In further proof that the NRL is desperate to be more like the NFL, despite being just one letter different, the NRL Top 10 Wildcard Weekend proposal was wheeled out today. Mostly to mild to high disapproval from a varied cross section of rugby league.
Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t against the idea of spicing up the NRL Draw as we went into lengths here to discuss. But to have an NRL Top 10 Wildcard Weekend seems to be fixing a problem that wasn’t really one. Unlike the reverse for off field behaviour, rorting the salary cap, and Todd Greenberg.
Mediocrity will soon be rewarded as opening the competition up down to 10th will open up the opportunity for team with a winning record of less than 50% to sneak through.
Of course the argument is that the Wests Tigers, who just missed out deserved better for their hard work, and a team on a late season surge aren’t rewarded. But more often than not there is no team on a charge to sneak into 10th. They are usually good enough to make the eight. And how bad must the early season form have been if you only make it to tenth on a good season run.
Another argument is the dead rubber, which a NRL Top 10 Wildcard Weekend would address. But perhaps if the NRL cleaned up the myriad of rules crackdown, grapple tackles and endless wrestle, and halves being relentlessly attacked without the ball, the meaningless games would still be entertaining.
Maybe a NRL Top 10 Wildcard Weekend would work with another two teams added with expansion being placed back of the table. A top 10 for 18 teams makes sense.
People are welcome to argue the points for, and we will politely listen and decline to agree. For us it appears to be just another step towards turning the R into an F.
But that might even be the right strategy if Rugby League picks up in the USA if a reported New York side follows in the footsteps of the Toronto Wolfpack.
Perhaps the NRL are actually the greatest forward thinkers in Australian sport.
Other Alternative NRL = NFL Ideas
To ensure the NRL gets as close to the NFL as possible, or needs another idea to make the competition as fair and as interesting as possible, here are a few.
- Metres will be replaced by yards to measure up against the NFL, and make it easier for a potential US audience to follow.
- Sets of tackles will be reduced to four, to match the NFL count.
- Conferences will be established – North, South, East, and West.
- After 5 penalties the team giving them away will be liable for a team foul. The opposition will be invited to have a penalty goal shot from in front. This is repeated for every subsequent set of three penalties. OK, that’s clearly basketball.
- Gatorade (or Australian equivalent) will be thrown on the winning coach when the win the grand fin……scratch that. Already implemented.
- The Captain’s Call is introduced, but in NFL style it is with a flag.
- The NRL will have a big US Movie based theme Round Indy available for teams of a certain manufacturer.
Or some alternative ideas to spice up the NRL Finals to the NRL Top 10 Wildcard Weekend
We’re quite capable of coming up with a NRL Top 10 Wildcard idea ourselves. And of similar or lesser quality.
THE ONE TEAM A WEEK DROP OUT RULE
With eight weeks remaining to the finals, the NRL will eliminate one team each week until a final eight remain. Easily done. In week one, the team last on the ladder are eliminated. From there on it gets moe interesting. The team who is next worst in the table and not already cut will be thrown out of 2019 NRL Finals contention. This means not only is each week in the countdown exciting, but every game as last place can change after each result.
This will allow a team in a late season run of form to keep the good times rolling, and strike off those going mediocre earlier than usual.
THE 1980’s F1 STYLE COUNT BEST 16 of 26 RESULTS
Back in the greatest period of F1 racing, where Prosts, Sennas, Mansells and Pierluigi Martini raced, the cars were so unreliable that the F! Championship end result was counted on just the best 11 of the drivers 16 races.
Why not give it a trial in the NRL.
How would it spice up the tail end of the season I hear you ask. Well let’s say a team is winning a lot of close games (Team A), compared to a team that is wildly erratic (Team B).
Team A is already on 16 wins going into the last three weeks, that means they can’t score any more competition points, and it is then up to them to throw caution to the wind and boost the for and against.
Let’s then say there’s Team B is on 13 wins going into the last three weeks. If they can win the three games, and climb above Team A on points difference by the end of the season, Team A could still win their last three, and finish the season with 19 wins, but finish behind Team B.
Talk about making every game count.
NO FINALS SERIES – JUST POOL ELIMINATION
With the NFL conferences already in action as above, why not use them to spice up the finals.
Instead of having a four week finals series, let the season continue with four weeks to go, and start eliminating the lowest team from each pool each week.
After three weeks of elimination you are left with four pool winners, who then play each other in an NFL style way, ended with a Superbowl style Grand Final.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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