Rugby league rules in five minutes
Rules baseline: International Rugby League Laws of the Game, 2026 edition, including amendments effective 1 January 2026. NRL, RFL, international, youth, wheelchair, and other competitions add or modify procedures.
- Objective: score more points by grounding the ball in the opponents' in-goal or kicking goals while advancing possession through a limited tackle set.
- Players, field, and equipment: each team fields 13 players on a rectangular field with in-goal areas; the ball, posts, clothing, boots, and protective equipment must satisfy IRL law and competition rules.
- How play begins: a place kick at halfway starts each half and restarts after points, with the receiving team behind its 10-metre line.
- Possession and tackles: the team with the ball normally has six tackles; after a held call it restarts with a play-the-ball, and possession usually changes after the last tackle or an error.
- Scoring: under IRL law a try is four points, a conversion or penalty goal two, and a field goal one; a competition may adopt a different value for a specified long-range field goal.
- Length and winner: a standard senior match is 80 minutes in two 40-minute halves; the higher score wins, while the competition decides whether a draw stands or golden point applies.
- Main infringements and misconduct: knock-ons, forward passes, offside, ruck interference, marker offences, obstruction, illegal steals, high tackles, and dangerous contact can cause a scrum, handover, set restart, penalty, or card.
- Restarts and sanctions: play-the-balls, scrums, tap restarts, kick-offs, drop-outs, 20-metre restarts, penalties, and free-kicks each have distinct marks and offside requirements; sin bins and send-offs reduce the team.
- Competition differences: six-again applications, Captain's Challenge, video referee scope, interchange and HIA rules, golden point, 18th-player provisions, and some kick or restart rules vary across NRL, RFL, and international play.
- Go deeper: start with teams and positions, the tackle count, play-the-ball, scoring, and the league explainers below.