For 119 years Rugby League games have pretty much ended the same way. The siren sounds and on the next stoppage in play the game is over.
Now, because of one mistake that came down to fractions of a second, Brisbane Bronco’s coach Anthony Griffin has made the suggestion that as soon as the siren sounds the game should be over.
People in Rugby League need to stop these stupid, knee-jerk reactions any time something doesn’t go the way they want it too. It seems like you can’t watch a game of Rugby League these days without a dozen idiots coming out after the full time siren and suggesting 50,000 rule changes that we do not need.
One thing that is being lost in all the the recent hysteria is that this season has been amazing to watch. So many teams look great this year. Games are a lot closer than they were last season and in my opinion a lot more exciting too.
There isn’t a great deal wrong with Rugby League at the moment.
Griffin’s short sighted suggestion would have seen so many memorable moments in the games history never occur.
Can you imagine the outrage that be felt by fans of a club who were about to score a run away, game winning try, only for the siren to sound and the game end as their player crossed the ten meter line and came up just short of winning the game? It would be a ridiculous situation!
Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer and Gridiron, all the mojor field sports across the world, all end the game, not on the siren, but on the first stoppage in play after the siren.
Unlike Griffin, I don’t particularly think we should be adopting rule from AFL…there’s a reason it isn’t played anywhere else in the world.
I would really just like to see the rules of Rugby League left alone for a few years. I’d like to see the NRL come out and say there is nothing wrong with the sport. I’d like to see people that make a living off the back of Rugby League show a bit of confidence in the game and take a look at how great it is to play and watch right now.
At the very least, I’d like to see us hold on to amazing finishes like we saw in Melbourne. Sure the refs stuffed up, and yes it was a very close call that needed slow motion replay to work out that it shouldn’t have gone ahead. That is life though, and over the course of the season that will all even out. The Storm will get bad calls and lose a game, the Dragons will get good calls and win one.
The alternative is that we suck the life out of this sport and turn it into a boring contest with nothing exciting going on.
If I wanted that, I’d go and watch Rugby Union….
