GILLON McLachlan is standing by the AFL's decision to decide a drawn Grand Final with a 'golden point' if scores are locked after extra time, saying it avoids "a lot of problems with the 'golden goal'".
Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury has been among the critics of the new rule, believing a six-pointer should be necessary for a team to get its hands on the premiership cup.
But McLachlan said scoring a behind – rushed or otherwise – was a satisfactory way to finish the season's climactic game.
"The issue that there has to be a goal at the end of that as opposed to a point … points decide games," McLachlan told 3AW on Friday.
"If it was a point two seconds before the end of extra time, everyone would go 'they won'. But if it's two seconds after, it's not appropriate?
"And there's some incongruous things that can happen by having to score a goal, like a team could kick eight points in a row – be eight points up – and the (other) team goes down the other end, kicks a goal so they win, but they actually lose by two points.
"There's a lot of problems with the golden goal."
McLachlan said there had been "good chat" about the issue this week after the League announced the scrapping of Grand Final replays after a drawn decider.
There have only been three replays in VFL/AFL history, the last won by Collingwood over St Kilda in 2010.
Under the new rules, two five-minute halves plus time-on will be played to decide a winner on Grand Final day.
In the event of a tie after extra time, the League has said that the siren will not sound until the next score, which would decide the flag.
However, the AFL's football operations manager Mark Evans is still working through how to signal that the match has gone into 'golden point' territory.
"Should people know when the second five minutes is up? Should it count down on the scoreboard, should there be a siren, should you reset (with a centre bounce)?" McLachlan said.
"Mark's looking at all that and I think they're valid questions.
"But I don’t subscribe that there needs to be a goal as opposed to a point to decide it.
"It goes against everything about football."
Hawthorn's four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson has called for the League to look at bringing in extra time after drawn home-and-away matches to make for a more exciting spectacle for fans.
However, McLachlan is happy to see teams splitting the four points remaining a feature of the sport.
"There's a view that the draw during the home and away season, you get the two points, it's a fair reflection of the contest," McLachlan said.
"There is a relevance to the two points you get, it's not as though that doesn't have a bearing on the ladder and we felt that's part of the game and we're going to keep that as it is."
