LOVE it or hate it, Golden Point is now a part of Super League, and no one can deny it has already given us several exciting moments in 2025.
Having already been a part of the game in the NRL since 2003, as well as being a way to get a definite result in cup games and major finals, Super League bosses announced in November 2018 that they too would adopt the system from the following season if scores were tied after 80 minutes.
The first Golden Point Super League game came in February 2019 when a Marc Sneyd field goal saw Hull FC beat Wigan 23-22.
Here is a look back on six other memorable Golden Point results.
TRI-NATIONS FINAL 2006
IT IS not always a kick that settles matters in Golden Point, on occasions it’s a try that does the damage and breaks one team’s hearts and sends the other into raptures.
One such occasion was the 2006 Tri-Nations Final between Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane.
There had been little to separate the sides all game and scores stood at 12-12 with ten minutes remaining. As hard as both teams tried they couldn’t find the breakthrough and extra time was needed to settle the game and, ultimately, the tournament.
Six minutes and 34 seconds later up stepped Darren Lockyer, in support of Johnathan Thurston’s break, to race 25 metres for the winner.
SUPER LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS 2017
HAVING already secured the League Leaders’ Shield, Castleford Tigers progressed to their first, and so far only, Grand Final in dramatic circumstance back in 2017.
Ryan Morgan looked to have booked Saints a spot at Old Trafford with his late try putting them 20-22 up with just minutes remaining. But no one told the Tigers that, and when they were awarded a penalty with the last kick of the 80 minutes Luke Gale kept his cool to slot the ball between the sticks and ensure the acton continued.
After a frenetic eight minutes of end-to-end action in extra time, Gale, who had just weeks earlier undergone appendix surgery, was the hero once again with the winning field goal.
CHALLENGE CUP 3RD ROUND 2021
FOUR and a half years after scoring a Million Pound Game Golden Point field goal to ensure Salford’s Super League survival and condemn Hull KR to relegation, Gareth O’Brien returned to Craven Park to haunt to Robins once again.
With a winner needed to be determined in this Challenge Cup tie, the scores were locked at 32-32 at the end of 80 minutes – as it was after the first, second and third periods of extra time. Just as the game clock looked set to tick over into 100 minutes of action, O’Brien, who along with Danny Richardson had seen previous efforts thwarted by the Robins, finally landed the crucial field goal and brought an exhausting tie to a close.
WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE 2023
ST HELENS had Lewis Dodd to thank when they secured their third World Club Challenge title in 2023.
What made the victory all the more remarkable was that it was in Australia, where they became the first British team in the Super League era to win the global title down under.
A Mark Percival penalty early in the second half had put Saints 12-0 up, but an Izack Tago try eight minutes later cut the deficit. When Nathan Clearly converted Brian To’o’s try from the sideline as the hooter sounded, a thrilling ending ensued.
But 22 metres out and directly in front of the goal, Dodd made no mistake three minutes into extra time to secure the memorable win.
CHALLENGE CUP FINAL 2023
HISTORY was made in 2023 when, for the first time ever, the Challenge Cup Final had to be settled by Golden Point.
While the match itself was perhaps not of the highest quality, it was tight, tense and full of incident. Controversial penalties, a contentious yellow card, a try that might not have been grounded, and a video-referee decision that took an age before confirming a Matt Parcell try for Hull KR that took the match to extra time – the game was packed with incident. The one thing left that it needed was a hero. Step forward Lachlan Lam, who wrote his name into Leigh folklore by confirming their third Challenge Cup trophy success in three finals.
SUPER LEAGUE ROUND 10 2024
A succession of late field-goal chances and a full ten minutes of Golden Point time failed to separate the teams as Leigh and Castleford shared the points in a first for Super League.
In the previous five years that the extra time system had been in place, a winner had always been determined, but not on this occasion and the 28-28 result stood.
After Castleford faught back from 24-10 down early in the second half, an Innes Senior try, converted by Rowan Milnes took the tie in to Golden Point and led to a grandstand finish. Matt Moylan and Lachlan Lam both missed field goal efforts for Leigh, while the Tigers’ hopes to sneak the win were also thwarted.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 507 (April 2025)
