1997 Super League (Australia) season

Rugby league competition Super League (Australia)'s 1997 competition the Australian Rugby League-operated rival competition 1997 ARL season Europe's 1997 professional rugby league season 1997 Super League (UK) season September 2020 October 2011 1997 Super League 1997 super league (aus) telstra cup logo.png 200px 10 16x16px Brisbane 3rd 16x16px Brisbane 2nd 96 4,035 1,251,777 13,039 Penrith 16 Ryan Girdler (197) 16x16px Matthew Ryan (17) North Queensland 16 North Queensland Cowboys 2nd 1996 ARL season 1996 (ARL) 1998 NRL season 1998 (NRL) The 1997 Super League season (also known as the Telstra Cup due to sponsorship by Telstra) was a breakaway professional rugby league football competition in Australia and the only one to be run by the News Limited-controlled Super League organisation. Eight teams which had broken away from the existing Australian Rugby League, in addition to the newly created Adelaide Rams and Hunter Mariners, competed over eighteen weekly rounds of the regular season. The top five teams then played a series of knock-out finals which culminated in a September grand final played in Brisbane between Brisbane and Cronulla. Background Super League (Australia) 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. Season summary For this season video refereeing was introduced to rugby league for the first time.Middleton David League of Legends: 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia National Museum of Australia 2008 31 http://www.nma.gov.au/shared/libraries/attachments/league_of_legends/rugby_league_a_work_in_progress/files/22453/F_RL_work_in_progress.pdf 978-1-876944-64-3 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110317093000/http://www.nma.gov.au/shared/libraries/attachments/league_of_legends/rugby_league_a_work_in_progress/files/22453/F_RL_work_in_progress.pdf 17 March 2011 The Telstra Cup premiership 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, Cronulla. The Grand final was played at Brisbane's Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre in front of 58,912 people; the ground record for that venue. Brisbane defeated Cronulla 26–8 to win their third* premiership. The Auckland Warriors had teams in the Reserve grade and two age-group grand finals but lost all three. The grand finals: Brisbane 16 Brisbane vs Cronulla 16 Cronulla (Seniors Grade) Canterbury 16 Canterbury vs Auckland 16 Auckland (Reserve Grade) Penrith 16 Penrith vs Auckland 16 Auckland (Under-19s Grade) Brisbane 16 Brisbane vs Auckland 16 Auckland (Under-17s Grade) The winners in all grades were: Brisbane 16 Brisbane (Seniors Grade) Canterbury 16 Canterbury (Reserve Grade) Penrith 16 Penrith (Under-19s Grade) Brisbane 16 Brisbane (Under-17s Grade) The Senior Grade and the Reserve Grade were called the Telstra Cup The Under-19s Grade was called the Mal Meninga Cup The Under-17s Grade was called the Terry Lamb Cup At the end of the season, an Australian team was selected from the Telstra Cup Premiership's clubs to play in the Super League Test series against Great Britain in England. The test matches Australia 16 Australia vs New Zealand Kiwis 16 New Zealand Australia 16 Australia vs Great Britain 16 Great Britain New Zealand Kiwis 16 New Zealand vs Great Britain 16 Great Britain The Super League Tri Series Queensland 16 Queensland vs New South Wales 16 New South Wales Queensland 16 Queensland vs New Zealand Kiwis 16 New Zealand New South Wales 16 New South Wales vs New Zealand Kiwis 16 New Zealand Teams The ten Super League-aligned clubs contested the premiership, only three of which were based in Sydney (none of which were NSWRFL foundation clubs), compared to eight in the rival Australian Rugby League competition, which was run at the same time. A further team from greater New South Wales, two teams from Queensland, and one each from Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and Auckland in New Zealand made up the Super League competition. The Western Reds renamed themselves the Perth Reds for the Super League competition. The Bulldogs reinstated 'Canterbury' to their name (but not Bankstown). Adelaide Rams100px|center 1st seasonGround: Adelaide Oval Coach: Rod Reddy Captain: Kerrod WaltersAuckland Warriors100px|center 3rd seasonGround: Ericsson Stadium Coach: John Monie → Frank EndacottCaptain: Matthew RidgeBrisbane Broncos100px|center 10th seasonGround: ANZ Stadium Coach: Wayne BennettCaptain: Allan LangerCanberra Raiders100px|center 16th seasonGround: Bruce Stadium Coach: Mal MeningaCaptain: Ricky StuartCanterbury Bulldogs100px|center 63rd seasonGround: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Chris AndersonCaptain: Simon GilliesCronulla Sharks100px|center 31st seasonGround: Shark Park Coach: John LangCaptain: Andrew EttingshausenHunter Mariners100px|center 1st & final seasonGround: Topper Stadium Coach: Graham MurrayCaptain: Tony IroNorth Qld. Cowboys100px|center 3rd seasonGround: Stockland Stadium Coach: Tim SheensCaptain: Ian Roberts & John LomaxPerth Reds100px|center 3rd & final seasonGround: WACA Ground Coach: Dean LanceCaptain: Mark GeyerPenrith Panthers100px|center 31st seasonGround: Penrith Stadium Coach: Royce SimmonsCaptain: Steve Carter NRL 800 center Locations of the participating clubs: in the Sydney area (left), Australia and New Zealand (right) NRL -19.316111 146.711944 North Queensland colours.svg white 80 North Qld right NRL -27.464722 153.009444 Giantscolours.svg white 80 Brisbane right NRL -36.918333 174.8125 Auckland colours.svg white 80 Auckland NRL -34.915556 138.596111 Adelaide colours.svg white 80 Adelaide NRL -31.96 115.879722 Western Reds colours.svg white 80 Perth NRL -35.25 149.102778 Canberra colours.svg white 80 Canberra right NRL -32.893333 151.6825 Hunter colours.svg white 80 Hunter right NRL -33.916667 151.094722 Canterbury colours.svg white 80 Canterbury NRL -34.038611 151.140833 Cronulla colours.svg white 80 Cronulla left NRL -33.758611 150.687778 Penrith colours.svg white 80 Penrith Advertising Teaser ads had been created by Mojo Sydney in 1996 around the theme of "Superleague: It's Coming". They featured Super League players performing superhuman feats. One notable execution included Canberra's Bradley Clyde inside a rodeo corral being stormed by a runaway bull with the suggestion that he is about to singlehandedly bring the bull to ground. By season launch in 1997 Foxtel's ad agency Young and Rubicam Sydney had the Super League account and created a space-themed ad with players running through outer-space and the tag-line "Super League: It's out of this world". Super League Television commercials featured the song Two Tribes by Frankie goes to Hollywood By mid season the account had moved again and Sydney agency VCD produced much of the game promotional and club fixture print ads that ran in newspapers throughout the season. This commenced VCD's association with Super League that would continue with the ARL post the re-unification. Ladder Pos PositionTeam Pld Games played W Won D Drawn L Lost PF Points for (total points scored) PA Points against (total points conceded) PD Points difference (points scored minus points conceded) Pts Competition points1Brisbane 16 Brisbane Broncos (P)181413481283+198292Cronulla 16 Cronulla Sharks181206403230+17324 3Canberra 16 Canberra Raiders181107436337+9922 4Canterbury 16 Canterbury Bulldogs181008453447+620 5Penrith 16 Penrith Panthers18909431462-3118 6Hunter 16 Hunter Mariners187011350363-1314 7Auckland 16 Auckland Warriors187011332406-7414 8Perth Reds 16 Perth Reds187011321456-13514 9Adelaide 16 Adelaide Rams186111303402-991310North Queensland 16 North Queensland Cowboys185211328452-12412 (P) - Premiers Finals Minor premiers Brisbane only played two finals games (including the grand final), both against Cronulla winning both convincingly. HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Preliminary Semi-finals Cronulla 23 Cronulla22–18 Canberra 23 Canberra30 August 1997Endeavour FieldBill Harrigan17,137 Canterbury 23 Canterbury14–15 Penrith 23 Penrith1 September 1997Belmore OvalGraham Annesley10,492 Major Qualifying Finals Brisbane 23 Brisbane34–2 Cronulla 23 Cronulla6 September 1997Stockland StadiumBill Harrigan26,256 Canberra 23 Canberra32–12 Penrith 23 Penrith8 September 1997Bruce StadiumGraham Annesley10,153 Preliminary final Cronulla 23 Cronulla10–4 Canberra 23 Canberra13 September 1997Endeavour FieldBill Harrigan17,638 Grand final Brisbane 23 Brisbane26-8 Cronulla 23 Cronulla20 September 1997Queensland Sport & Athletics CentreBill Harrigan58,912 Bracket Qualifying final Major semi-final Grand final Elimination final Minor semi-final Preliminary final 2 Cronulla 16 Cronulla 22 3 Canberra 16 Canberra 18 4 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 14 5 Penrith 16 Penrith 15 1 Brisbane 16 Brisbane 34 Cronulla 16 Cronulla 2 Canberra 16 Canberra 32 Penrith 16 Penrith 12 Cronulla 16 Cronulla 10 Canberra 16 Canberra 4 Brisbane 16 Brisbane 26 Cronulla 16 Cronulla 8 Grand final The Super League Grand final crowned a week of festivities, including a ball, street parade and massive game-night fireworks display, of the sort the Broncos' management had wanted the ARL to bring to Brisbane before the code's big schism in 1995. The game was on 20 September and despite stormy weather, a record crowd in Queensland rugby league history was at Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre for the first ever night grand finalNRL grand final History https://web.archive.org/web/20101010125831/http://rl1908.com/clubcomps/Grand-Finals.htm 10 October 2010 at rl1908.com and the first Australian top level grand final to be played outside Sydney. It attracted a ground record of 58,912 people, Koslowski Michael Field of teams Sydney Morning Herald Australia 6 Fairfax Media 25 September 1997 http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&docID=news970925_0130_8090 6 February 2011 the first 50,000+ crowd for a Rugby League Grand Final in Australia since 50,201 attended the 1987 Winfield Cup Grand Final, the last to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was also the largest attendance for any sporting event in Brisbane since 52,000 attended the opening ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, also held at the venue, then known as the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium. Grand final simply super Illawarra Mercury 26 Fairfax Digital 21 September 1997 http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&docID=news970921_0406_5518 6 October 2009 Jon Stevens and Olivia Newton-John also performed in the pre-match entertainment. The match was broadcast live by Australian Pay-TV channel Fox Sports with Greg Clark, Wally Lewis and Gary Freeman providing commentary, with Peter Jackson on the sideline. It was also broadcast on delay on the Nine Network with commentary provided by Ray Warren and Peter Sterling. Teams n center Brisbane Broncos gold maroon white Cronulla Sharks black #1F75FE white 17 s y Wayne Bennett Darren Lockyer 1 Michael De Vere 18 Steve Renouf 3 Anthony Mundine 4 Wendell Sailor 5 Kevin Walters 6 Allan Langer (c) 7 Brad Thorn 10 Andrew Gee 23 Shane Webcke 21 Gorden Tallis 11 Peter Ryan 12 Darren Smith 13 Tonie Carroll 15 John Plath 9 Michael Hancock 2 Ben Walker 16 John Lang David Peachey 21 Mat Rogers 45 Andrew Ettingshausen (c) 3 Russell Richardson 33 Geoff Bell 17 Mitch Healey 6 Paul Green 7 Danny Lee 8 Dean Treister 9 Jason Stevens 40 Craig Greenhill 11 Chris McKenna 31 Tawera Nikau 13 Adam Dykes 18 Sean Ryan 24 Les Davidson 38 Nathan Long 12 RLP Match details #eeeeee 1997 Super League Telstra Cup Grand Final Saturday, 20 September 20:00 AEST (UTC+10) Brisbane Brisbane 16 26 – 8 102 166 Report Cronulla 16 Cronulla 4Renouf 34 55 65 Hancock 79 5 Lockyer pen 8 pen 25 35 56 80 (5/6) 1Richardson 45 2 Rogers pen 22 46 (2/2) Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre, Brisbane 58,912 Bill Harrigan AUS Steve Renouf (Brisbane)D'Souza Miguel Grand Final History http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/league/2009-grand-final/grandFinal_History.swf https://web.archive.org/web/20140819082626/http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/league/2009-grand-final/grandFinal_History.swf dead 19 August 2014 wwos.ninemsn.com.au Australian Associated Press 8 September 2013 The game was refereed by Bill Harrigan. The talented Brisbane side, featuring young up-and-coming stars in Darren Lockyer, Gorden Tallis and Shane Webcke overwhelmed a game Cronulla-Sutherland side. No points were scored until Lockyer's penalty kick in the eighth minute. In the twenty-second minute Mat Rogers equalised with another penalty kick. About three minutes later the next points came from yet another penalty kick by Lockyer, making the score 4–2 in favour of the home side. With just under seven minutes of the first half remaining, Allan Langer put a bomb up and into the Sharks left-hand corner which a leaping Rogers failed to secure and Steve Renouf picked up the ball and dived over for the first try of the match. Lockyer's conversion put the Broncos in front 10–2 which is what the score remained at for half-time. Sean Fagan Sean Fagan Brisbane Broncos RL1908.com Australia http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Brisbane-Broncos.htm 5 March 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20020621182544/http://rl1908.com/Clubs/Brisbane-Broncos.htm 21 June 2002 dead Cronulla scored after less than four minutes of the second half when Wendell Sailor, returning the ball from a kick deep into his side's territory, passed the ball to nobody and it was chipped ahead by a Cronulla chaser and dived on by Russell Richardson. Mat Rogers converted the try successfully bringing the deficit back to two points at 10–8. In the 55th minute, the Broncos were on the attack and moved the ball out to the left for Renouf to score his second try of the match. Lockyer's kick, a metre in from the sideline was successful, making Brisbane's lead 16–8. About 10 minutes later, Renouf scored close to the same spot, becoming only the third player in history to score a hat-trick in a grand final. Lockyer missed the kick so the Broncos lead 20–8 with 14 minutes of the match remaining. An attempted field-goal kick by Lockyer in the 78th minute was charged down but Brisbane re-gathered the ball and one tackle later it was put through the hands out to the right wing, for replacement Michael Hancock to score the final try of the game. Lockyer kicked the extra two points with only seconds of the game remaining, so the final score was 26–8. Premiership Records NRL Australia Sportsdata Pty Ltd http://www.nrl.com/nrlhq/referencecentre/premiershiprecords/tabid/10436/default.aspx 5 March 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20151029072434/http://www.nrl.com/nrlhq/referencecentre/premiershiprecords/tabid/10436/default.aspx 29 October 2015 dead The win meant the Broncos were undefeated at Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre all year Drzyzga Ben GRAND FINAL SUPER LEAGUE TEAMS Newcastle Herald Australia 16 Fairfax Media 17 September 1997 http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&docID=news970917_0444_5253 6 February 2011 and it kept the Broncos' 100% record intact in grand finals making it three from three, while the Sharks remained bridesmaids, at the time yet to score a grand final victory from three appearances. They would remain without a grand final win for another 20 years until their drought was finally broken in 2016. Post game A Super Bowl style match between the Brisbane Broncos and Newcastle Knights, the 1997 ARL season's premiers was mooted, but did not eventuate. Broncos: Super Bowl no go Illawarra Mercury 85 Fairfax Media 19 September 1997 http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?docID=news970919_0522_9184 28 February 2011 Postseason National Rugby League 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. Despite having the financial backing of Optus, the Australian Rugby League decided that it was not in the best interests of the game to run two competitions and undertook moves to approach News Limited in order to form a united competition. As a consequence of the negotiations that followed, on 23 September 1997 the ARL announced that it was forming a new competition in partnership with News Limited. The National Rugby League was formed from the ARL and Super League competitions. It was announced that the 1998 season would have 20 teams competing, 19 of the ARL and Super League teams and the Melbourne Storm, who were owned by News Limited. Some of the clubs on both sides of the war were shut down. News decided to close the Hunter Mariners and the financially ruined Western/Perth 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 financial trouble. Additionally, at the end of the following season News Limited would decide to close down the Adelaide Rams and the ARL would close down the Gold Coast Chargers, even though they were one of the few clubs to make a profit during the Super League war. See also 1997 World Club Championship Brisbane Broncos 1997 Super League Tri-series Super League (Australia) Super League War References 40em External links Super League (Australia) season 1997 at rl1908.com 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 Super League (Australia) season 1997 stats at rugbyleagueproject.com Category:Super League Category:National Rugby League seasons Super League (Australia) season Super League (Australia) season