Glossary of Rugby League Terms - F

F

Face ball

See: Cut out pass

Facial

A defending player in contact with the ball-carrier during or after the completion of a tackle aggressively and illegally touching the face of the ball-carrier with their hand or forearm. There may be different motivations for this action, such as wanting to provoke a reaction from the ball-carrier in order to gain a penalty, attempting to establish dominance over their opponent, or as a symptom of frustration.

Falcon

An instance of the ball coming into contact with a person's head.

Feed

See: Loose head and feed

Feeding the scrum

To roll the ball into the scrum.

Technically, the ball should enter the scrum via the tunnel formed by the front row forwards of the two teams binding together, with both teams able to strike for the ball, but a relaxed application of the rule is practised. The relaxed application allows players to roll the ball more directly into their team's side of the scrum thus reducing the chances of the other team successfully striking for the ball and gaining possession of it.

"Feeding!" is an ironic accusation sometimes called out by spectators of a game in response to a player taking advantage of the modern application of the rule.

Fend

Fending is the action by the ball carrier of repelling a tackler using his arm, also known as a "hand off". For the action to be legal, the ball carrier's arm must be straight before contact is made; a shove or "straight-arm smash", where the arm is extended immediately before contact or on contact, is illegal and classed as dangerous play.

Field goal

1. (obsolete) A type of goal scored by kicking a loose ball over the cross bar and between the posts that was abolished from the Game in 1950.
2. After the 1920s, in Australia and New Zealand, another name for drop goal.

Field of play

"The area bounded by, but not including, the touch lines and goal lines".

First receiver

The first man to receive the ball off the ruck, i.e. from the dummy-half.

Five-eighth

See: Stand-off.

Flat

A style of attacking play characterised by a lack of depth along the line of attacking players. More of the attacking team are in close proximity to defenders. The attackers look to take advantage of weaknesses created if defenders cannot organise themselves and allocate defenders to where they are needed. Weaknesses of this style of play include risk of passes being intercepted and a lack of speed in the attacking line.

Flat pass

This type of pass involves the player in possession of the ball and a team mate being level when the pass is received. The player about to receive the ball may be running past the ball-carrier aiming for a gap in the defence; with this there is a risk of committing a forward pass if the players get their timing wrong.

Flop

An attempt by a player not involved in the completion of a tackle to delay the player in possession from getting to their feet quickly afterwards by falling on top of those involved. The referee can award a penalty to the attacking team when he sees this tactic.

Forward pass

A forward pass is deemed to have occurred when the ball travels forward relative to the player passing it. If the referee deems a forward pass to be accidental, this results in a scrum to the opposing team. Deliberate forward passes identified by the referee will result in the award of a penalty. It is extremely rare for a referee to deem a forward pass deliberate. If, during a non-forward pass, the ball is blown or bounces forward, it is not classed as a forward pass.

Foul play

A non-technical breach of the rules such as a high tackle.

Four-tackle rule (obsolete)

The four-tackle rule was in force between 1966 and 1972. The rule ended the situation, a by-product from the introduction of the play-the-ball in 1906, whereby teams could have a potentially unlimited number of tackles. The tackle limit was raised from four to six tackles in 1972 to alleviate "disjointed" play.

Fullback

The title of full back (numbered 1) comes from the full back's defensive position where the player drops out of the defensive line to cover the rear from kicks and runners breaking the line. They therefore usually are good ball catchers and clinical tacklers. In attack the full back will typically make runs into the attack or support a runner in anticipation of a pass out of the tackle.