Fifty-one years ago a South Sydney star forced the game to do away with the two-point field goal, so it was fitting that Adam Reynolds kicked the first one of the new era. Reynolds on Thursday night nailed a 43-metre drop goal in Souths' 35-6 win over Brisbane, becoming the first man to score a long-range double-pointer this year. But it was far from the first two-point field goal in rugby league. Until 1970 field goals had always been worth two points, before the introduction of limited tackles made them a far too popular option. Indigenous Souths fullback Eric Simms kicked 68 of them between 1968 and 1970 alone, including the last two-point play in the 1970 grand final win over Manly. The avalanche of drop goals forced the NSWRL to change the value of the play to one point, before Peter V'landys made the shift to two for kicks outside the 40-metre line this year. At the time Reynolds even joked that they should be worth four points from outside 50, despite the strike rate of those kicked from beyond 40 metres being just four per cent across the NRL. He began training for long-range attempts from the start of the summer, certain they could become a serious option to swing the momentum of matches.
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