Rugby league consists of an attacking team who has possession of the ball and a defending team who must attempt to stop the attacking team from scoring. In order to score points the attacking team must move up field. To do this they use a combination of kicking and running head-on into the defensive line to either force back the defence or break the defensive line. The defending team must devise tactics to limit the effectiveness of the attacking team's ball running and kicking.
The attacking team has six chances to attempt to score. The defending team tries to stop the attacking team from scoring by tackling the player with the ball. When a player is tackled, the entire defending team, with the exception of two markers, must move back 10 metres towards their in-goal area. The tackled player must then play the ball.