1997 Adelaide Rams season

1997 Adelaide Rams season
Team information
CoachRod Reddy
Captain
StadiumAdelaide Oval
1998 →

The 1997 Adelaide Rams season was the Adelaide Rams' debut season as a rugby league club. They competed in the Super League's Telstra Cup and World Club Championship.

The club had appointed St. George Dragons international back rower Rod Reddy to be their inaugural coach, along with two-time NSWRL premiership-winning Hooker Kerrod Walters from the Brisbane Broncos to be the first captain of the team. Most of the junior players were drawn from the SARL's lower grade competitions in the region.[1]

First match

The club played its first premiership match against the North Queensland Cowboys on 1 March 1997 and, after leading 16–4 at half time, eventually lost 24–16.

This game was the first to be played of the new Super League competition.

Saturday, 1 March 1997
North Queensland Cowboys 24 – 16 Adelaide Rams
Tries:
Steve Walters (2)
Luke Phillips
Tyran Smith
Goals:
Luke Phillips (4/5) 		[2]
 Tries:
Brett Galea
Kerrod Walters

Goals:
Kurt Wrigley (4/4)
Stockland Stadium, Townsville
Attendance: 17,738
Referee: Brian Grant Australia
North Queensland
Adelaide Rams
FB 22 Scott Mahon
RW 28 Luke Phillips
RC 30 Ben Tabuai
LC 1 Kyle Warren
LW 34 Ray Mercy
FE 6 Andrew Dunemann
HB 7 Jason Ferris
PR 8 John Lomax
HK 49 Steve Walters
PR 10 Martin Locke
SR 11 Tyran Smith
SR 31 Ian Roberts (c)
LK 13 Owen Cunningham
Substitutions:
IC 9 Jason Death
IC 21 Peter Jones
IC 16 Ian Dunemann
IC 17 Dion Cope
Coach:
Australia Tim Sheens
FB 3 Michael Maguire
RW 22 Wayne Simonds
RC 25 Solomon Kiri
LC – Elias Paiyo
LW 44 Joe Tamani
FE 33 Kurt Wrigley
HB 7 Stuart Topper
PR 11 Andrew Hick
HK 27 Kerrod Walters (c)
PR – Marty McKenzie
SR 13 Dave Boughton
SR 12 Brett Galea
LF 10 Cameron Blair
Substitutions:
IC 36 Kevin Campion
IC 6 Chris Quinn
IC 9 Steve Stone
IC – Bruce Mamando
Coach:
Australia Rod Reddy

Results

Their first home match, against the Hunter Mariners, was also the Rams' first win, and drew their record home attendance of 27,435 to the Adelaide Oval, one of only two home wins for the season. The Rams also won four away games with their first being in Round 4 against the Auckland Warriors at the Ericsson Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, but their overall record of 6 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw placed them second last on the Super League premiership ladder, one win ahead of North Queensland.[1]

The Rams first home game attendance of 27,435 was the 4th highest attendance of the entire 1997 season, behind only the Grand Final at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane (58,912), the opening game of the season in Brisbane (42,361) and a Round 6 match at the Stockland Stadium in Townsville (30,122). The Rams average home attendance of 15,330 was also the 4th best in the league behind Brisbane (19,298), North Queensland (17,539) and Auckland (15,442).

Adelaide Rams 1997 Super League season results[3]
Round Home Scoreline Away Date Venue Crowd
1 North Queensland Cowboys 24 - 16 Adelaide Rams 1 March Dairy Farmers Stadium 17,738
2 Brisbane Broncos 28 - 12 Adelaide Rams 9 March ANZ Stadium 16,279
3 Adelaide Rams 10 - 8 Hunter Mariners 14 March Adelaide Oval 27,435
4 Auckland Warriors 12 - 16 Adelaide Rams 21 March Ericsson Stadium 13,000
5 Adelaide Rams 16 - 18 Perth Reds 27 March Adelaide Oval 16,294
6 Canterbury Bulldogs 34 - 22 Adelaide Rams 6 April Belmore Sports Ground 7,234
7 Adelaide Rams 10 - 20 Brisbane Broncos 13 April Adelaide Oval 17,633
8 Cronulla Sharks 18 - 29 Adelaide Rams 19 April Shark Park 10,112
9 Penrith Panthers 16 - 22 Adelaide Rams 27 April Penrith Football Stadium 5,815
10 Adelaide Rams 14 - 14 North Queensland Cowboys 2 May Adelaide Oval 15,970
11 Adelaide Rams 22 - 42 Canterbury Bulldogs 23 May Adelaide Oval 15,022
12 Adelaide Rams 18 - 34 Canberra Raiders 1 June Adelaide Oval 13,894
13 Perth Reds 4 - 28 Adelaide Rams 29 June W.A.C.A 7,204
14 Hunter Mariners 10 - 2 Adelaide Rams 5 July Topper Stadium 2,345
15 Adelaide Rams 8 - 18 Auckland Warriors 11 July Adelaide Oval 13,278
16 Adelaide Rams 6 - 28 Cronulla Sharks 8 August Adelaide Oval 7,231
17 Canberra Raiders 58 - 16 Adelaide Rams 17 August Canberra Stadium 7,960
18 Adelaide Rams 36 - 16 Penrith Panthers 22 August Adelaide Oval 11,211

Telstra Cup

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Brisbane (P) 18 14 1 3 481 283 +198 29
2 Cronulla 18 12 0 6 403 230 +173 24
3 Canberra 18 11 0 7 436 337 +99 22
4 Canterbury 18 10 0 8 453 447 +6 20
5 Penrith 18 9 0 9 431 462 -31 18
6 Hunter 18 7 0 11 350 363 -13 14
7 Auckland 18 7 0 11 332 406 -74 14
8 Perth 18 7 0 11 321 456 -135 14
9 Adelaide 18 6 1 11 303 402 -99 13
10 North Queensland 18 5 2 11 328 452 -124 12
  • (P) - Premiers


Ladder progression

  • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 5.
  • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
1 Brisbane 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 19 19 19 21 23 25 27 29
2 Cronulla 2 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 12 14 16 16 18 20 22 24
3 Canberra 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 20 22
4 Canterbury 2 2 4 4 4 6 8 10 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 20 20 20
5 Penrith 2 4 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 14 16 16 16 16 18 18
6 Hunter 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 6 6 6 8 10 12 14 14 14 14 14
7 Auckland 0 2 2 2 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 10 10 12 14
8 Perth 0 2 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 14 14 14
9 Adelaide 0 0 2 4 4 4 4 6 8 9 9 9 11 11 11 11 11 13
10 North Queensland 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 6 7 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 12


World Club Championship

The Rams were placed in Australasia Pool B along with the Hunter Mariners, North Queensland Cowboys and Perth Reds and would be matched up against teams from Europe Pool B including the Leeds Rhinos, Oldham Bears and Salford City Reds. The competition would see the Rams play three games at home and three in England.[1][4]

The Rams won their three home games rather easily, but only managed to win one of their games in England leaving them in third place in their pool. As only one team from Australasia Pool B would go on to the Quarter finals, this meant that the Adelaide Rams did not advance past the group stage of the tournament.

Adelaide Rams 1997 World Club Championship results[5]
Round Home Scoreline Away Date Venue Crowd
1 Adelaide Rams 50 - 16 Salford City Reds 8 June Adelaide Oval 11,009
2 Adelaide Rams 34 - 8 Leeds Rhinos 13 June Adelaide Oval 14,360
3 Adelaide Rams 42 - 14 Oldham Bears 20 June Adelaide Oval 13,852
4 Leeds Rhinos 22 - 14 Adelaide Rams 18 July Headingley 11,269
5 Oldham Bears 2 - 18 Adelaide Rams 25 July Boundary Park 3,513
6 Salford City Reds 14 - 12 Adelaide Rams 6 April The Willows 6,995

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

Players

See also: List of Adelaide Rams players

Excluding World Club Challenge matches, Goal kicking utility back Kurt Wrigley was the Rams top point scorer for the season with 81 points from 5 tries, 30 goals and 1 field goal. Wrigley and fullback Rod Maybon were the team's top try scorers with 5 each.

Under Super League's rules, players were free to choose their own numbers which they would use throughout the season rather than wearing the traditional 1 through 13.

Player No. Name Pos. Debut App T G FG Pts
3 Michael Maguire Fullback, Wing 1 March 1997 7 1 0 0 4
22 Wayne Simonds Wing 1 March 1997 15† 6 0 0 24
25 Solomon Kiri Centre 1 March 1997 13† 5 0 0 20
– Elias Paiyo Centre 1 March 1997 6 0 0 0 0
44 Joe Tamani Wing 1 March 1997 15 4 0 0 16
33 Kurt Wrigley Five-eighth, Centre 1 March 1997 18† 6 36 1 97
– Stuart Topper Halfback 1 March 1997 6 1 0 0 4
11 Andrew Hick Prop, Second-row 1 March 1997 17† 1 0 0 4
49 Kerrod Walters (c) Hooker 1 March 1997 19 4 0 0 16
– Marty McKenzie Prop 1 March 1997 5 1 0 0 4
13 Dave Boughton Second-row, Lock 1 March 1997 16 1 0 0 4
12 Brett Galea Second-row 1 March 1997 14† 3 0 0 12
10 Cameron Blair Second-row, Lock 1 March 1997 18 4 0 0 16
36 Kevin Campion Prop, Second-row, Lock 1 March 1997 15 1 0 0 4
6 Chris Quinn Centre, Fullback 1 March 1997 19† 4 0 0 16
9 Steve Stone Halfback, Hooker 1 March 1997 17† 8 0 0 32
– Bruce Mamando Prop, Second-row 1 March 1997 16 5 0 0 20
1 Rod Maybon Fullback 9 March 1997 16† 9 0 0 36
50 Andrew Pierce Second-row, Lock 9 March 1997 13 1 0 0 4
21 Dean Schifilliti Hooker, Five-eighth, Halfback 9 March 1997 17† 1 0 0 4
30 Mark Corvo Prop 14 March 1997 18 0 0 0 0
51 Luke Williamson Centre, Five-eighth 21 March 1997 15† 5 49 0 118
8 Alan Cann Prop 27 March 1997 13 0 0 0 0
29 Danny Grimley Centre 19 April 1997 8† 2 0 0 8
5 Jason Donnelly Wing 27 April 1997 7 0 0 0 0
52 David Kidwell Centre 17 August 1997 2 0 0 0 0
53 Adam Peek Prop 22 August 1997 1 0 0 0 0

†Full team list not available for WCC matches against Oldham on 20 June 1997 or 25 July 1997, or against Leeds on 18 July 1997 or Salford on 3 August 1997 but this player scored in one or more of these matches and so is awarded an appearance for that match.

References

  1. ^ a b c Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-74110-075-5.
  2. ^ 1997 SL - North Queensland vs Adelaide
  3. ^ "Rugby League Tables / All Games / Adelaide". Retrieved 2009-04-20.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ Fagan, Sean. "Rugby League History – RL1908.com – Adelaide Rams". RL1908. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  5. ^ 1997 World Club Championship at Rugby League Project