DS Talk » competition.Mexico and Greece have already secure

I have wanted to write an open letter to the laws committee since I saw a game in round one when a player took advantage of a rule that I think needs to change. It felt wrong however, to be complaining about rules in the first week of the season so I kept it in the back of my mind since then. Its something that has both annoyed and frustrated me for a few years and I think needs to be changed.Here is my attempt to justify why. Section 9, Law 1 of the game states that the ball is in touch when it, or a player in contact with it touches the touch line or any object on or outside the touch line……We see some brilliant tactical kicks which roll into the in-goal area and are about to stop just short of the dead ball line, but are artificially taken over the line by a defender who puts one foot out of play and then makes contact with the ball while it is still moving. Phil Clarke looks ahead to this weeks Super League matches live on Sky There are kick-offs which would naturally land in the in-goal area, but are falsely taken out of play when the catcher does the splits and touches the ball before it lands in the in-goal area. Penalty to the defending team.It seems to me that we are penalising skilful kicks by a rule that needs to be modified. I understand the history behind why it was introduced but dont believe that it benefits the sport in its current form. It just doesnt make sense to the general sports fan to reward the action of doing this. Sport should reward skilful play, surely thats the whole point. It appears as though in our attempt to speed up the game we have thrown the rule book in the recycling bin. Phil Clarke We need to re-write the rules so that a player cannot deliberately make himself/herself in touch or in goal by stepping out before touching the ball.With this article in my head, I then sat down to watch all six games of Super League action and I began to question if my article was really that important. I watched eight hours of rugby league and wondered where we are heading with the rules.It appears as though in our attempt to speed up the game we have thrown the rule book in the recycling bin. Why worry about my rule amendment when so many other rules are ignored? This isnt a sudden shift in officiating, it has been going on for over 20 years, but we are getting to the stage of no return. I have a retired friend who played and coached at the highest level. Graham Starkey is an intelligent man who loves all sports, but rugby league is his No 1 game. On Monday morning he wrote to me questioning the credibility of the sport.His biggest disappointment is that we now pick and choose when to apply the rules. He was highly critical of the fact that we have almost got to the stage of anything goes.Im not sure who was responsible for the relaxing of the rules. Perhaps the referees felt under pressure to keep the penalty count as low as possible. Sky Live: Widnes v Hull FC Vikings can move two points clear at top of Super League with victory on Thursday Journalists sometimes claim that it has been a great game because we have only had six penalties in the match, so referees used this as a target. The referees with higher penalty counts were castigated in the media and as a result failed to get the bigger games. Surely the referees job is to apply the rules, not ignore them.We have now regressed to a point in which players are assisted by the referees when they dont have enough of their team in a scrum. In the old days that was a penalty, but not any longer. It looks and sounds like a junior match where some of the players dont know the rules.Some people have suggested to me that it all began when we ignored the play-the-ball rule which states that the player must touch the ball with his foot. Once we ignored one major rule, the rest quickly tumbled behind it. So, what began as a minor suggestion to the men who currently govern the laws of the game, has grown into a plan to save it.I dont have all the answers, in fact I dont even have all the questions, but I do have one question. What are you doing to save the sports credibility?Lets play to the rules. Get a Sky Sports Pass Watch Super League without a contract from ￡6.99 with NOW TV Do you agree with Phil Clarkes views? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below if viewing on skysports.com. Alternatively you can tweet us @SkySportsRL Also See: WATCH: Phils Super League preview WATCH: Wakefield owner on Smith exit Sky Live: Widnes v Hull FC WATCH: Wigan seeking improvement Air Max 95 NZ . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Air Max 95 Online Cheap .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. http://www.airmax95pnz.com/ . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Air Max 95 NZ Wholesale . 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Despite a game-high 20 points by Behram Yakchali, Iran had its second straight defeat and was eliminated from the competition.Mexico and Greece have already secured their semifinal spots before playing each other Wednesday.In Belgrade, Dairis Bertans scored 18 points in Latvias 71-59 win over the Czech Republic to earn the Baltic state top spot in Group B. The Czechs will play Japan for the second semifinal berth.In Group A, Puerto RRico bounced back from Mondays opening defeat against host Serbia by beating Angola 91-81.dddddddddddd Led by Carlos Arroyos 18 points, Puerto Rico saw a 27-point lead reduced to just 10 in the final quarter.Earlier Tuesday in Manila, France rallied from a 10-point deficit against the hosts to beat the Philippines 93-84, and Canada defeated Turkey 77-69 on the opening day of their qualifying tournament.Nando De Colo scored 11 points in the third quarter and 27 overall to help France overcome a strong start by the Philippines. New Zealand is the third team in Group B.In Group A, NBA point guard Cory Joseph led Canada with 21 points, while Turkeys Sinan Guler scored 14. Canada can secure a semifinal spot as group winner by beating Senegal on Wednesday.The winners of the three six-nation qualifying tournaments will be added to the 12-team draw in Rio. ' ' '