It meant that the minor premiers Essendon had a two-weekend bye instead of one, and many insisted that the extended layoff had contributed to their losses to Collingwood, both in the second semi-final and in the grand final.
[3] The procedure was modified in 2019 so that three-minute halves of extra time would be played until a winner was determined.
Both the 1977 and 1978 New South Wales Rugby League Grand Finals ended in draws, and were subsequently replayed.
However, after two games were drawn in the 1978 finals series and hence necessitated replays, extra time was re-instated in 1979.
All finals are now decided with extra time then resorting to golden point if scores are still level.