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Finally the time has come to take a deep breath from the most epic finish to end all finishes.
Forever will the chaotic dying minutes of the 2015 NRL grand final be etched into those that attended Sydney’s sold-out Olympic Stadium and the millions watching on prime-time Sunday night television.
But amid the title-clinching field goal during extra-time that delivered the North Queensland Cowboys their maiden premiership and left players, fans and the media gasping for air, Wayne Bennett, the master of the two-word answer, had little trouble flapping his gums for once.
Not long after all the hoopla of the trophy presentation, all the joyous tears and disbelieving shock from the winners and heartbreak and distressed silence from losers, the super coach walked into the face the waiting journalists with a skewed agenda on the result.
Bennett wasn’t scornful that his Brisbane Broncos had lost the premiership decider, the first time in seven NRL grand final attempts during his previous 21-year watch at the club.
He squarely pointed the finger at the NRL playing conditions which were first introduced in 2003.
After Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston’s post-siren sideline conversion grazed the wrong side of the post to almost steal the grand final at full-time, the champion halfback would then display nerves of steel to slot a field goal over the crossbar in extra-time.
When the NRL say extra-time, it really means golden point. The match didn’t go the full 10 minutes, but barely one.
It was over that quickly.
Even the press conference of Bennett’s last longer, as he could have been mistaken for spitting his words out between mouthfuls of sour grapes over the anti-climax that turned the grand final on its ear.
“It’s a lottery – it’s unfair on everybody and it’s most unfair here tonight,” he said about golden point.
I would’ve been happy to come back here next week. I still don’t see what’s wrong with the draw. You’re talking about a grand final here. It’s personally not the way I want it decided.”
The two five-minute halves of extra-time have been eradicated – let alone calling it a draw and returning for a replay a week later – for golden point.
Who scores first wins, by whatever means necessary.
The golden point clause was added following NRL officials attending a tied NFL match in 2003 and witnessing the exhilaration generated from the deadlock being broken during ‘overtime’.
From the next season, when clubs were consulted that draws were no longer the preferred choice of result, Bennett became the most outspoken dissenter to the match going further than 80 minutes into extra-time – let alone golden point as the first option.
“I’m not bitter – do I sound bitter and twisted?” Bennett added during his post-match rant.
He may well be justified to ask, what is the point of it all?
What golden point does unquestionably is change the face of rugby league. The sport is not about slotting goals from all over the field with regular monotony. It’s always been about running in tries.
The battle of attack versus defence.
Field goals are devalued and are worth one point, not three unlike rugby union, which encourages the drop kick to break up spirited rucking and mauling in the 15-man game.
For rugby league, field goals are only given any credence when the scores are level, especially late in the game. So when golden point was introduced for draws, many coaches and players took it literally as the singular point, not the plural.
Field goals not only came out of hibernation, but were the first option.
Conversely, tries now appear to be almost superfluous in the chase for an extra-time victory.
The clear flaw of golden point is that two halves of extra-time has also become superfluous. And in the case of the first five minutes, there lies another flaw when a strong wind advantage favours one kicking side over its rivals.
A well earned golden try, rather than a cheap field goal, would preserve a level of fairness – unless Bennett gets his way entirely and rewinds back the clock nearly 40 years to the last replayed grand final.
“I would’ve been happy to come back next week,” he said.
“At the end of the day, we got beaten on a field goal. Do we feel beaten? No, we don’t. Do we feel disappointed? Yes, we do.
“Now, you need to recognise that – it’s not about winning or losing all the time.”
But with doyen of modern-day rugby league coaches in hot water over his inflammatory comments, he could see his role on the NRL competition committee come to an end.
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