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Martin Devlin: NRL's golden point rule needs to go

Author
martin Devlin,
Publish Date
Thu, 18 Jul 2019, 12:05PM

Martin Devlin: NRL's golden point rule needs to go

Author
martin Devlin,
Publish Date
Thu, 18 Jul 2019, 12:05PM

Dear NRL, please call an end to the golden point experiment and ditch  this idiocy for all remaining round-robin games.

Now this is something I'm sure I've raised before and if I haven't then I damn well should have.

Last weekend's Broncos/Warriors match is the exact reason why this GP nonsense needs to stop - and I say this with only the best interests of the

sport and the competition in mind. Because golden point extra time is actually  anti rugby league. It turns a great game, a ferocious physical contest into a 10min farce.

League is about power, pace and precision. It's about grinding out field position, imposing your will and presence on another team of blokes equally

committed to muscling you back where you came from.

We all love the thrill and spectacle of huge hits, tackle busting linebreaks,  intricate footwork, the subtlety of reverse angles, desperation defence, acts

of individual try-scoring brilliance...I could go on and on but we all know what I mean. What rugby league isn't is setting two teams up against each other with no other objective than to try long range ever hopeful mostly failing field goals.

If that was the essence of the game no-one would watch it. GP extra time is boring for mine. It strips the game of everything that defines it

reducing it to a kick-off contest. And for what? Do those who actually follow the comp remain totally committed to this outcome? Has any recent research asking that question  been undertaken since it was introduced, and if so, where is it?

Since when were sports fans unable to accept a draw anyway?

We have them in rugby, football, netball, heck we even just had one in the CWC final!

(Please don't go there - Ed).

When it comes to the playoffs then sure. That's when you need to have something in place because there has to be a winner - but not the regular season comp.

Maybe I'm in a minority here, a lone voice even, a one-man protest making noise about something only I care about.

But I LOVE league, I LOVE the NRL and this to me is dumb, unnecessary and does nothing  to add to the spectacle. And that's my point.

Has this experiment enhanced the product?

Does it improve the visual spectacle?

Is it essential to the enjoyment of the contest?

If your answer to any of those is NO then the question is why would you want to retain it

AND how do we get the NRL to at least review it?

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