Glossary of rugby league terms


This list of rugby league terms is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of rugby league football. The sport has accrued a considerable amount of jargon to describe aspects of the game. Many terms originate from the Laws of the Game. A number of aspects of the game have more than one term that refers to them. Different terms have become popularly used to describe an aspect of the game in different places with notable differences between the northern and southern hemispheres.
Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics.

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A

B

If the ball enters touch, then play is restarted by a scrum at the point where the ball left the field of play. The exception is when the ball is kicked into touch without first bouncing inside the field of play. In this case, the scrum is taken from level with the place from where the ball was kicked from. The ball is given back to the team who did not kick it out of bounds; ball back is waived in certain circumstances:
  1. If a side elects to kick a penalty into touch

    C

D

E

F

An instance of the ball coming into contact with a person's head, almost always unintentionally.

G

H

I

K

L

M

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Z

In-line

General