A try is four points under the international laws.

The authority and version used here

This page applies the International Rugby League (IRL) 2026 International Laws of the Game with Notes on the Laws for the running game, effective 1 January 2026. The main provisions are the glossary definition of “grounding the ball,” Section 6 (Scoring—Tries and Goals), Section 8 Law 1 (restart after points) and Section 13 Laws 8–10 (foul play around a score or drop-goal attempt).

IRL states that its international laws are for all levels, but an appointed competition may add playing conditions and interpretations. The NRL, RFL competitions, age-grade games, modified formats, wheelchair rugby league and the 2026 World Cup should therefore not be assumed to share every procedure or point value.

What can go on the scoreboard

• Try—4 points: normally for the first legal grounding in the opponents' in-goal.
• Conversion goal—2 points: a place kick or drop kick awarded after a try.
• Penalty goal—2 points: a place kick or drop kick after a penalty award.
• Drop goal—1 point: a drop kick at goal during general play under the IRL baseline. “Field goal” is the common alternative name.
• Penalty try—4 points: awarded between the posts when a try would have been scored but for the defending team's unfair play.

These values come from IRL Section 6 Laws 1, 3(d), 6 and 7. A converted try totals six points; the “eight-point try” shorthand describes a try plus two successful kicks, not a separate try value in the IRL law book.

Crossing the line is not enough

IRL Section 6 Law 3 requires the attacker to be the first player to ground the ball in the opponents' in-goal. The goal line belongs to in-goal, so legal grounding on the line can score. Picking up a loose ball in in-goal is not itself grounding, although the player may pick it up and move to a better spot before grounding while play remains legal.

The 2026 IRL glossary gives three routes to grounding:

1. Place the ball on the ground with the hand or hands.
2. Exert downward pressure with a hand or arm while the ball is already on the ground.
3. Drop on a ball already on the ground and cover it with the front of the body above the waist and below the neck.

The third route was clarified from 1 January 2026: covering the ball with the back does not satisfy it. A correct grounding is not undone merely because the scorer then loses or releases the ball.

Where a try succeeds—and where it is awarded

There is no try if the grounding attacker is in touch, in touch in-goal, or on or over the dead-ball line. A corner post is in touch in-goal, while the touch line and dead-ball line are outside the playing field. Officials therefore check the attacker's contact with those boundaries as well as the ball.

For an ordinary grounding or simultaneous grounding by opponents, the try is awarded where the ball was grounded. If a tackled player's momentum carries the player into in-goal, Section 6 Law 3(c) permits a sliding try even if the ball first touched the field of play; the ball-carrier must still be legally in play when the ball crosses the goal line. Under Law 4, that try is positioned where the ball first crossed the goal line, which fixes the conversion line.

If opposing players ground simultaneously in the defending in-goal, Law 3(b) awards the try provided the attacker is not out. A try cannot be scored while the ball remains in a scrum, though a player may take it from the base and drive through their own forwards before grounding.

A failed attempt does not always stop play

If an attacker does not ground correctly, the referee does not manufacture a try or an automatic restart. The IRL notes say play continues unless something else has stopped it—for example, a knock-on, a tackle, the ball entering touch in-goal or the ball crossing the dead-ball line.

One unusual Section 6 edge case concerns an attacking ball-carrier who contacts the referee, a touch judge or an encroaching spectator in the opponents' in-goal and play is irregularly affected. Law 3(e) allows a try, positioned where the contact occurred. This is a narrow remedy for outside interference, not a general rule that contact with an official always produces points.

The test is “would have scored”

Under IRL Section 6 Law 3(d), the referee—or video referee where available—may award a penalty try when, in that official's opinion, a try would have been scored but for unfair play by the defending team. A merely possible scoring chance is not the stated test.

The penalty try is worth four points and is awarded between the posts regardless of where the offence occurred. The scoring team then has the normal two-point conversion attempt from the corresponding line in front of the posts. The law does not award that conversion automatically, so “penalty try” does not mean an automatic six or eight points. Misconduct can still be dealt with separately from the scoring decision.

The try location fixes the angle

Section 6 Laws 6 and 8 allow the conversion as either a place kick or drop kick from any point in the field of play on an imaginary line through the awarded try position and parallel to touch. The kicker may move farther back on that line but cannot move sideways to improve the angle.

A goal counts only if the whole ball passes on the full over the opponents' crossbar, between the uprights and toward the dead-ball line, without touching another player in flight. The posts are treated as extending indefinitely upward. The kicker's teammates must be behind the ball and the opponents stand outside the field of play. A teammate may hold the ball in position when necessary, and a kicking tee is permitted.

The kick can move back, not across

After a penalty award, the team may elect to kick at goal for two points. IRL Section 6 Law 8 allows the kick from the mark or farther back toward the kicker's own goal line on the same line parallel to touch. Opponents retire to their goal line or at least ten metres from the mark and may not distract the kicker.

Once the team tells the referee it will kick at goal, pretending to do so and deliberately kicking elsewhere is misconduct and brings another penalty. A goal is unavailable from a differential penalty or free kick. If an ordinary penalty kick is sent dead in the opponents' in-goal, Section 8 Law 3 instead gives the defenders a 20-metre drop-out.

The ball must rebound before the kick

The IRL glossary defines a drop kick as dropping the ball from the hand or hands and kicking it immediately after it rebounds from the ground. Section 6 Law 7 permits a drop goal from any position in the field of play during play and awards one point.

An opponent touching the ball in flight does not prevent a successful drop goal, unlike the “no other player” condition for a conversion or penalty goal. No goal can be scored directly from a kick-off, drop-out, free kick or differential penalty. A punt—kicking the ball before it touches the ground—is not a drop goal even if it passes over the crossbar.

Why an “eight-point try” is not automatic

IRL Section 13 Law 9 applies when a defender fouls an opponent while the opponent is touching down. For this purpose, “touching down” runs from the act of scoring until the scorer regains their feet. The conversion is attempted first; a further penalty kick at goal is then taken from in front of the posts. After that penalty kick, the ball is dead and play restarts at halfway.

If the try, conversion and additional penalty goal all succeed, the sequence totals eight points: 4 + 2 + 2. “Eight-point try” is useful shorthand, but neither kick is automatic and the try itself remains worth four. This is different from a penalty try, where unfair play prevented the try from being scored at all.

A successful field goal can stand before a penalty goal

Under IRL Section 13 Law 10, foul play against a player attempting a drop goal brings a penalty in front of the posts. If the drop goal succeeds, it stands and a penalty kick at goal must follow; play then restarts at halfway whatever the outcome of that kick. Under the international values, the sequence can produce three points.

If the drop goal misses, the non-offending team may use the penalty in any manner the laws allow, and the restart follows the outcome of that choice. Ordinary legal pressure is not enough: the referee must find an offence against the kicker.

A score is not final merely because the ball crossed

Section 6 Law 5 makes the referee, or video referee where available, the only official who may award a try. The referee may take advice from the touch judges and should check that they are not reporting an earlier incident before signalling. For a goal kick, the touch judges signal their views; if they disagree, the referee decides.

Once points have been confirmed, IRL Section 8 Law 1 requires the team that conceded them to restart with a place kick from the centre of halfway. If time has expired, Section 7 Law 3 can extend the half for an awarded penalty kick or kick at goal. Review referral, live-review timing, captain's challenges and shot clocks exist only where the competition has adopted them.

NRL, World Cup and RFL procedures differ

• NRL Telstra Premiership: the NRL's published competition law awards two points for a successful field goal kicked in general play from outside the opposition 40-metre line; the ordinary field goal remains one point. Its Section 6 also specifies a place kick, rather than a choice of place kick or drop kick, for a conversion. These are NRL competition provisions, not the universal IRL baseline.
• IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026: on 29 April 2026, IRL confirmed that the men's and women's tournaments will use the 2026 NRL and NRLW Premiership Rules and Interpretations respectively, including their technology and shot-clock frameworks. The announcement does not enumerate every adopted scoring interpretation, so the NRL men's long-range value should not be projected onto the women's tournament without checking the appointed NRLW document. The wheelchair tournament uses a separate wheelchair law book.
• RFL 2026 appointed matches: where a video referee and timekeeper are appointed, the RFL applies a 60-second limit for penalty and conversion goal kicks and a live video-review process. Those additions change procedure, not the IRL point values.

Local age-grade and modified rules may change field size, match length, kick procedures or scoring. The appointed competition rules control if they expressly vary the IRL book.

How to analyse a scoring replay

1. Name the ruleset. Start with IRL 2026, then check the competition's current playing conditions.
2. Identify the claimed score. Try, conversion, penalty goal or drop goal each has a different legal action.
3. For a try, check grounding and boundaries. Was the attacker first, was one of the three grounding methods completed, and was the player still legally in play?
4. Fix the award position. Ordinary grounding, sliding try and penalty try use different positioning rules; that position fixes the conversion line.
5. For a goal, check the kick type and flight. Confirm whether a place kick or drop kick was permitted and whether the whole ball passed over and between the posts.
6. Check foul play separately. Decide whether it prevented a try, occurred against the scorer, or occurred against a drop-goal kicker.
7. Apply review and competition variations. Do not import a Bunker, shot clock or two-point field goal into a competition that has not adopted it.
8. Set the restart. After confirmed points, the conceding team normally kicks off from halfway.

The ball rotates away after contact

Situation: an attacker places the ball on the goal line with a hand. The ball rolls free immediately after touching the ground.

IRL 2026 ruling: try, if the initial placement was legal and the attacker was not out. The goal line is in-goal, and the Section 6 notes say a scorer need not retain the ball after correct grounding. The later release does not reverse an already completed score.

Two players arrive together

Situation: an attacker and defender apply legal grounding to a loose ball at the same time in the defending in-goal; the attacker is not touching a boundary.

IRL 2026 ruling: try under Section 6 Law 3(b). Simultaneous opposing grounding is an express scoring case, not an automatic benefit of the doubt to the defender.

A foul stops a likely chance

Situation: a defender illegally pulls back an attacker near the goal line. Another covering defender might still have made the tackle.

IRL 2026 ruling: a penalty may be appropriate, but a penalty try is not established merely because scoring was likely. Section 6 Law 3(d) asks whether a try would have been scored but for the unfair play. The realistic covering defender is material to that judgment.

A long-range field goal in two competitions

Situation: a legal drop goal is kicked in general play from outside the opposition 40-metre line and passes over the crossbar.

IRL 2026 baseline: one point under Section 6 Law 7.

NRL Telstra Premiership ruling: two points under the NRL competition wording. The different answer comes from the competition variation, not from a different view of whether the kick was successful.

The scorer is fouled before standing

Situation: a player legally grounds the ball, remains on the ground and is then struck illegally before regaining their feet.

IRL 2026 ruling: award the four-point try, attempt the conversion, then take the Section 13 Law 9 penalty kick at goal from in front. The decisive fact is that IRL's special period continues until the try scorer regains their feet.

Claims that produce the wrong answer

• “The ball only has to break the plane.” No. Rugby league requires a legal grounding in the opponents' in-goal.
• “Downward pressure is always required.” No. It is one route when the ball is already on the ground; placing the ball with the hand or hands is another.
• “A penalty try is automatically six points.” No. It is a four-point try between the posts followed by a conversion attempt.
• “An eight-point try is a special eight-point score.” No. Eight is the maximum total from a try, its conversion and the additional foul-play penalty goal.
• “Every field goal is one point.” That is the IRL baseline, but the NRL Telstra Premiership long-range variation awards two.
• “The Bunker can review every match.” Review powers exist only where the competition and match appointments provide them.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• International Rugby League — 2026 International Laws of the Game with Notes on the Laws, glossary and Sections 6, 7, 8 and 13
• International Rugby League — Amendments to International Laws 2026, effective 1 January 2026
• International Rugby League — Rugby League World Cup 2026 competition-specific rules, approved 29 April 2026
• National Rugby League — 2023 Laws and Interpretations, Section 6, pp. 13–15
• Australian Rugby League Commission — 2026 on-field rule changes, 4 February 2026
• National Rugby League — official 2026 match record of a two-point field goal, 25 April 2026
• Rugby Football League — 2026 goal-kick shot clock and live-review amendments

Checked on 27 August 2026 against the IRL 2026 law book and its 1 January amendments. Competition notes were checked against the official NRL/ARLC, RFL and RLWC2026 materials above. The NRL's published competition book is labelled 2023; the 2026 ARLC change notice does not announce a scoring-value change, so the statement that the two-point field goal remains part of the 2026 NRL rules is an inference from those materials and the NRL's official 2026 match record. Appointed competition regulations may further supplement the baseline.