Newbie Q about bouncing ball

[outcast]

Well, I played my first game last night and the game lived up to all the hype (that I had heaped upon it!) - I absolutely loved it! I was rubbish and far more concerned with getting the rules right than any sort of tactical play but I can see how a whole world of tactics is out there to be explored.

I do have a quick question on the rules which came up. I apologise in advance for asking this as I'm sure it's a fairly newbie question but I can't find an answer for this exact scenario in my searches

The ball was on an unoccupied square and it was my opponents turn. His intention was to block a couple of my players to clear some space and then attempt a pick up. His first block forced my player back to the square with the ball and it scattered onto one of his players who failed to catch. The ball then scattered to a second of his players who also failed to catch and eventually landed in an unoccupied square - does this result in a turnover or can he continue his go and try to pick up the ball?

I understand that a failed catch from a throw results in a turnover (if the ball doesn't come to rest with a moving player) but I wasn't sure if this was the same since he didn't actually attempt any "ball-related" action... just happened to be in the place that it popped up to.

If the above DOES result in a turnover then would the same be true if his second player had caught the ball i.e. ball bounces up from the push back, first player fails catch, second player succeeds with catch?

Many thanks

[besters]

if the ball is scattering as you described it isn't a turnover to fail to catch it

[dode74]

Reasons for a turnover:

1. A player on the moving team is Knocked Down (being injured by the crowd or being Placed Prone is not a turnover unless it is a player from the active team holding the ball; e.g. skills like Diving Tackle, Piling On and Wrestle count as being Placed Prone) or
2. A passed ball, or hand-off, is not caught by any member of the moving team before the ball comes to rest or
3. A player from the moving team attempts to pick up the ball and fails (note: failing a catch roll, as opposed to a pick up, is by itself never a turnover) or
4. A touchdown is scored or
5. The four-minute time limit for the turn runs out or
6. A pass attempt is fumbled even if a player from that team catches the fumbled ball or
7. A player with the ball is thrown or is attempted to be thrown using Throw Team-Mate and fails to land successfully (including being eaten or squirming free from an Always Hungry roll) or
8. A player is ejected by the referee for a foul.

Your specific question is answered in point 3 (bolded above). I say that because a bouncing ball is a catch roll:

If the ball bounces into an occupied
square, then the player in the square must attempt to catch it, as
described above. If the player fails to catch the ball, then it will
bounce again until it is either caught or bounces into an empty
square or off the pitch.

Since it is a catch roll, and a failed catch roll is not, on it's own, a turnover (as opposed to a failed catch from a pass, which is covered in item 2 above), then it is no turnover.

[besters]

didn't have a rulebook to hand, so Dode beat me to tha actual quotes!

[outcast]

Thanks guys, that's really cleared it up for me. I think I just had rules overload from my first game and got a bit confused. I'll have a re-read now that I've played the game and hopefully digest them better

[besters]

It's a great game, but I can still remember being embarrassed by some of my initial rule interpretations, there is a lot to take in at the start.