Rugby league playing field

The rugby league playing field, also referred to as a pitch or paddock, is the playing surface for the sport of rugby league football and is surfaced exclusively with grass.

The dimensions and markings of a full-sized playing area are defined in Section 1 of the Laws of the Game. These Laws are the agreed upon and maintained by the Rugby League International Federation. The playing field is defined as "the area bounded by, but not including, the touch lines and dead ball lines" by Section 2. If the ball or any player in possession of it makes contact with the touch lines or dead ball lines or the ground beyond them it is deemed to be out of play.

The rugby league field also has markings to denote where restarts, such as scrums, should be placed.

Rugby league is played on a field 112–122 by 68 metres (122.5–133.4 × 74.3 yards). The longer boundary lines are touch lines, while the shorter boundary lines are dead ball lines. The touch lines and dead ball lines are out of play.

Near each end of the field is a goal line, or try-line; they are 100 metres (109.4 yards) apart. A scoring area called the in-goal area extends 6–11 metres (6.6–12 yards) from each try-line to each dead ball line.

Most play will occur within the field of play, this "is the area bounded by, but not including, the touch lines and goal lines".

When the team in possession of the ball is attempting to score a try, the goal line is included in the in-goal area, grounding the ball correctly on either is a try.

When the team in possession is attempting to return the ball to the field of play from their own in-goal area the goal line is part of the field of play. A team caught with the ball in their own in-goal must restart play with a drop kick of the ball from between their posts, this usually results in the other team gaining possession.

Between the goal lines, broken lines run parallel to each touch line at 10 and 20 metres from touch. Free kicks are taken 10 metres in from the point where the ball entered touch after being kicked out to gain ground from a penalty. If a scrum is required to restart play and the event that caused it occurred "within 20 metres of a touch line or ten metres of a goal line the scrum shall be brought in twenty metres from the touch line and ten metres from the goal line".

Lines with distance markers transverse the field every 10 metres perpendicular to the touch lines. The distances ascend from each goal line towards the halfway line, which is marked "50" (similar to a typical American football field). These lines, as well as the goal lines, dead ball lines and touch lines are 15 centimetres wide and white in colour, the only exception being the 40-metre lines, which are usually coloured red to distinguish them for the determination of 40–20 kicks in play.

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