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Sorry for taking a bit long, but finally! Here's my take on that offside call by Steve Walsh v Bulls.
My first reaction - as a supporter - was that he'd got it wrong. Then, when he appeared to change his mind and awarded a scrum, I thought he'd rectified his error. Then, when he changed his mind back (courtesy of a discussion with his AR), I thought he'd just gone mad.
HOWEVER with hindsight, and a quick check of the law book (yes, I have several, none of which have yet been anally inserted despite offers to do so by some players), I must recant. Even more so when I awarded exactly the same penalty in the big Wanneroo "upset" match v Soaks.
The relevant part of the law says:
Law 11 Offside and Onside in General Play
DEFINITION
...In general play a player is offside if the player is in front of a team mate who is carrying the ball, or in front of a team mate who last played the ball....
But one must also consider....
Law 12 - Knock on or Throw forward
DEFINITION KNOCK ON
A knock on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.
‘Forward’ means towards the opposing team’s dead ball line.
EXCEPTION
Charge down. If a player charges down the ball as an opponent kicks it, or immediately after the kick, it is not a knock on even though the ball may travel forward.
So, a charge down means he played the ball, but didn't knock it on. That was Fava. Chris O was in front of Fava and was next to play the ball. He was offside and was rightly penalised.
Sorry all, Mr Walsh was correct with his first instinct and correct to eventually award the penalty.