Super League (Australia) season 1997
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| 1997 Super League season | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the Super League |
|
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers |  Brisbane (3rd title) |
| Minor Premiers | Brisbane (2nd title) |
| Matches played | 96 |
| Points scored | 4035 (average 42.031 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,251,777 (average 13,039 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Ryan Girdler (197 points) |
This article contains details of 1997's Super League club premiership. For details on the preceding Super League War, see Super League (Australia)
The 1997 Super League premiership (known as the Telstra Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the first and only premiership of the first grade rugby league competition run by the News Limited-controlled Super League. Compared to the rival Australian Rugby League competition being run at the same time, the competition was much more national, with just three out of the ten teams based in the traditional home of Sydney. A further team from greater New South Wales, two teams from Queensland, one from the Australian Capital Territory, one from South Australia, one from Western Australia and one from New Zealand made up the premiership.
Contents |
[edit] History
Super League was a rugby league competition that was held in Australia in 1997. It was created by News Corporation after an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the pay television rights to Australian rugby league games. After two years of legal battles the competition was played for a single season in 1997 before merging with the rival Australian Rugby League competition in 1998 to form the National Rugby League.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane |
18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 481 | 283 | +198 | 29 |
| 2 |  Cronulla |
18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 403 | 230 | +173 | 24 |
| 3 |  Canberra |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 436 | 337 | +99 | 22 |
| 4 |  Canterbury |
18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 453 | 447 | +6 | 20 |
| 5 | Penrith |
18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 431 | 462 | -31 | 18 |
| 6 |  Hunter |
18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 350 | 363 | -13 | 14 |
| 7 |  Auckland |
18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 332 | 406 | -74 | 14 |
| 8 |  Perth |
18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 321 | 356 | -135 | 14 |
| 9 |  Adelaide |
18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 303 | 402 | -99 | 13 |
| 10 |  North Queensland |
18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 328 | 452 | -124 | 12 |
[edit] Season Summary
The Telstra Cup was held over eighteen rounds. The season was dominated by the minor premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, who won 14 of their 18 matches, losing only to the Penrith Panthers, the Hunter Mariners and eventual runners-up, the Cronulla Sharks. The Grand Final was played at Brisbane's ANZ Stadium in front of 58,000 people; the ground record for that venue. The Broncos defeated the Sharks 26-8 to win their third premiership. The Auckland Warriors had teams in both the reserve grade and two age-group Grand Finals but lost all three.
The winners in all grades were:
- First Grade: Brisbane Broncos
- Reserve Grade: Canterbury Bulldogs
- Under-19s: Penrith Panthers
- Under-17s: Brisbane Broncos
[edit] Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Preliminary Semi Finals | ||||||||
 Cronulla Sharks |
22-18 |  Canberra Raiders |
30 August 1997 | Endeavour Field | B. Harrigan | 17,137 | ||
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
14-15 |  Penrith Panthers |
1 September 1997 | Belmore Oval | G. Annesley | 10,492 | ||
| Major Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
 Brisbane Broncos |
34-2 | Cronulla Sharks |
6 September 1997 | Stockland Stadium | B. Harrigan | 26,256 | ||
| Canberra Raiders |
32-12 | Penrith Panthers |
8 September 1997 | Bruce Stadium | G. Annesley | 10,153 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Cronulla Sharks |
10-4 | Canberra Raiders |
13 September 1997 | Endeavour Field | B. Harrigan | 17,638 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Brisbane Broncos |
26-8 | Cronulla Sharks |
20 September 1997 | ANZ Stadium | B. Harrigan | 58,912 | ||
[edit] National Rugby League
The season is most notable for being run parallel to the rival Australian Rugby League competition. With twenty-two teams playing in two competitions in 1997 crowd attendances and corporate sponsorships were spread very thinly, and many teams found themselves in financial difficulty by the end of the season. On September 23, 1997 the ARL announced that it was forming a new company to control the competition in 1998 and invited Super League clubs to participate. On October 7 Rupert Murdoch announced that he was confident that there would be a single competition in 1998 and in the following months the National Rugby League, jointly owned by the ARL and News Limited, was formed.
It was announced that the 1998 Season would have 20 teams competiting, 19 Super League/ARL teams and the Melbourne Storm, who were owned by News Limited. Clubs on both sides of the war were shut down. News decided to close the Hunter Mariners and the financially ruined Western Reds, who were $10million in debt at the end of 1997, while the ARL decided to close down the South Queensland Crushers, who were also in severe financial trouble. At the end of 1998 News Limited decided to close down the Adelaide Rams and the ARL closed down the Gold Coast Chargers, even though they were one of the few clubs to make a profit during the Super League war.
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1997 (SL) The World of Rugby League
- Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
