Manly-Canterbury was a great game, but to call the ending a ‘thriller’ (as the Bulldogs’ website did) is to severely overstate it.
Granted it is great for the crowd to leave the ground split in two, either celebrating a great escape or mourning an agonising defeat, but superfluous field goal attempts and the milking of a penalty once the team is in a kickable position are defeating the purpose of golden point.
Maybe I’m overreacting, scrapping the concept altogether could be stepping over the line. Perhaps all that needs to be done is some tinkering.
An easy fix would be 10, 15 or 20 minutes of extra time being played (should there be a deadlock after 80 minutes of regular play) and whoever, if anyone, is leading at the end of extra time takes the points.
‘But what if nobody is leading?’ – I know. If, after extra time, nobody is leading surely we can recognise the teams as inseparable on the day and let them share the points for a game well contested?
Coaches will rue not going home with all the competition points but even they would appreciate two teams giving their all and not being able to come away with a win.
Maybe that’s not the solution but it would be much better than the current kick-a-thon that sees shanks flying all around the park from 45 metres out at the end of each set.
There could be a different solution. How about a 10-on-10 contest for 10 minutes? This would see great ball movement and some pretty impressive finishes to games.
What do you think?
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