Wayne Bennett doesn’t like it, and while that may not be justification enough, it’s high time the NRL banished golden point to a permanent sin bin.
Obviously for playoff games, State of Origin and Test matches some form of tie-breaker or extra time would be required to split a drawn game. But I fail to see why it is necessary during the regular season.
We have seen three drawn games in the last two weekends of the NRL. St George-Illawarra and Parramatta couldn’t be split after 10 minutes of extra time in the opening game of Round 13. Book-ending the round was the Wests Tigers golden point victory over the Newcastle Knights when Robbie Farah slotted a field goal to win it for the Tigers.
In round 14 last weekend, the Canberra Raiders staged an amazing fightback from 24-0 down against the Brisbane Broncos to level the game at 24-24 in a frenetic last 15 minutes. They then fell to a Peter Wallace field goal in golden point extra time.
What is so bad about all three of these games ending even?
The teams get a point each, as was the case with the Dragons and the Eels. This illustrates a greater absurdity, in that there is still the possibility of a drawn game but for some reason, the rules dictate that an 80 minute game suddenly has to last 90 minutes for that to happen.
Sudden death or golden point rules also fundamentally alter the overriding aspect of the game; that being it is a game played to a time limit. And that in turn changes the way a team plays in a golden point period, at least in rugby league, a game where points can be scored in a variety of manners.
Football experimented with a golden goal from 1993 to 2003. Australia has a unique place in golden goal lore, as the Young Socceroos were the first international side to win a game with a golden goal in the 1993 World Youth Cup quarter final against Uruguay in Brisbane. March 13th to be exact, the same night Paul Keating won the “unwinnable” Federal Election.
Football eventually abandoned the golden goal (after strange tinkering with the idea of a “silver” goal – don’t ask). One of the reasons given was due to the time-limit aspect of the game and a golden goal did not give the team who conceded one a chance to equalise, as would have been the case in “normal” play.
The game was not designed to end at any time.
Rugby league is the same, but probably even more so. Prevailing weather conditions alone can play a big factor in the game and a team can, and often has, gained a huge advantage simply by winning the toss and gaining possession first, or running with a gale behind their backs.
This is fundamentally unfair as the same advantages are not afforded the opposing team if they concede points first.
The NRL ladder would take on a more unpredictable look if drawn games were left to stand. Odd points could make a big difference as the season headed towards the play-offs, with teams having the ability to leapfrog other teams in one result, without having to resort to examination of points differential.
And with such a tight competition, who’s to say that a team might sneak above another on points difference, having scored points in “extra time?” How does that make sense?
For example, Melbourne and Manly are currently split by a differential of four points, both having 22 competition points. Let’s say that carried all the way to the final round, and Manly won a game in golden point by scoring a try?
Rugby league teams have 80 minutes to try and win a match. If they can’t, the result is usually exciting, ultimately fair, and equally deserving.
Golden point takes all that away.
Jarrod
Guest
love it, i'd keep the points system the same though and if after 9O minutes theres no result both sides just get a point, whoever wins gets 2
Adam
Roar Guru
Loving the idea here
MyGeneration
Roar Guru
This would introduce the anomaly of teams having to do something in the finals that they haven't done all season long. I like golden try's idea, with PaddyBoy's amendment. Make winning in normal time worth more than a golden point win during the regular season.
upl10
Roar Rookie
UPL the 10 a side @ 5m defence rules for Rugby League wrote the following & submitted to all NRL officials as far back as 1998 after the Super League Tri Series final debacle that extended the game to 104 mins of played time to have the result decided by the field goal. ***DURING FINALS & REPRESENTATIVE GAMES ONLY. In the event of a drawn game after 90 or 80 minutes of regular time, EXTRA TIME will be played out as follows: 10min EACH WAY if required. There will be a 5 minute break before the restart and after the 1st 10 minutes of EXTRA TIME, if so required. A total of 20min-: 10min EACH WAY, of complete play time will be played out in EXTRA TIME, if so required. The team that scored the 1st TRY of the match will receive the ball from the kick-off starting the EXTRA TIME period. Teams can start the EXTRA TIME PERIOD with any 10 of their available players (players that have been DOUBLE FOULED out of the game cannot participate in the EXTRA TIME period). There will be no interchanges during the EXTRA TIME period; this will add a fatigue factor. If EXTRA TIME has been played out with no team scoring, the team that scored the most trys in regular time will be declared the winner of the match. However, if both teams had scored the same amount of trys in regular time and are still dead locked after extra time the team that scored the 1st try of the game will be declared the match winner. During the (SUDDEN DEATH EXTRA TIME PERIOD) there will be; 'NO FIELD GOALS' & “THE 1st TRY SCORED” will determine the match winner - 'SUDDEN DEATH'.
captain nemo
Roar Guru
Ney for golden point. The season is a test of endurance, if its square at 80 minutes, you share the chocolates!!! Golden point should be saved for elimination games only.
turbodewd
Guest
The current system rocks. Draws should be avoided IMHO. Golden try defeats the purpose of extra time and FGs don't occur too often. Yay for golden point!
Boz
Guest
During regular season, a draw should definitely be enough for reasons already stated. For finals games and SOO, Test matches, extra time is fine, but not golden point. Play an extra 10 minutes one way, and another 10 the other. The team ahead wins. If scores a still locked, do another 10 minute half, etc, etc. The players may be stuffed at the end of this, but drawn finals, tests and SOO don't happen every day of the week either.
PaddyBoy
Guest
I was always a fan of three point win, one point for the draw at the end of 80, one point up for grabs in an extra time win, but this looks pretty sweet too.
sheek
Guest
Obviously we live in a dull, attention-deficit soceity. We need an adrelin fix every other second to light up our otherwise dreary lives. Draws are perfectly normal for home & away regular season matches. Save extra time for the finals series, when you can have something extra to look forward to. You don't need to separate teams during regular season matches. But you do need to separate them during the finalds time.
M1tch
Roar Guru
Changing the points system is the best idea..I love golden point its here to stay for a while yet.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Great concepts Golden Try person. I've had the same thoughts of immediately going into extra-time without stopping. Your points system shows clever, and creative reasoning.
golden try
Guest
It's entertaining to watch and ultimately that's why we watch the game to begin with. That tense final 15 minutes is extended for another 5-10 minutes and it's such a rare event, it happens less than 10 times out of 200+ games a season. If you doubt it, just look at the 1.3 million who watched the Eels vs Dragons match. The spots (ratings during the game) actually increased during the second half and helped lift the lead in for the second match, despite that match being delayed by 10-15minutes. How extra time should be structured: * Whoever has the ball at the 80 minute mark keeps possession and it's play on - there is no break * This encourages that team (in the last minutes of regular time) to attempt tries rather than field goals * This also brings fatigue into extra time even more - think of the Tigers/Roosters finals match * Teams can kick field goals and get penalty goals in extra time - but it doesn't stop the clock - the points just get added to their total * A try automatically stops the clock and ends the game * For regular games, whoever's ahead at the 90 minute mark gets the 'win' * For regular games, if after 90 minutes teams are still drawn then it's a tie * For finals/rep games where the teams are still drawn at 90 minutes, then (with no break) next points win (i.e. golden point). Points for regular season games should change such that: 4 - win 3 - extra time win 2 - draw 1 - extra time loss 0 - loss