It was played between Wigan and St Helens and was an absolutely gripping game of football; the best I've seen in a bloody long time.

There was just tremendous attack from both sides matched by even better defence, which meant that as full-time approached the scores were drawn at 4 all.

And then ... the unbelievable occurred.

Literally as the full-time siren blew St Helens' winger Tommy Makinson went for a field goal from just shy of the half-way line.

The ball hit the right upright, fell back into the field of play then bounced over the crossbar and back into the in-goal where it then bounced sideways and pursuing centre Jack Welsby beat the Wigan fullback - Bevan French, formerly of Parramatta - to it and grounded it just inside the dead-ball line.

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It was an astonishing try and an end beyond scripting to what had been eighty minutes of superb football.

It really was a game for the ages, almost a throwback, embodying so much of what is great about rugby league. And it was played in an empty stadium. To still generate that level of excitement with no cheering punters there makes it, perhaps, even more impressive.

It also provides an interesting contrast with which to look at what's going on with rugby league in Australia.

Firstly: the refereeing was flawless - just perfect understated enforcing of the rules of the game with absolutely no undue influence or interference. Even their bunker was beyond reproach.

Secondly: the low score; we don't have matches drawn at 4 all here anymore.

Our new rules are geared towards big numbers on the scoreboard which the powers-that-be assure us make for "entertaining football". I say if you want to be entertained go to a rock concert.

Old-school football of the quality of that match goes beyond mere entertainment. It was the real thing.

And, finally, I wonder whether, with all this seat-of-the-pants tinkering with our game, anybody is considering the international connotations. Do we really want rugby league to be played differently according to which hemisphere you're in?

What happens now with the Tests? Surely the big picture for the game requires uniformity in the rules.

I reckon V'landis and crew should be looking at what the Poms are doing, because they seem to be getting it right.

The other thing that struck me was the bounce of the ball - particularly the random nature of it with this oval shaped thing we use - and the role that pure luck plays in these things.

I remember once Maitland were drawing with North Newcastle as full-time approached and we were given a penalty, right in front. It was a sitter, a goal you could "kick in your slippers", as we used to say; Ten yards out. I stepped up to take it, and... shocker! I kicked it straight into the crossbar.

The opposing team were as surprised as I was that I'd missed it, and even more so when the ball bounced back off the bar and flew straight into my arms.

I kept going forward with the momentum from the kick and fell over the line for a three- pointer.

I then went back to where I'd started and converted it!

The rugby league ball can do very strange things...

Luck in sport can be the great leveller, and is fascinating in its streakiness.

Can it be manufactured?

Asked about it once Gary Player replied; "The more I practise the luckier I get."

Fair enough, but I can't help but wonder what Greg Norman thinks?

Greg Norman is, arguably, the greatest golfer ever to have won so few majors, with only two British Opens.

Winning the British open is no mean feat, but when you consider that, in 1986, Norman led every major after 54 holes - played in the last group in all four of them - and has been in contention plenty of times in other years.

Having only two majors under his belt must irk him.

Gary Player, who I mentioned earlier, has nine for example, including a Grand Slam.

While Norman's reputation as a "choker" has been somewhat earned with some poor closing rounds, there are a couple where the circumstances of his loss were, pretty much, entirely beyond his control.

In the 1986 PGA Norman was tied with Bob Tway playing the final hole. Tway holed his third shot from the front bunker (Norman was looking good, just on the fringe of the green) to deprive the Shark of the major.

And then, on the second hole of a play-off with Larry Mize in the 1987 Masters, Norman looked to be a certainty, safely on the green with his approach shot and with Mize having missed to the right and now facing an extraordinarily difficult chip shot; 140 feet from the pin to a slick green running downhill towards water.

Miraculously Mize holed it. Jack Nicklaus described it as one of the greatest shots of all time. Either way, the Shark missed out again.

Were Mize and Tway lucky? Of course. They each could have another hundred goes at those shots and not make them again.

Or ... was Norman unlucky, and Mize and Tway the happy recipients of Norman's bad luck?

Was Norman, who once told a press conference "I'm in awe of myself," being punished by the universe for arrogance?

You'd like to think so, but, unfortunately, I don't think it works like that ...