1997 World Club Championship

In 1997, the World Club Challenge was restructured to include 22 clubs from the Australasian and European Super League competitions and was known as the Visa World Club Championship. As it was contested over 6 rounds in 2 hemispheres, with AU$1,000,000 prize money (GBP 640,000), the competition was prohibitively expensive to stage, and it reportedly lost over $5,000,000. This, coupled with the poor ratings and attendances that were achieved both in Australia and Europe, led to the competition being postponed for a number of years. No British teams progressed further than the quarter finals. Two Australian teams reached the final: the dominant Brisbane Broncos club and the ill-fated Hunter Mariners.^[1]

Contents 1 1997 tournament tables 1.1 Australasia Pool A 1.2 Australasia Pool B 1.3 Europe Pool A 1.4 Europe Pool B 2 1997 tournament matches 2.1 Round 1 2.2 Round 2 2.3 Round 3 2.4 Round 4 2.5 Round 5 2.6 Round 6 2.7 Playoff 2.8 Quarter-finals 2.9 Semi-finals 2.10 Final 3 Aftermath 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

1997 tournament tables

The Australasian and European teams were each divided into two pools for the 1997 World Club Challenge. Each pool had six teams, with the exception of Australasia B, which had the two lowest placed Super League-aligned teams and the two newly formed teams: the Hunter Mariners and the Adelaide Rams. The finals series was contested between the top three teams in Australasia Pool A and Europe Pool A, and the top team from Australasia Pool B and Europe Pool B.

Australasia Pool A

Club	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	Diff.	Points
Brisbane Broncos	6	6	0	0	270	52	218	12
Auckland Warriors	6	6	0	0	268	82	186	12
Cronulla Sharks	6	6	0	0	230	54	176	12
Penrith Panthers	6	6	0	0	256	120	136	12
Canberra Raiders	6	5	1	0	302	108	194	10
Canterbury Bulldogs	6	4	2	0	218	121	97	8

Australasia Pool B

Club	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	Diff.	Points
Hunter Mariners	6	6	0	0	226	50	176	12
North Queensland Cowboys	6	5	1	0	228	92	136	10
Adelaide Rams	6	4	2	0	170	68	102	8
Perth Reds	6	4	2	0	148	104	44	8

Europe Pool A

Club	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	Diff.	Points
Wigan Warriors	6	2	4	0	89	212	-123	4
London Broncos	6	1	5	0	136	238	-102	2
Bradford Bulls	6	0	6	0	82	228	-146	0
St Helens RLFC	6	0	6	0	96	270	-174	0
Warrington Wolves	6	0	6	0	78	256	-178	0
Halifax Blue Sox	6	0	6	0	56	340	-284	0

Europe Pool B

Club	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Bye	For	Against	Diff.	Points
Paris Saint-Germain	4	1	3	0	2	48	90	-42	2
Leeds Rhinos	4	1	3	0	2	64	138	-74	2
Oldham Bears	4	1	3	0	2	52	130	-78	2
Salford City Reds	4	1	3	0	2	44	130	-86	2
Sheffield Eagles	4	1	3	0	2	54	168	-114	2
Castleford Tigers	4	0	4	0	2	52	116	-64	0

1997 tournament matches

Round 1

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
6 June 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. London Broncos	42-22	ANZ Stadium	Brisbane	18,193
6 June 1997	Auckland Warriors def. St Helens	42-12	Knowsley Road	St Helens	8,911
7 June 1997	North Queensland Cowboys def. Leeds Rhinos	42-20	Stockland Stadium	Townsville	14,561
8 June 1997	Adelaide Rams def. Salford Reds	50-8	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide	11,346
8 June 1997	Canberra Raiders def. Halifax Blue Sox	70-6	Bruce Stadium	Canberra	7,780
8 June 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Paris-St Germain	28-12	Charlety Stadium	Paris	3,500
8 June 1997	Perth Reds def. Castleford Tigers	24-16	Wilderspool	Warrington	3,378
9 June 1997	Wigan Warriors def. Canterbury Bulldogs	22-18	Belmore	Sydney	10,680
9 June 1997	Penrith Panthers def. Bradford Bulls	20-16	Odsal Stadium	Bradford	14,378

Round 2

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
13 June 1997	Adelaide Rams def. Leeds Rhinos	34-8	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide	14,630
13 June 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Castleford Tigers	42-12	Wheldon Road	Castleford	3,087
14 June 1997	North Queensland Cowboys def. Oldham Bears	54-16	Stockland Stadium	Townsville	12,631
14 June 1997	Auckland Warriors def. Bradford Bulls	20-16	Odsal Stadium	Bradford	13,133
15 June 1997	Canterbury Bulldogs def. Halifax Blue Sox	58-6	Belmore	Sydney	5,034
15 June 1997	Canberra Raiders def. London Broncos	66-20	Bruce Stadium	Canberra	6,471
15 June 1997	Sheffield Eagles def. Perth Reds	26-22	Don Valley Stadium	Sheffield	3,000
15 June 1997	Penrith Panthers def. Warrington Wolves	52-22	Wilderspool	Warrington	3,850
16 June 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. Wigan Warriors	34-0	ANZ Stadium	Brisbane	14,833

Round 3

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
20 June 1997	Adelaide Rams def. Oldham Bears	42-14	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide	13,852
20 June 1997	Cronulla Sharks def. Bradford Bulls	30-10	Odsal Stadium	Bradford	10,756
21 June 1997	North Queensland Cowboys def. Salford Reds	44-8	Stockland Stadium	Townsville	15,508
21 June 1997	Paris-St Germain def. Perth Reds	24-0	Charlety Stadium	Paris	2,500
22 June 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. Halifax Blue Sox	76-0	ANZ Stadium	Brisbane	11,358
22 June 1997	Canberra Raiders def. Wigan Warriors	42-6	Bruce Stadium	Canberra	9,098
23 June 1997	Canterbury Bulldogs def. London Broncos	34-18	Belmore	Sydney	4,000
23 June 1997	Auckland Warriors def. Warrington Wolves	56-28	Wilderspool	Warrington	4,428
June 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Sheffield Eagles	40-4	Don Valley Stadium	Sheffield

Round 4

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
18 July 1997	Penrith Panthers def. Warrington Wolves	48-12	Penrith Oval	Penrith	5,642
18 July 1997	Leeds Rhinos def. Adelaide Rams	22-14	Headlingley Stadium	Leeds	11,269
18 July 1997	Oldham Bears def. North Queensland Cowboys	20-16	Boundary Park	Oldham	2,961
19 July 1997	Perth Reds def. Sheffield Eagles	48-12	WACA Ground	Perth	7,429
20 July 1997	Auckland Warriors def. Bradford Bulls	64-14	Ericsson Stadium	Auckland	13,000
20 July 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Castleford Tigers	26-8	Topper Stadium	Newcastle	3,379
20 July 1997	Canterbury Bulldogs def. Halifax Blue Sox	40-22	Thrum Hall	Halifax	3,500
20 July 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. Wigan Warriors	30-4	Central Park	Wigan	12,816
21 July 1997	Cronulla Sharks def. St Helens	28-12	Shark Park	Sydney	7,751
21 July 1997	London Broncos def. Canberra Raiders	38-18	The Stoop	London	7,819

Round 5

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
25 July 1997	Auckland Warriors def. St Helens	70-6	Ericsson Stadium	Auckland	8,500
25 July 1997	Adelaide Rams def. Oldham Bears	18-2	Boundary Park	Oldham	3,315
26 July 1997	Cronulla Sharks def. Warrington Wolves	44-0	Shark Park	Sydney	6,112
27 July 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Paris-St Germain	32-4	Topper Stadium	Newcastle	2,210
27 July 1997	Perth Reds def. Castleford Tigers	24-14	WACA Ground	Perth	6,114
27 July 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. London Broncos	34-16	The Stoop	London	9,846
27 July 1997	North Queensland Cowboys def. Salford Reds	24-14	Wheldon Road	Castleford	7,448
27 July 1997	Canberra Raiders def. Halifax Blue Sox	42-12	Thrum Hall	Halifax	3,620
28 July 1997	Penrith Panthers def. Bradford Bulls	54-14	Penrith Oval	Penrith	5,332
28 July 1997	Wigan Warriors def. Canterbury Bulldogs	31-24	Central Park	Wigan	10,280

Round 6

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
1 August 1997	Perth Reds def. Paris-St Germain	18-8	WACA Ground	Perth	5,160
1 August 1997	Canterbury Bulldogs def. London Broncos	44-22	The Stoop	London	6,923
2 August 1997	Cronulla Sharks def. Bradford Bulls	40-12	Shark Park	Sydney	8,272
3 August 1997	Auckland Warriors def. Warrington Wolves	16-4	Lancaster Park	Christchurch	6,500
3 August 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Sheffield Eagles	58-12	Topper Stadium	Newcastle	1,965
3 August 1997	North Queensland Cowboys def. Leeds Rhinos	48-14	Headingley Stadium	Leeds	12,224
3 August 1997	Salford Reds def. Adelaide Rams	14-12	The Willows	Salford	6,995
3 August 1997	Canberra Raiders def. Wigan Warriors	50-10	Central Park	Wigan	12,504
4 August 1997	Penrith Panthers def. St Helens	32-26	Penrith Oval	Penrith	5,000
4 August 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. Halifax Blue Sox	54-10	Thrum Hall	Halifax	3,255

Playoff

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
20 August 1997	St Helens def. Paris-St Germain	42-4	Knowsley Road	St Helens	-

Quarter-finals

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
3 October 1997	Auckland Warriors def. Bradford Bulls	62-14	Ericsson Stadium	Auckland	9,553
3 October 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Wigan Warriors	22-18	Central Park	Wigan	-
4 October 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. St Helens	66-12	ANZ Stadium	Brisbane	6,438
6 October 1997	Cronulla Sharks def. London Broncos	40-16	The Stoop	London	6,239

Semi-finals

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
10 October 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. Auckland Warriors	22-16	ANZ Stadium	Brisbane	9,686
11 October 1997	Hunter Mariners def. Cronulla Sharks	22-18	Shark Park	Sydney	5,214

Final

1997 (1997) World Club Championship Final  ()
Brisbane Broncos Hunter Mariners (Super League (Australia)) (Super League (Australia)) 36 12
1 2 Total BRI 26 10 36 HUN 4 8 12
Date	18 October 1997
Stadium	Ericsson Stadium
Location	Auckland, New Zealand
Referee	Stuart Cummings
Attendance	12,000
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Fox Sports Sky Sports
Commentators	Eddie Hemmings, Mike Stephenson
< 1994 World Club Challenge 2000 >

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	City	Crowd
18 October 1997	Brisbane Broncos def. Hunter Mariners	36-12	Ericsson Stadium	Auckland	12,000

Aftermath

The dominance of the Australasian sides in the competition led to the Rugby Football League appointing Joe Lydon to head a commission to provide an explanation.^[2]

See also

• World Club Challenge
• Super League (Australia) season 1997
• Super League II
• Brisbane Broncos 1997

References

External links

• "Global show hits Knowsley Road" - article by Dave Hadfield at The Independent (London), June 6, 1997
• 1997 World Club Challenge at hunterlink.net.au
• "World Club Championship Final - Broncos' early burst" - article by Dave Hadfield at The Independent (London), Oct 18, 1997
• 1997 World Club Challenge at superleague.co.uk

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