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Opinion: Bring back the old-fashioned draw

Well it seems the Championship and League One are the guinea pigs next season again as they trial the new innovation around golden point extra time.

Different to Super League, the team that loses in extra time will now get one point with the team winning getting two points. Golden point now is basically a battle for an extra point as you’re guaranteed at least one for the tie after 80 minutes.

This format has split opinion, and I have to say I’m not a massive fan of it. Call me a traditionalist, but why not just end the game after 80 minutes regardless of whether a team is ahead or not? They have had enough time to score the points to win and if they happen to be level after the hooter sounds, then they should get a point each and move on.

Up until the start of last season, Super League had stuck to its guns and stayed clear of golden point. In this country, a good old-fashioned draw is, or was, a part of our great game. Teams have been drawing league games as far back as I remember and only cup competitions have seen extra-time needed, but even then a replay was favoured in years gone by. I never recall a clamour to extend a game past 80 minutes, except of course that old chestnut “well they do it in the NRL”. We don’t have to follow everything they do; in fact maybe it should be the other way round?

We have brought in some great rules to increase enjoyment over the years, but also some not-so-good ones. The free play springs straight to mind, a rule that appeared an attractive proposition at first, an opportunity for players and teams to try a no-risk off-the-cuff play after the opposition had made a mistake, however it quickly became a farce with forwards aimlessly booting the ball up the pitch back to the opponents, making the game more stop-start than before. It wasn’t pleasing on the eye and was put in the dustbin, just like golden point should be.

The free play rule was scrapped ahead of the 2019 season. Credit: Richard Long/News Images

Similarly to the free play, golden point has often left me questioning the skill of our players as they try drop goals from 50 yards out. Yes some players are capable, as Gareth O’Brien once famously proved; however, some games last season became farcical as both teams traded misses at the sticks for five minutes, sometimes even longer. This is no way to finish a game after 80 minutes of hard graft. It leaves you with a sense of injustice and if you are good enough to earn a draw after 80 minutes, then you deserve a share of the spoils.

Our game shouldn’t need golden point to make it exciting; there is nothing wrong in this country with a draw in a 29-game league season. It’s worked for decades and I still haven’t heard one good reason to change it now. So surely the best trial would be to go back to one point each for a draw? It wasn’t broke and it didn’t need fixing.

We are where we are though and if anything this new concept in the Championship and League One is even worse. One point each, with the winner in overtime getting the extra point. I can see where this has come from as losing in golden point is harsh, but this just seems to be a system to try find a compromise to a problem that never existed. We will now be handing out three points in these games instead of the normal two. If we’re stuck with golden point then leave it as it was and if we’re saying a team that loses in golden point deserves more than a side losing in 80 minutes, then why does a side that wins in golden point deserve the same as a side that wins in 80 minutes? It doesn’t add up, it’s not consistent and it’s not necessary.

The only way it would make sense would be to offer three points for a win in 80 minutes, two points for a win in golden point and one point for losing in golden point, similar, I suppose, to the bonus point system. In fact, why not just have a bonus point system? It’s better than this!

Another problem I have with golden point is a drop goal deciding it. The team that gets the ball first is at a massive advantage. In the NFL, the game doesn’t end if the team receiving the ball first scores a field goal. The other side gets a chance of possession to either level up with a field goal or win the game with a touchdown. If the receiving side scores a touchdown on the first drive then that wins the game. After both sides have had the ball, any score wins it. For me, in golden point, if the side receiving score a drop goal, then the other side should have a chance of possession to match the drop goal. Only a try or penalty should win it on the first six tackles. It isn’t really fair for a side to lose to a drop goal from 40 metres when they haven’t even touched the ball, something that happened several times last season.

We have a great game and whilst innovation is good, it doesn’t always work, as with the ridiculous free play. Some things should be left as they are, so bring back the old-fashioned draw!

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