What the NRL needs to copy from the Super Bowl … and it’s not Taylor Swift

The San Francisco 49ers would have won Monday’s Super Bowl with their three-point field goal in overtime, had the NRL’s sudden-death golden point rule applied.

The 49ers scored the first points in extra time but NFL rules demand both teams have use of the ball before post-season games are decided. The defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, scored a touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the scheduled overtime period, bettering the 49ers’ field goal and winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

In 2022, the NFL, recognising the injustice of a team losing in overtime in post-season games without touching the ball, changed the rule. The previous overtime rule stated the game would end if the first team to possess the ball in overtime scored a touchdown.

But note NRL rule makers, it was always golden touchdown, never golden goal.

If an NFL post-season game is still tied after two possessions, the team that scores next is declared the winner.

Under the old format, the NFL found that whichever team won the overtime coin toss had a significant advantage, winning more than 80 per cent of the time in playoff games from 2010 to 2021.

The Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman jnr and Patrick Mahomes celebrate the winning touchdown in overtime.Credit: Getty

The NRL must similarly change the rule, an amendment I advocated in this masthead late last year when rule changes were being contemplated. In a game last April, the Panthers defeated the Knights, without Newcastle touching the ball in golden point.

The duelling field goal match ended in a draw, with the Penrith’s Nathan Cleary kicking a further one-pointer 40 seconds into extra time.

In such circumstances, a draw would have been a preferable outcome, given the Knights were not given the opportunity to tie the score in extra time. The regulation time field goal-athon may have continued in overtime but the Knights may have scored a try. As it transpired, they were never given a chance.

The NRL can reduce the lucky dip field goal-athons by adopting the NFL rule, allowing each team one set of six tackles in extra time and therefore encourage the scoring of tries.

Penrith’s Nathan Cleary nails the winning field goal in golden point against the Knights last April.Credit: Getty Images

NRL head of elite football, Graham Annesley, introduced golden point following a trip to the US. But NFL games in extra time were always decided by golden touchdowns, never golden field goals.

Annesley told this masthead on Tuesday that the NRL’s golden point rule is reviewed on a regular basis and a number of options had been addressed, including a golden point try.

“All rules are reviewed by the Commission at the end of every season after extensive engagement with stakeholders, including clubs, players and fans,” he said. “Over the year, the golden point rule has been reviewed on multiple occasions and a range of alternate options considered but to this point, the status quo has prevailed. One factor that is always considered is the length of our season and the number of minutes our players are required to be on the field.”

True, the NFL season is shorter and does not have a representative season in the middle.

But the NRL don’t like draws because television doesn’t like draws. Sure, fans also leave stadiums dissatisfied but give the number of teams in the top eight on the same number of points at the end of the regular season, wouldn’t the odd point from drawn matches be a better way of ordering the table, rather than aggregates of for and against?

After all, the NRL season does not allow each team to play each other twice, so injustice exists even before kick off. Equal opportunity has never existed in rugby league but it can in extra time, provided the NRL adopt the NFL rule.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now