Remember doomsday, September 3, 2017? 

When St George Illawarra's finals hopes collapsed with a shock 26-20 loss to the battling Bulldogs. 

Leading the competition after beating the Cowboys at WIN Stadium in round seven, the Dragons lost eight of their last 12 games to finish ninth.

But what if you re-write history and offer St George Illawarra a lifeline by playing a wildcard sudden-death final against the eight-placed North Queensland?

And what of last year's campaign, where rather than taking out their frustrations on Brisbane with a stunning 48-18 elimination final thumping, they instead had to play 10th-placed Canberra on the proposed wildcard weekend just to gain a start in the playoffs?

The concept should heighten the emotions of Dragons fans more than any other, simply because St George Illawarra have long been the kings of finals heartbreak, with the obvious exception of the 2010 premiership. And if radio talkback and social media forums provide enough indication of the fan feedback NRL  head of elite football operations Graham Annesley is looking for, the idea has polarised opinion.

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Does it reward mediocrity? A team can finish 10^th  with a negative win-loss record and still be alive. But they'd have to win five consecutive games to win the premiership anyway, highly unlikely.

Maybe the Dragons could lean on new Jersey Flegg coach Willie Talau for guidance on how to spark a fairytale finals run, if they find themselves in a similar situation under the wildcard format.

Talau famously scored the try, which after Daryl Halligan's conversion levelled the scores in one of the all-time great comebacks in the 1998 preliminary final against Parramatta.

The Dogs launched a fairytale run from ninth in a 10-team finals series, the year the competition reformed at the end of the Super League war, only beaten by Brisbane in the grand final.

The bigger issue may be at the top. Win the qualifier and your team has two weeks off in three. In the history of the top eight AFL or NRL systems, only the Western Bulldogs have come from outside the top four to win the 2016 title. 

It was the year the AFL brought in the pre-finals bye, which is what the top six NRL teams will be doing if the wildcard weekend is introduced.