik|first=Simon L.|author2=British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences|title=Sport And Exercise Physiology Testing Guidelines: The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Guide|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2007|page=257|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UXJuiiPIFfIC&q=%22rugby+league%22|isbn=978-0-415-36141-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Thomsen|first=Ian|title=Football Players Are Awfully Tough, but Enough for Rugby?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/10/sports/10iht-ian.t.html|access-date=19 June 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 January 1998}}</ref> and different rules for [[tackle (football move)|tackling]]. Rugby union has more detailed rules than rugby league<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/05/18/1178995417135.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2|title=What they said|author=Peter Fitzsimons|date=19 May 2007|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sonny could be something under a canny Kiwi coach|author=Spiro Zavos|date=6 September 2009|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> and has changed less since the 1895 schism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/scoring.htm|title=Scoring through the ages rugbyfootballhistory.com|access-date=24 June 2012}}</ref>

Since rugby union turned professional in the mid-1990s, it has increasingly borrowed techniques, tactics and even laws from rugby league, while high-profile players and coaches from the league game have increasingly gone on to success in the union code in those countries where both codes are popular (e.g. [[Andy Farrell]], [[Jason Robinson (rugby)|Jason Robinson]] and [[Henry Paul]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Tony Collins|title=Rugby's Great Split: Class, Culture and the Origins of Rugby League Football|year=2006|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=UK|isbn=978-0-415-39616-5|pages=xii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dr6FLNcLsgIC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Tony|title=A Social History of English Rugby Union|year=2009|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=UK|isbn=978-0-415-47660-7|pages=154|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnAQHIkijc0C}}</ref> The inherent similarities between rugby league and rugby union have at times led to experimental [[hybrid sports|hybrid games]] being played that use a mix of the two sports' rules.<ref name="growden1">{{cite news|last=Growden|first=Greg|title=Hybrid rugby union-league experiment|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/news/4994642/Hybrid-rugby-union-league-experiment|access-date=22 June 2012|newspaper=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=12 May 2011}}</ref><ref name="ES 2000">{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Chris|title=It's all a code merger mystery|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/its-all-a-code-merger-mystery-6340766.html|access-date=14 June 2019|work=[[Evening Standard]]|publisher=ESI Media|date=9 October 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614132108/https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/its-all-a-code-merger-mystery-6340766.html|archive-date=14 June 2019|location=[[London]]}}</ref>

=== Comparison with gridiron codes ===
{{main|Comparison of American football and rugby league|Comparison of Canadian football and rugby league}}
Much more so than rugby union, rugby league shares significant similarities with North American [[Gridiron football|gridiron]] codes. Although described as evolving from both rugby and [[association football]], the basic structures of American and Canadian football are remarkably similar to rugby league through a process of parallel evolution: a try-and-goal based scoring system, a set number of plays before handover of the football, each play restarting from a set piece position and ended by a tackle. Although the [[Canadian Football League]] in particular maintained the word 'rugby' in its name for many years, alluding to that shared past, the introduction of the [[forward pass]] and [[unlimited substitution]] in North American games created a fundamentally different species of game from either original rugby code. Although the historic link between the codes continues to be acknowledged, neither Canadian or American football is commonly considered a rugby code today except in the broadest sense, and are more commonly referred to collectively as gridiron codes, or simply as 'football' within their respective countries.