One drawn match and suddenly footy's chattering classes have a new hobby horse. Should extra time be played to settle home and away games that end in a draw?

It's not like drawn games aren't part of the footy landscape. We usually get one drawn game per season - and they're perfectly catered for in the conduct of the game, with the four premiership points on offer split between the two teams. Two points each. What could be fairer than that?

Draws complicate the ladder a bit, but in a good way. After Monday's draw with Melbourne at the MCG, Collingwood forfeited second place on the ladder to St Kilda, and as they battle with the Saints for no.2 position behind Geelong for the rest of the year, they'll be reminded of the 9.22 scoreline against the Demons. If it were to cost them a home final at any stage (unlikely given the likely make-up of the finals), they'll be haunted by it.

Put simply, had they kicked any straighter, they would have won.

But what's with all this new fixation about playing extra time? Is it because we're all consumed by soccer and once the World Cup group stages are done, are about to be subject to a lots of extra time and the nerve-wracking penalty shootouts that invariably follow?

The Channel Ten commentators weighed into the issue after the final siren, perhaps buoyed by the post-match interview with Melbourne's Mark Jamar, who gave the idea his nod of approval. Jamar might want to reconsider after watching a tape of the game. He ran himself ragged in a superb rucking display (his effort to push up then mark and goal late in the final quarter put Josh Fraser to shame) but we're not sure that he or too many others had another 10 minutes of football left in them.

Tony Shaw chimed in on 3AW that we're now in the entertainment business. He and others said the fans deserve to go home knowing there was a result one way or the other. But a draw is a legitimate result in a game of football and anyone who didn't find this clash entertaining, particularly the frantic last few minutes, is just too hard to please.

With 10 more scoring shots, the Magpies threw this one away and no doubt, they'd like to have the third term, in which they booted 1.9, back again. They're a bit hot and cold at the minute Collingwood and Mick Malthouse will be glad to have the bye week to sort through some of his side's inconsistency.

The Demons will rue having twice outplayed Collingwood this year for significant periods, with not much to show for it. They were again ferocious in their attack on the footy, but just like in round two, lacked that little bit of poise and smarts. That Tarkyn Lockyer could find space for the match-saving mark and goal will clearly irk Dean Bailey.

Still, Melbourne was under some pressure to relinquish the prized public holiday timeslot after two years of non-competitive football. But the Queens Birthday clash is the club's grand final (and it's cash cow) and the performance this time around has ensured it will continue to be so for quite some time yet, and deservedly so.