NRL 2021: A 17th team is the perfect time to discuss adding a finals Wildcard

Imagine, with two rounds of the regular season, if Warriors, Dragons and Tigers fans still had hope? Here’s how it could happen.

NRL 2021 RD24 New Zealand Warriors v Canberra Raiders – Reece Walsh, Dejection NRL Photos

The Warriors would be playing today for a finals spot.

What a story that would be.

Every footy fan’s favourite bunch of nomads with one Hail Mary shot at salvaging something from their two years of uncertainty, instability and scrum plays constructed out of a suitcase.

The Wildcard Warriors. That’s right, wildcard.

Cue the meltdown.

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IF any team deserves a chance at playing finals footy in 2021 it’s the Warriors who have sacrificed so much to keep the competition alive. Picture: NRL Photos

With the expansion of the NRL premiership to a 17th team closer than ever, the governing body can continue with 17 teams under the current top-eight system.

Or they can expand the finals race, too – and introduce the wildcard system for seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th teams on the premiership ladder.

The wildcard has its detractors, just as the captain’s challenge and two-point field goal initially did.

The wildcard system was first floated in 2019. It was howled down, with the one main argument being a reward for mediocrity.

But what about the overall reward for the game?

More fans, more eyeballs, more merchandise sales and appeal for sponsors, greater TV ratings, more drama, more exposure.

Under the original wildcard proposal, the teams that finish seventh to 10th on the NRL ladder would compete against each other for the final two spots in the top eight.

The teams that finish first to sixth will earn a week off. That’s not a reward for mediocrity – that’s an incentive to finish higher on the table.

Eighth (Sharks) would play ninth (Raiders), while seventh (Knights) would play 10th (Titans/Warriors) to secure spots in the elimination finals.

This past weekend has shown everyone in the game how important it is to keep fans engaged.

In any sport, there is no greater marketing pitch than the ability to sell hope.

Ask any Sharks, Raiders or Titans fan how they felt this weekend about their team needing to win their final match of the season to squeeze into the top eight.

They’ll tell you they only had one priority this weekend: to hope, pray and watch their team play.

The wildcard system drags in even more fans. It keeps 10 instead of eight on the hook.

I agree, under the current 16-team competition, the prospect of the top 10 teams playing finals footy definitely sits under the title of ‘everyone gets a prize’.

But the addition of a 17th team, at least, is worthy of reopening the discussion for the wildcard system.

Dragons fans haven’t tasted final football since 2018. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

Rugby League is a sport, but it’s also an entertainment business.

The radical attempt to rid the game of high shots, introduce 40-20s, add shot clocks, minimise scrums and even take fans for the first time behind the walls of the Wests Tigers are all based on making the game more appealing to fans.

The Rugby League Players Association will argue that the wildcard is a further load – an extra game – on the players.

But what about the extra week’s rest for the top-six teams?

The likelihood of a team that finished 10th securing a spot in the final eight via a wildcard system and then progressing through three elimination finals to win the premiership would obviously be remote.

But what if it did happen?

Imagine the momentum from fans, merchandise sales, newspaper editors, TV coverage and storylines.

Imagine, with two rounds of the regular season, if Warriors and even Dragons and Tigers fans still had hope? It would be wild.

Originally published as NRL 2021: A 17th team is the perfect time to discuss adding a finals Wildcard