1997 World Club Championship

Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description Template:Template other The 1997 World Club Championship was an expansion of the World Club Challenge concept by Super League. The rugby competition was restructured to include all 22 clubs from the Australasian Super League and the Super League championships and was known as the Visa World Club Championship due to sponsorship. As it was contested over six rounds in two hemispheres, with Template:AUD prize money (GBP 640,000), the competition was prohibitively expensive to stage, with suggestions that it cost Template:AUD. This coupled with the poor ratings and attendances that were achieved both in Australia and Europe reportedly resulted in a loss over Template:AUD, and the World Club Challenge was not staged again for a number of years. No British teams progressed further than the quarter-finals, with two Australian teams reaching the final (played at the Ericsson Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand): the dominant Brisbane Broncos club and the ill-fated Hunter Mariners.

Format

The competition was held during the second season of the European Super League competition and the inaugural season of the Australasian Super League season. Both competitions paused their competitions for the first three rounds in June, and again for the second round of matches in July-August.

Teams in each competition were seeded into two pools to ensure that the leading teams would play each other. The Australasian teams were split into a pool of six teams that contained the teams that had finished highly in the 1996 ARL season, and a pool of four teams that included the expansion Super League franchises Hunter Mariners and Adelaide Rams. The European Super League teams were split into two pools of six teams in order of the final positions of the clubs during the 1996 Super League season. Promoted club Salford Reds joined Pool B.

With only four teams in the Australasian Pool B, the six European teams had two bye weekends.

The competition saw five Australasian teams tour Europe for each set of three match weekends, with five European teams simultaneously touring Australasia.

Following the completion of the pool matches, the top three teams from both of the competitions Pool A progressed to the quarter finals, with the winner of the Australasian Pool B. The winner of the European Pool B faced the fourth-placed team from Pool A in an elimination qualifier for a place in the quarter finals. The playoffs took place after the completion of the respective Super League competitions.

Credit card company Visa was announced as the competition sponsor just before the European launch of the championship at Huddersfield. The sponsorship was described as a "substantial investment to help offset the estimated Template:GBP operational costs."

Pool stage 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.

Super League (Australia and New Zealand)

Pool A

Pool B

Super League (Great Britain and France)

Pool A

Pool B

Results

Round 1

June 6–9

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Day & Time (local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Template:Leagueicon Brisbane Broncos	42 – 22	Template:Leagueicon London Broncos	Friday 6 June, 7:30pm	ANZ Stadium, Brisbane	Bill Harrigan	18,193
Template:Leagueicon St. Helens	14 – 42	Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors	Friday 6 June, 7:30pm	Knowsley Road, St. Helens	Stuart Cummings	8,911
Template:Leagueicon North Queensland Cowboys	42 – 20	Template:Leagueicon Leeds Rhinos	Saturday 7 June, 7:30pm	Stockland Stadium, Townsville	Steve Clark	14,561
Template:Leagueicon Adelaide Rams	50 – 8	Template:Leagueicon Salford Reds	Sunday 8 June, 2:00pm	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	Tim Mander	11,346
Template:Leagueicon Canberra Raiders	70 – 6	Template:Leagueicon Halifax Blue Sox	Sunday 8 June, 2:30pm	Bruce Stadium, Canberra	Brian Grant	7,780
Template:Leagueicon Paris St-Germain	12 – 28	Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners	Sunday 8 June, 3:00pm	Charlety Stadium, Paris	Steve Presley	3,500
Template:Leagueicon Castleford Tigers	16 – 24	Template:Leagueicon Perth Reds	Sunday 8 June, 3:30pm	Wheldon Road, Castleford	Robert Connolly	3,590
Template:Leagueicon Warrington Wolves	12 – 40	Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks	Sunday 8 June, 6:35pm	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington	Russell Smith	3,378
Template:Leagueicon Canterbury Bulldogs	18 – 22	Template:Leagueicon Wigan Warriors	Monday 9 June, 7:30pm	Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney	Graham Annesley	10,680
Template:Leagueicon Bradford Bulls	16 – 20	Template:Leagueicon Penrith Panthers	Monday 9 June, 7:45pm	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	David Campbell	14,378
Byes: Template:Leagueicon Sheffield Eagles, Template:Leagueicon Oldham Bears
References: RLP

Round 2

June 13–16

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Day & Time (local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Template:Leagueicon Adelaide Rams	34 – 8	Template:Leagueicon Leeds Rhinos	Friday 13 June, 8:00pm	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	Steve Clarke	14,630
Template:Leagueicon Castleford Tigers	12 – 42	Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners	Friday 13 June, 7:30pm	Wheldon Road, Castleford	Stuart Cummings	3,087
Template:Leagueicon North Queensland Cowboys	54 – 16	Template:Leagueicon Oldham Bears	Saturday 14 June, 7:30pm	Stockland Stadium, Townsville	Graham Annesley	12,631
Template:Leagueicon Bradford Bulls	16 – 20	Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors	Saturday 14 June, 6:00pm	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	Russell Smith	13,133
Template:Leagueicon Canberra Raiders	66 – 20	Template:Leagueicon London Broncos	Sunday 15 June, 2:30pm	Bruce Stadium, Canberra	Tim Mander	6,471
Template:Leagueicon Canterbury Bulldogs	58 – 6	Template:Leagueicon Halifax Blue Sox	Sunday 15 June, 2:30pm	Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney	Brian Grant	5,034
Template:Leagueicon Warrington Wolves	22 – 52	Template:Leagueicon Penrith Panthers	Sunday 15 June, 3:00pm	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington	Robert Connolly	3,850
Template:Leagueicon Sheffield Eagles	26 – 22	Template:Leagueicon Perth Reds	Sunday 15 June, 6:35pm	Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield	John Connolly	2,065
Template:Leagueicon Brisbane Broncos	34 – 0	Template:Leagueicon Wigan Warriors	Monday 16 June, 7:30pm	ANZ Stadium, Brisbane	Bill Harrigan	14,833
Template:Leagueicon St Helens	8 – 48	Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks	Monday 16 June, 7:45pm	Knowsley Road, St Helens	David Campbell	8,039
Byes: Template:Leagueicon Paris St-Germain, Template:Leagueicon Salford Reds
References: RLP

Round 3

June 20–23

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Day & Time (local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Template:Leagueicon Adelaide Rams	42 – 14	Template:Leagueicon Oldham Bears	Friday 20 June, 8:00pm	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	Graham Annesley	13,852
Template:Leagueicon Sheffield Eagles	4 – 40	Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners	Friday 20 June, 7:30pm	Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield	Russell Smith	2,350
Template:Leagueicon Bradford Bulls	10 – 30	Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks	Friday 20 June, 7:30pm	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	Stuart Cummings	10,756
Template:Leagueicon North Queensland Cowboys	44 – 8	Template:Leagueicon Salford Reds	Saturday 21 June, 7:30pm	Stockland Stadium, Townsville	Brian Grant	15,508
Template:Leagueicon Paris St-Germain	24 – 0	Template:Leagueicon Perth Reds	Saturday 21 June, 7:00pm	Charlety Stadium, Paris	David Campbell	3,500
Template:Leagueicon Brisbane Broncos	76 – 0	Template:Leagueicon Halifax Blue Sox	Sunday 22 June, 2:30pm	ANZ Stadium, Brisbane	Tim Mander	11,358
Template:Leagueicon Canberra Raiders	56 – 22	Template:Leagueicon Wigan Warriors	Sunday 22 June, 2:30pm	Bruce Stadium, Canberra	Steve Clark	9,098
Template:Leagueicon St Helens	30 – 50	Template:Leagueicon Penrith Panthers	Sunday 22 June, 6:35pm	Knowsley Road, St Helens	John Connolly	6,671
Template:Leagueicon Canterbury Bulldogs	34 – 18	Template:Leagueicon London Broncos	Monday 23 June, 7:30pm	Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney	Bill Harrigan	7,272
Template:Leagueicon Warrington Wolves	28 – 56	Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors	Monday 23 June, 7:45pm	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington	Steve Presley	4,428
Byes: Template:Leagueicon Castleford Tigers, Template:Leagueicon Leeds Rhinos
References: RLP

Round 4

July 18–21

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Day & Time (local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Template:Leagueicon Penrith Panthers	48 – 12	Template:Leagueicon Warrington Wolves	Friday 18 July, 7:30pm	Penrith Football Stadium, Penrith	Brian Grant	5,642
Template:Leagueicon Oldham Bears	20 – 16	Template:Leagueicon North Queensland Cowboys	Friday 18 July, 7:30pm	Boundary Park, Oldham	Robert Connolly	2,961
Template:Leagueicon Leeds Rhinos	22 – 14	Template:Leagueicon Adelaide Rams	Friday 18 July, 7:30pm	Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds	Russell Smith	11,269
Template:Leagueicon Perth Reds	48 – 12	Template:Leagueicon Sheffield Eagles	Saturday 19 July, 7:30pm	WACA Ground, Perth	Steve Clark	7,429
Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors	76 – 0	Template:Leagueicon Bradford Bulls	Sunday 20 July, 2:30pm	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Bill Harrigan	12,500
Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners	26 – 8	Template:Leagueicon Castleford Tigers	Sunday 20 July, 2:30pm	Topper Stadium, Newcastle	Tim Mander	3,379
Template:Leagueicon Halifax Blue Sox	22 – 40	Template:Leagueicon Canterbury Bulldogs	Sunday 20 July, 3:00pm	Thrum Hall, Halifax	Steve Presley	3,300
Template:Leagueicon Wigan Warriors	4 – 30	Template:Leagueicon Brisbane Broncos	Sunday 20 July, 6:35pm	Central Park, Wigan	Stuart Cummings	13,476
Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks	28 – 12	Template:Leagueicon St. Helens	Monday 21 July, 7:30pm	Shark Park, Sydney	Graham Annesley	7,721
Template:Leagueicon London Broncos	38 – 18	Template:Leagueicon Canberra Raiders	Monday 21 July, 7:30pm	The Stoop, London	John Connolly	7,819
Byes: Template:Leagueicon Paris St-Germain, Template:Leagueicon Salford Reds
References: RLP

Round 5

July 25–28

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Day & Time (local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors	70 – 6	Template:Leagueicon St. Helens	Friday 25 July, 7:30pm	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Steve Clark	18,354
Template:Leagueicon Oldham Bears	2 – 18	Template:Leagueicon Adelaide Rams	Friday 25 July, 7:30pm	Boundary Park, Oldham	John Connolly	3,315
Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks	44 – 0	Template:Leagueicon Warrington Wolves	Saturday 26 July, 7:30pm	Shark Park, Sydney	Tim Mander	6,112
Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners	32 – 0	Template:Leagueicon Paris St-Germain	Sunday 27 July, 2:30pm	Topper Stadium, Newcastle	Graham Annesley	2,210
Template:Leagueicon Perth Reds	24 – 14	Template:Leagueicon Castleford Tigers	Sunday 27 July, 2:30pm	WACA Ground, Perth	Brian Grant	12,500
Template:Leagueicon Halifax Blue Sox	12 – 42	Template:Leagueicon Canberra Raiders	Sunday 27 July, 3:00pm	Thrum Hall, Halifax	Robert Connolly	3,620
Template:Leagueicon Salford City Reds	14 – 24	Template:Leagueicon North Queensland Cowboys	Sunday 27 July, 3:00pm	The Willows, Salford	Steve Presley	7,448
Template:Leagueicon London Broncos	16 – 34	Template:Leagueicon Brisbane Broncos	Sunday 27 July, 6:35pm	The Stoop, London	Stuart Cummings	9,846
Template:Leagueicon Penrith Panthers	54 – 14	Template:Leagueicon Bradford Bulls	Monday 28 July, 7:30pm	Penrith Football Stadium, Penrith	Bill Harrigan	5,336
Template:Leagueicon Wigan Warriors	31 – 24	Template:Leagueicon Canterbury Bulldogs	Monday 28 July, 7:45pm	Central Park, Wigan	Russell Smith	10,280
Byes: Template:Leagueicon Leeds Rhinos, Template:Leagueicon Sheffield Eagles
References: RLP

Round 6

August 1–4

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Day & Time (local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Template:Leagueicon Perth Reds	18 – 8	Template:Leagueicon Paris St-Germain	Friday 1 August, 6:30pm	WACA Ground, Perth	Tim Mander	5,690
Template:Leagueicon London Broncos	22 – 44	Template:Leagueicon Canterbury Bulldogs	Friday 1 August, 7:30pm	The Stoop, London	John Connolly	6,923
Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks	40 – 12	Template:Leagueicon Bradford Bulls	Saturday 2 August, 7:30pm	Shark Park, Sydney	Brian Grant	8,272
Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors	16 – 4	Template:Leagueicon Warrington Wolves	Sunday 3 August, 2:30pm	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	Graham Annesley	5,500
Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners	58 – 12	Template:Leagueicon Castleford Tigers	Sunday 3 August, 2:30pm	Topper Stadium, Newcastle	Steve Clark	1,965
Template:Leagueicon Wigan Warriors	12 – 50	Template:Leagueicon Canberra Raiders	Sunday 3 August, 3:00pm	Central Park, Wigan	Steve Presley	12,504
Template:Leagueicon Salford City Reds	14 – 12	Template:Leagueicon Adelaide Rams	Sunday 3 August, 6:35pm	The Willows, Salford	Stuart Cummings	6,995
Template:Leagueicon Leeds Rhinos	14 – 48	Template:Leagueicon North Queensland Cowboys	Sunday 3 August, 8:00pm	Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds	Russell Smith	12,224
Template:Leagueicon Penrith Panthers	32 – 26	Template:Leagueicon St. Helens	Monday 4 August, 7:30pm	Penrith Football Stadium, Penrith	Bill Harrigan	5,303
Template:Leagueicon Halifax Blue Sox	10 – 54	Template:Leagueicon Brisbane Broncos	Monday 4 August, 7:45pm	Thrum Hall, Halifax	Robert Connolly	3,255
Byes: Template:Leagueicon Castleford Tigers, Template:Leagueicon Oldham Bears
References: RLP

Final

In their only year of existence, this would be the only final that the Hunter Mariners would appear in.

Three tries in 12 minutes from Brisbane Broncos centre Darren Smith put the Broncos in a strong position in the first half to lead 26

1. REDIRECT Template:En dash

Template:R protected0 inside 30 minutes, with the Hunter Mariners only score a try to Nick Zisti just before the break.

After the interval, the Mariners came close to scoring, but were denied twice by the video referee. John Carlaw and Zisti would score tries to reduce the margin to 14 points, but two late tries to the Broncos through Wendell Sailor and Steve Renouf gave the Brisbane side a dominant victory.

The Broncos collected Template:AUD for winning the competition, with the Mariners collecting Template:AUD which the club split 50-50 with the players.

Teams

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Brisbane Broncos Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Hunter Mariners Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

FB 1 Darren Lockyer RW 18 Michael De Vere RC 13 Darren Smith LC 4 Steve Renouf LW 5 Wendell Sailor FE 6 Kevin Walters HB 7 Allan Langer (c) PR 21 Shane Webcke HK 9 John Plath PR 23 Andrew Gee SR 11 Gorden Tallis SR 10 Brad Thorn LK 12 Peter Ryan Substitutions: IC 14 Ben Walker IC 2 Michael Hancock IC 15 Tonie Carroll IC 33 Phillip Lee Coach: Template:Flagicon Wayne Bennett

FB 1 Robbie Ross RW 3 Nick Zisti LC 6 Brad Godden RC 4 Kevin Iro LW 5 John Carlaw FE 21 Scott Hill HB 20 Brett Kimmorley PR 31 Anthony Brann HK 9 Robbie McCormack (c) PR 14 Troy Stone SR 16 Darrien Doherty SR 12 Paul Marquet LK 55 Tyran Smith Substitutions: IC 2 Keith Beauchamp IC 10 Tim Maddison IC 11 Tony Iro IC 18 Richard Swain Coach: Template:Flagicon Graham Murray

Match details

1997 World Club Challenge Final

Friday, 17 October 19:30 NZST (UTC+12)

Brisbane Broncos Template:Leagueicon	36 – 12	Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners
Tries: 7 D Smith Template:Try Walters Template:Try Plath Template:Try Sailor Template:Try Renouf Template:Try Goals: 4 De Vere Template:Kick (3/5) Walker Template:Kick (1/2)	1st: 26 REDIRECT Template:En dash Template:R protected4 2nd: 10 REDIRECT Template:En dash Template:R protected8	Tries: 3 Zisti Template:Try Carlaw Template:Try Goals: 0 K Iro (0/2) Swain (0/1)

Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Attendance: 10,300 Referee: Graham Annesley Template:Flagicon

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. The general conclusion was that the Australian sides were no more skillful than the European teams, the main difference as it had been in international football since the late 1970s, was fitness, something that they were working on by the time of the season ending Super League Test series between the Super League Australians and the Great Britain Lions in England in November.

See also

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

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
• 1997 World Club Challenge at Rugby League Project