NEWS that the NRL will be introducing a two-point drop goal for successful kicks outside the 40m, as part of its 2021 rule changes, has been a talking point this week.

'If it aint broke, don’t fix' it seems to be a common consensus from British rugby league supporters quite content with the scoring system we have had in place since 1984.

The moves Down Under will no doubt prompt a reflection across the rest of rugby league – particularly as it will mean the competitions at having different points values in a World Cup year.

Hopefully the game in Europe will remain the same as the current allocation of points is both simple to understand and logical.

Tries are worth four points, with an added two for a successful conversion, two for penalty goals and one for a drop goal reflects the difficulty in scoring each, while keeping the right level of punishment for opposing team’s foul play or rule bending.

That system last changed in 1984, when tries were increased in value from three.

By having a system structured like this it always rewards the team looking to get over the whitewash rather than those tempted to kick their way to victory after failing to break down a tough defence.

The drop goal in British rugby league has been worth just a point since it was halved in value ahead of the 1974 season.

Prior to that Alex Murphy had become something of a master of the drop – particularly at Wembley where he chipped over ‘two-pointers’ in 1966 for Saints, booted two of Leigh side’s four in the 1971 shock win over Leeds and grabbed a couple more in his last triumph beneath the old Twin Towers for Warrington in 1974.

No wonder they halved them.

In the modern game, the drop goal is largely preserved for the back end of a game when teams either want to make it as two-score advantage or to break the deadlock in real time or golden point.

And who was more deadly as Sean Long on that front when it was called for, most notably in the 2002 Grand Final and those memorable games against Warrington.

Very rarely in Super League do teams opt to chip over drops during the course of the match in the way that Harry Pinner used to do. It is worth noting Pinner kicked 73 drops in his Saints career compared to a mere 23 from Long.

The former Saints skipper once scored four in the televised Challenge Cup win over Hull FC in 1984. A feat which prompted commentator Murphy to declare: “They will probably give him the Town Hall clock!”

But rugby league is about tries - just listen the groans and mock cries of 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' when teams kick penalties instead of tapping.

As we ponder the points value, let’s just reflect on the progress we have made since that first Challenge Cup final in 1897 when Batley’s 10-3 win over Saints had a drop goal valued at four points, one more than a try.