Australian Super League 1997
BRISBANE
26 d. CRONULLA 8
Referee: Bill Harrigan. Crowd: 58,912 at QEII Stadium, Brisbane.
After being prevented by the Courts from kicking-off as planned in 1996, the breakaway Super League competition finally won its right to start in 1997. But by then much of its momentum and public support had already been lost.
By the end of its first and only divided season the game of Rugby League in Australia knew that its only hope of survival was a return to one premier competition. This gave birth to the NRL competition and consigned the Super League season to the pages of history.
Many aspects though of the game that we see today were first introduced in Super League - the video referee, zero tackle, microphoned referees, night Grand Final, home ground semi-finals and the "golden" point rule for finals. There were also many famous players who first gained prominence during the Super League period including Craig Gower, Darren Lockyer and Brett Kimmorley. Before the end of the season the Melbourne Storm Super League club was established.
The Super League competition comprised former ARL teams Canterbury, Brisbane, Cronulla, North Queensland, Auckland, Penrith, Canberra and Perth. Two new teams were added: the Adelaide Rams (initially Aces) and the Hunter Mariners. The ten teams played each other on a home and away basis and played a Top 5 finals system. The competition was suspended twice during the season to allow the teams to play in the ambitious World Club Challenge. This made it difficult for the clubs and supporters to keep the momentum of the season going.
The Brisbane Broncos were clearly the standout team heading into the competition. Challenges though were expected from Canberra, Cronulla and Canterbury. Early in the season it became apparent that Auckland and North Queensland would continue on from their ARL performances and would fight it out for the wooden spoon.
Adelaide
and Perth proved hard to toss at home in front of at times
surprisingly good crowds which kept them in touch of the
Top 5 for most of the season. The Hunter Mariners fought
hard at home despite little local support and won seven
of their nine home games. Their inability to win any games
away from home though cost them a semi-final berth and
they finished sixth on the table.
The end of the regular season saw Brisbane claim the minor premiership in front of Cronulla, Canberra, Penrith and Canterbury. For the first time the finals series was played with home ground advantage to the higher placed team. After Brisbane had beaten Cronulla to gain a place in the Grand Final, the Sharks were presented with a home final against Canberra. During the 90's a night game at Shark Park in front of a large crowd was a daunting task for any visiting team. The Raiders fought hard but couldn't overcome the Sharks and lost 10-4.
For the first time at the elite level of Rugby League in Australia the Grand Final was held outside of Sydney - ANZ Stadium in Brisbane having been chosen for the venue. In another first for a Grand Final the game was played at night. The game also produced the biggest crowd at a Grand Final in over 20 years with 58,912 fans on hand.
The season had seen the Broncos easily win the minor premiership and then smash the Sharks to secure a spot in the Grand Final. Few expected Brisbane to be troubled in the decider. An exchange of penalty goals by Rogers and Lockyer saw the game locked up at 2-all after twenty minutes. Lockyer kicked another goal which was soon followed up by a try from the ever present Steve Renouf. The Broncos were ahead 10-2 at half-time and seemingly on their way to the title.
Following the resumption Wendell Sailor took a poor option in attempting a miracle pass to Michael Devere which was toed ahead by Cronulla's Geoff Bell. The Sharks rookie back Russell Richardson dived on the ball over the try-line to score. Rogers converted and Cronulla were only down 10-8.
For
the next ten minutes the Sharks penetrated the Broncos
previously impregnable defence but couldn't come up with
any points. In the final twenty minutes Renouf crossed
for two more tries and Michael Hancock grabbed one as
well as the Broncos won 26 to 8. Brisbane also won the
World Club Challenge by defeating the Hunter Mariners
in the Final in October 1997 in Auckland,
The Perth team was closed down to allow the entry of the Melbourne team for the 1998 Super League season. The Hunter Mariners were also disbanded before the end of the year as preparation for the outcome of peace negotiations with the ARL took hold. The Adelaide Rams survived for the initial NRL season but were wound up as the drive to reduce the number of NRL teams continued.
BRISBANE:
D.Lockyer, S. Renouf, M. Devere, A. Mundine, W. Sailor,
K. Walters, A. Langer (c), D. Smith, P.Ryan, G. Tallis,
A. Gee, B. Thorn, S. Webcke. Interchange: J. Plath, T.
Carroll, M.Hancock, P.Lee.
CRONULLA.
D. Peachey, M. Rogers, A Ettingshausen, R. Richardson,
G. Bell, M. Healey, R Green, D. Lee, D. Treister, J. Stevens,
C. Greenhill, C. McKenna, T Nikau.
Interchange:
Semi-finals: Cronulla 22 d. Canberra 18. Penrfth 15 d. Canertbury 14. Brisbane 34 d. Cronulla 2. Canberra 32 d. Penrfth 12. Final: Cronulla 10 d. Canberra 4.