Sharks coach Flanagan joins golden point criticism

Cronulla’s 15-game winning streak is over and Sharks coach Shane Flanagan would like to see the NRL’s golden point system go with it.

After another golden point period in which many of the rules of the game seemed to be abandoned, Flanagan joined a growing chorus in calling for a re-think.

 ‘’It is an absolute lottery. They were all offside, we were offside, there were charge downs,’’ Flanagan said

‘’Penalties should have been given. It is just a joke, golden point. You just throw all the rules out.’’

The unwillingness of referees to penalise players who are repeatedly offside and teams rucking the ball downfield with the sole purpose of getting into field goal position is a common sight in the extra-time periods.

While it is widely accepted that some form of golden-point system is needed to find a winner during finals matches, calls for regular season matches that are tied after 80 minutes to be called a draw continue to gain support.

The New Zealand Warriors have had four golden-point matches in their last five games, winning just one.