Rugby League / Ralph Ellis / 26 August 2009 / Leave a comment

While drop goals regularly provide decisive points in rugby union, they are now a rarer sight in rugby league. Ralph Ellis wonders if the dying art might make a comeback in time for Saturday's Challenge Cup final...

"Warrington are slight outsiders on Betfair’s market at [2.16], and in a game that’s sure to be tight they are even better balue at [2.74] to win by less than 12.5 points."

Jonny Wilkinson scored the most famous drop goal in rugby. You can conjure it in your mind now, last minute of the 2003 World Cup final, scores locked at 17-17, Matt Dawson throws it back, Wilko shuffles the weight onto his left foot, drops it to his right, and away soars the ball over the posts with the Australian players watching it go, stunned expressions on their faces.

Oh yes, dropped goals are a key part of rugby union currency. Only last week Wilko was at it again, popping the ball over the post for his new club Toulon near the end of his debut.

In rugby league, however, it's a different matter. Ever since 1974 a drop goal has only been worth one point, and as a result it's been a bit of a dying art. The aim when they changed the rules 35 years ago was to encourage teams to look for more tries. The result is that it's taken one of the variations out of the spectacle of a sport that can at times be a bit one-dimensional.

So it was interesting this morning to read the views of league legend Alex Murphy on the potential for Warrington Wolves' Lee Briers to drop in to the action in Saturday's Challenge Cup final against Huddersfield Giants at Wembley. Murphy was the man whose deadly kicking was so successful it caused the laws to be changed. He was also the last captain to lift the trophy for Warrington, kicking two drop goals - at that time worth three points each - in the process.

Murphy insists the tactic is still relevant. "Dropping a goal is a real skill, especially under pressure," he says. I always told myself as a player that it was better to come away with something from a play than nothing at all. Briers is a great player, a real thinker, and he knows the value of a drop goal."

Indeed he does. The 31-year-old stand-off has kicked a career total of 64, more than any other Super League player, including two in Wolves' route to Wembley this season. One of them was in their shock semi-final win against Wigan (although if you'd read Adrian Morley's Betfair Big Interview the week before, it maybe wasn't quite such a surprise!).

In contrast Kevin Brown is the only Huddersfield player ever to have scored one for the club. And he has literally done that. Scored one! Murphy, who has coached both sides at one time or another, believes it's a vital difference. "Huddersfield's defence is the best in the game right now and kicks, from drop goals or place kicking, can be the key," he says.

If he's right then there's money to be made, as Warrington are slight outsiders on Betfair's market at [2.16], and in a game that's sure to be tight they are even better balue at [2.74] to win by less than 12.5 points. Maybe Briers could do with getting on YouTube to see that Wilkinson golden moment again!

Five things you might not know about Lee Briers

1. Born in 1978 and brought up in a house round the corner from St Helens' Knowsley Road ground, he went through all the Saints' junior ranks into the first team and starred in the 1997 Challenge Cup semi-final. When he was dropped for Wembley he quit the club to join Warrington

2. He was on Liverpool's books as a promising midfield player in their Academy before deciding to concentrate on Rugby League

3. Saints stalled over offering him an apprenticeship, and he spent several months working as a carrot picker after leaving school

4. His guilty secret is a love of TV soaps. He has both Emmerdale and Coronation Street on series link on his Sky plus

5. His elder brother Brian died from cancer eight years ago. He would have been 43 on the day of Wolves' semi-final win.

Tags: Huddersfield Giants, Lee Briers, Ralph Ellis, Rugby League Betting, Super League Betting, Warrington Wolves