The NRL used to boast it was “one of the closest competitions in the world”. During the 2010s, nine different clubs lifted the premiership trophy. At the end of the 2018 regular season, just one win was all that separated the minor premiers from the team in eighth place.

What happened?

In the past eight seasons, the league has had only three premiers. The Roosters, then Melbourne and especially Penrith, have dominated the league in recent times. This year’s grand final match-up between the Panthers and Storm had seemed inevitable for months.

Penrith’s four-year premiership winning streak has drawn comparisons to the 11-year reign of St George, who once controlled the contest so well that administrators had to change the rules to give the rest of the competition a chance to catch up. In 1967, the NSWRL introduced four-tackle sets, replacing unlimited tackles, with tackle counts extended to the current six-tackle rule in 1971. The Dragons – premiers every season from 1956 to 1966 – didn’t win the competition again until 1977.

Should the league consider the same thing now? And if so, what rule should change? The old thorny topic of an NRL draft is being considered again, but there could be a simpler solution.

First, the obvious: the Penrith Panthers are a fantastic team. The greatest of the NRL era. A team this good would excel whatever the rules.

But, just maybe, they’ve been given a leg up by playing in the “six-again”........

© The Age