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I never believed there would come a day where more rugby league would be a bad thing.
Unfortunately, this unthinkable position has now been reached and it’s all thanks to Golden Point extra time.
As it deforms the game’s fundamentals and disbars rationality completely from the grid these days, the once-exciting scent of Golden Point has decayed to humid cheese.
Naturally, whenever this fortuitous feast of additional footy presents itself, we fans are starting to think we no longer want seconds.
Originally introduced to eradicate draws and create more losers, Golden Point enjoyed such early popularity it once caused Wayne Bennett to fist pump. Not bad when you consider the only other time this happened was when Darius Boyd was born.
But alas, those heady days are long gone, all but a fading dot in a rear-view mirror crowded with errant markers and skewed field-goal attempts.
Golden Point’s utter failure has not only disenfranchised the fans, it has proven – unfathomably – even the NRL administration can sometimes get it wrong.
With its morphed tactics and derision of rule, the concept no longer passes the rugby league sniff test. This is because it is not rugby league.
No, Golden Point is some bastard derivative from a modified fostering, much like your ginger half-brother from mum’s second marriage.
Watching games play out in extra time, you sense rugby league exists in there somewhere. Sure, there’s something mildly familiar about it all, but in the end, you’re not convinced. It’s like shopping for meat at Aldi.
If you take away the excitement and the emotion, there hasn’t been a decent period of Golden Point for yonks. If you take away the Melbourne Storm, there hasn’t been one properly executed for yonks either.
In saying that, it’s great if one-out runs and paranoid officialdom is your thing.
In the concept’s defence, some fans value it’s ability to enhance a poor viewing spectacle. However, I’d wager these are the people who still watch television in standard definition, so I wouldn’t listen to them.
Plus there’s those who enjoy the fact that it reduces draws. They cite our habitual consumerism, and claim unless we are expanding the game in to Tasmania, we should avoid outcomes that feel like ‘kissing your sister.’
What these people don’t understand is this; sea levels have risen since the advent of Golden Point, NAPLAN results suffer every time we take a game in to extra-time, and worst of all, the Census went belly-up following a streak of sudden death matches involving the Warriors.
Coincidence? Don’t kid yourself.
Yes, Golden Point not only makes kids stupider and footy writers untruthful, it mutilates rugby league as we know and love.
This is a territorial game of shape that relies on on its framework of laws, and unfortunately, these extra periods of play comply with nothing but federal sweepstake regulations.
Golden Point’s habits are ingrained and cannot be reversed. That’s why it’s already dead.
It is nothing more than an opportunity for referees to be paid overtime for doing nothing.
So let’s hope the NRL calls in the priest and lowers the casket.