Friday night footy became a cinematic experience, critiqued like films, earning five stars for excitement.
Dinner. A couple of drinks. Popcorn. Comfy seat. Telling everyone to shoosh. Kissing and cuddling during the ads.
We treated Friday night footy like Friday night at the movies because a couple of blockbusters were on the silver screen. Forget Netflix. Let's NRL and chill.
In adoring memory of the late and great cinema critic David Stratton, we'd judge Canberra versus Penrith, and Melbourne against Canterbury-Bankstown, for plot, character development and entertainment.
The genre? Thriller. Four premiership headliners were squaring off ahead of September's climactic finals and after 160 minutes of thrills and spills and a couple of showstopper finishes more stunning than Casablanca… I'd give it five stars.