1997 Rugby League Divisional Premiership

1997 Divisional Premiership Trophy National knockout championship Huddersfield Giants Winners Hull Sharks 1996 Rugby League Divisional Premiership 1996 20 The 1997 Rugby League Divisional Premiership was the 11th and final end of season Rugby League Divisional Premiership competition and the second in the Super League era. Following this season, the competition was replaced by a play-off system which would be used to decide the second Division championship and promotion to the Super League. The competition was completely restructured for the 1997 season. With the exception of the bottom two Division Two clubs, Doncaster Dragons and Prescot Panthers, it was expanded to include all Division One and Division Two clubs. A group stage was added, which consisted of four pools of five teams based on region, although some team were assigned to another pool to keep the group sizes even (Yorkshire-based Keighley Cougars were placed in the Lancashire pool, and Lancashire Lynx competed in the Cumbrian group). The top two teams in each group then progressed to the knockout stage of the competition. The winners were Huddersfield Giants. Regional pools Cumbria main WDL 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored; points complete Fletcher Howes 1998 230–231 2 1 0 WHI, WOR, CAR, BAR, LAN 2 0 6 219 228 3 0 5 167 248 2 0 6 157 247 8 0 0 301 96 5 0 3 162 187 Barrow Braves Carlisle Border Raiders Lancashire Lynx Whitehaven Warriors Workington Town Q QUL QUL yellow1 Qualification for knockout phase Lancashire main WDL 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored; points complete Fletcher Howes 1998 230–231 2 1 0 KEI, LEI, SWI, WID, ROC 6 0 2 214 141 6 0 2 198 179 0 1 7 140 297 5 0 3 218 156 2 1 5 178 175 Keighley Cougars Leigh Centurions Rochdale Hornets Swinton Lions Widnes Vikings Q QUL QUL yellow1 Qualification for knockout phase East Yorkshire main WDL 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored; points complete Fletcher Howes 1998 230–231 2 1 0 HUL, FEA, HKR, WAK, YOR 5 0 3 228 153 5 0 3 188 130 6 0 2 288 104 3 0 5 134 198 1 0 7 92 345 Featherstone Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Wakefield Trinity York Q QUL QUL yellow1 Qualification for knockout phase West Yorkshire main WDL 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored; points complete Fletcher Howes 1998 230–231 2 1 0 HUD, HUN, DEW, BAT, BRM 2 0 6 150 196 1 0 7 114 333 4 0 4 179 131 8 0 0 308 92 5 0 3 174 173 Batley Bulldogs Bramley Dewsbury Rams Huddersfield Giants Hunslet Hawks Q QUL QUL yellow1 Qualification for knockout phase Quarter-finals DateTeam oneScoreTeam two14 September 1997 Huddersfield Giants 37–12 Featherstone Rovers14 September 1997 Hull Sharks 52–10 Hunslet Hawks14 September 1997 Leigh Centurions 25–48 Whitehaven Warriors14 September 1997 Workington Town 10–36 Keighley Cougars Semi-finals DateTeam oneScoreTeam two21 September 1997 Hull Sharks 45–18 Whitehaven21 September 1997 Keighley Cougars 8–18 Huddersfield Giants Final 28 September 1997 Huddersfield Giants 18 – 0 Report Hull Sharks Davys, Bunyan, Cheetham Cook (3) Old Trafford, Manchester John Connolly (Wigan) Craig Weston 1 Phil Veivers (c)2 Paul Cook3 James Bunyan4 Dean Hanger5 Andy Cheetham6 Craig Weston7 Ali Davys8 Neil Harmon9 Danny Russell10 Nick Fozzard11 Tony Bowes12 Dave King13 Matt SturmSubstitutions:14 Steve Booth15 Joe Berry16 Paul Dixon17 Basil RichardsCoach: Steve Ferres 1 Steve Holmes2 Graeme Hallas3 Kevin Gray4 Tevita Vaikona5 Mark Johnson6 Rob Nolan7 Mark Hewitt8 Richard Wilson9 Mike Dixon10 Andy Ireland11 David Boyd (c)12 Matt Schultz13 Brad HepiSubstitutions:14 Rob Danby15 Logan Campbell16 Chico Jackson17 Maea DavidCoach: Peter Walsh See also 1997 RFL Division One 1997 RFL Division Two Notes References Fletcher Raymond Howes David Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1998 1998 Headline Publishing Group London 978-0-7472-7683-8 Rugby League Divisional Premiership