NRL goes into extra time
By Dean Ritchie
November 21, 2002
RUGBY League has changed forever with drawn matches now certain to be removed from the game.
The NRL annual conference voted unanimously to embrace the "golden point" rule for every premiership match in 2003 after the proposal was revealed in yesterday's Daily Telegraph.
Drawn matches will go into extra time with the first team to score any points being declared winners.
The new proposal which still needs to be rubber stamped by the board but has the backing of NRL chief executive David Gallop will ensure a result in every match.
Extra time will also be introduced in State-of-Origin matches.
Club representatives said they did not believe the proposal would adversely affect players, although interchange allowances may be considered.
"There is unanimous support for ensuring that fans and players walk away from every match with a result," NRL chief executive David Gallop said last night.
"There is an issue that will require discussion with a range of stakeholders, including broadcasters.
"In essence, the same rules we already adopt for the finals series could be used in all competition matches so that the first team to score in extra time wins the match."
Club chairmen, chief executives, captains, coaches, NRL board members and Players Association representatives attended the conference which continues today.
An issue attracting robust debate is the need to spread player talent across more clubs.
"It is safe to say that there was perhaps more support for the concept of a draft than may have been expected," Gallop said.
"The issue is one that still requires an enormous amount of work but we received some important direction from the game's key people today."
One unexpected proposal put up at yesterday's conference was for the conversion to either be removed from the game and six points awarded for a try or for all conversions to be taken from the same spot. But there was no official support for this proposal.
The Daily Telegraph
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Golden point to eliminate draws
By*Brad Walter
November 21 2002
The National Rugby League is set to introduce a "golden point" rule to decide premiership matches next season, but Queensland officials may oppose the idea at State of Origin level.
Following unanimous backing for the concept at yesterday's NRL conference in Sydney, Australian Rugby League chairman Colin Love will make a similar recommendation for Origin matches to avoid a repeat of this year's drawn series.
Queensland Rugby League chairman John McDonald has no problem with draws and, while he admitted Maroons directors might be convinced of the merits of sudden-death extra time at next month's ARL board meeting, he said there were a lot of factors to consider.
"We've got an open mind on it but there are a lot of variables, like television and transport arrangements," McDonald said.
"In the Bledisloe Cup they play two games and they have to be the winners to get the trophy, there's draws in boxing and other sports ... even in cricket you can get a draw.
"I think you've got to be very, very careful, bearing in mind the conditions of the day when it may not be possible to kick a field goal.
"If you had to go another 20 or 30 minutes in atrocious conditions it could be very demanding on the players at the pace that they go at in State of Origin.
"It may be better to bring in the first-try rule, which used to apply in the old Amco Cup days and then if there were no tries, it was worked on penalties. We'll debate it as we have done in the past but I think that there's plenty to suggest that having a drawn game adds to the intrigue of it."
However, McDonald appears to have little support, with players, coaches and officials at the two-day NRL conference making it clear they believed a golden point should also be introduced in all matches, including Origins.
"I think that this got on the agenda by virtue of the debate and discussion about the State of Origin," St George Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust said.
"It's not a fait accompli, because there are other stake-holders that need to be consulted, namely the broadcasters, but having had three draws this year, I think I can speak with some authority about how disappointing it is.
"Our captain [Trent Barrett], our coach [Nathan Brown] and myself were all keen to say let's get a result, and I think that people go to sporting contests expecting that."
NRL chairman John Chalk, who is appointed by the ARL, said he hoped the format adopted from American football, in which the first team to score in extra time wins, would be introduced for Origin fixtures.
"I think that the players all want that, so we've got to respect their wishes," Chalk said.
"Especially at State of Origin level, I think that they all felt a bit empty about it this year."
The Sydney Morning Herald.
