By Jonathan B Geddes

NORTHERN Suburbs coach Zak Beer and his Manly counterpart Sam Lane have called for the introduction of golden point into the Shute Shield after their sides played out an anti-climactic 24-all draw at Manly Oval on Saturday.

When the fulltime whistle blew, the atmosphere was underwhelming, with players and spectators left feeling flat. The mood around the ground was like the anticipation of unwrapping a birthday present, only to discover a pair of socks.  

Rugby News understands Sydney Rugby Union and the clubs are looking at innovations to improve the entertainment value of the Shute Shield, including the possible introduction of golden point.

Asked if he backed the idea of golden point, Beer replied: “Why not? You would like to think we are a progressive comp.

“We play to win at Norths, and I would have been happy to go to a shootout with Manly in golden point and the best team wins.

“You could hear when the game finished, there was no real noise or applause from the crowd.”

Beer said that in 2024 Norths met Warringah in a semi-final where the teams played 100 minutes after his side scored two tries in the first period of that extra time.

“There is no need to play 100 minutes, why not make it golden point and the first team to score wins?” he said.    

Lane said a win would obviously be a good result.

“It (a draw) leaves everyone with a flat feeling, that’s for sure,” he said. “If you go into our dressing room, it’s like we lost.

“It was disappointing to finish the way it did.”

The support for golden point by Beer and Lane, two of the game’s rising young coaches, adds a lot of weight to the argument.      

BY GEORGE, IT’S A GOOD IDEA

NORTHS captain George Thornton also likes the idea of adding the initiative to the premiership.

“Golden point has worked in Super Rugby and obviously the NRL,” the experienced former Scottish Under 20 prop said.

“It’s definitely a flat feeling when you draw a game, you’ve not lost, but you’ve not won. It’s a bit of a grey area, really. I think it is definitely something the Shute Shield could look at – I’m all for it.”

Then he added with a smile: “As long as I don’t have to play an extra 10 minutes and someone else can come off the bench.”

THERE WERE NO WINNERS

NEITHER coach left the ground pleased with their team’s overall performance.

At crucial stages through the game, poor execution let both sides down.

Manly enjoyed the best of play early before Norths bounced back.

“We are actually alright when we do things that we work on,” Lane said. “But our issue seems to be when guys start to try and chase a game themselves.

“I felt we looked like a team that was playing not to lose rather than actually trying to kick on and keep winning and doing what had been working.

“And that can happen for a team coming off the back of what happened last year where we didn’t get a heap of wins. And also, with a lot of new guys and young guys as well.”

Lane said the Marlins will have to lift their game for Saturday’s big annual Anzac Day derby against Warringah at Manly Oval.

“If you have 20 minutes of bad play against a team like the Rats they are going to put points on you, so we have to be a hell of a lot more accurate,” Lane said. “We’ve shown in patches we can do it. We are obviously not a good team yet, but I think there is the makings of a decent team.”              

Beer said that the first half was probably one of the worst performances Norths has produced in a while.

“We were just passive and watching the game unfold in front of us,” Beer said.

But he said how Norths finished the game was what the club is about.

“The silver lining is all the things we wanted to work on last week against Easts we worked on and all those areas improved,” Beer said. “But for a couple of execution things, that game was right there for the taking.”

He said there were some really good things to take into Saturday’s game against West Harbour at North Sydney Oval.