You can slow the play the ball down by controlling the ruck. The arbitrary bit for the ref is deciding when the player has been held and who won the collision.
If you play touch rugby then you could measure the time for a ruck, but in a collision game that is tricky.
Lets say the release has to be 3 seconds from when held is called, but then you have to decide what is a release? Is a player released if all hands are off but there is still a tangle of legs. What if a players arm is stuck under the ball carriers arm? If the player pulls their arm out and the ball comes with it is that a knock on or a reefing of the ball. It is a challenge that RL has that RU does not as in RU there is no play the ball and therefore no need to judge the ruck speed. In American football the play stops completely and starts again from a set point. Our game is unique in that the collision is a tangle of bodies and positions and judgements from the ref.
Probably the ideal tackle is
a) holding a player
b) small backwards momentum (to allow more time for the ref to call held)
c) to be taking the player to the ground at the point held is called (so that a few more microseconds are added for hitting the ground)
d) to have some limb entanglement (to allow for slower release)
e) for the ball carrier to be falling to their back with head away from the attacking line (so the player has to regain their feet and direction before playing)
All this would add to the time in the tackle whilst not actually meaning the tackling players are holding down for any longer.
Whereas probably the worst tackle is
a) just a hand or finger on a ball carrier
b) ball carrier has hit the ground quickly in with forward momentum (Makinson at his best does this)
d) no limb entanglement
e) for the ball carrier to hit the ground in an all 4s position with no one on their back so are able to regain their feet more efficiently.
Either way it has been well publicised that Saints have received the slowest play the ball of the last 2 seasons, so it goes to show that you can still win a lot of games even without getting the calls from the ref.
Indeed I think Wigan last year had the second slowest play the ball behind Saints, so both top sides (and trophy winning sides) which other sides successfully managed to slow down but could still perform.
