Re: Fev-Hull : Tue May 15, 2018 10:28 pm
It's a form of gamesmanship to pretend to ground the ball but then move inside to improve the angle for the goalkicker. It's possible for players to have a clear run at the line, be about to plant the ball and then realise there are no defenders nearby, and as a result move towards the posts before grounding the ball. That doesn't happen that often though.If players get a reputation for feigning grounding the ball, then the opposition teams are going to get wind of this. The only way that a single player can realistically stop another player scoring when he's already over the line is a) knocking the ball out of his hands as he's attempting to ground it (see John Pendlebury vs. Mark Elia in the Challenge Cup final 1987!); b) somehow manage to get some part of their body under the ball (almost impossible 1 on 1); or c) whack him with a massive ball and all tackle to try and dislodge the ball.
The problem comes when said player (with reputation) does ground the ball but then saunters across the in-goal area celebrating and ends up getting whacked for his troubles.