when to declare passing actions

[Bevan]

We used to rule that you didn't need to declare a Pass action until the player had possession of the ball, but it's clear that under current rules it has to be declared before moving the player.

Apart from Stand Firm players that might fail to reach the ball without causing a turnover, you might have to use a reroll to dodge while trying to get the ball and decide to let someone else do the pass, you might change your mind about the distances required, or you might decide to do a handoff instead of a pass. None of these changes should be permitted after activating a player.

Even if leagues don't require an action declared before moving a player it should definitely be declared before any dice roll in the players action.

[Scott King]

Fair call. Thanks guys. All this means of course that my cunning plans in a PBeM at the moment will need some rethinks... Heigh ho, that's just the way it is...

[Marcus]

Yes and for all this reasons I think it is NECESSARY to declare the action before activating the player.

See above Ian's comment on declaring actions before dicerolls (dodges, bonehead etc). Flexibility, but maintains fair balance.