1997 World Club Championship

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 prize money (GBP 640,000), the competition was prohibitively expensive to stage, with suggestions that it cost . This coupled with the poor ratings and attendances that were achieved both in Australia and Europe reportedly resulted in a loss over , 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 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 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDay & Time (local)VenueRefereeAttendance Brisbane Broncos42 – 22 London BroncosFriday 6 June, 7:30pmANZ Stadium, BrisbaneBill Harrigan18,193 St. Helens14 – 42 Auckland WarriorsFriday 6 June, 7:30pmKnowsley Road, St. HelensStuart Cummings8,911 North Queensland Cowboys42 – 20 Leeds RhinosSaturday 7 June, 7:30pmStockland Stadium, TownsvilleSteve Clark14,561 Adelaide Rams50 – 8 Salford RedsSunday 8 June, 2:00pmAdelaide Oval, AdelaideTim Mander11,346 Canberra Raiders70 – 6 Halifax Blue SoxSunday 8 June, 2:30pmBruce Stadium, CanberraBrian Grant7,780 Paris St-Germain12 – 28 Hunter MarinersSunday 8 June, 3:00pmCharlety Stadium, ParisSteve Presley3,500 Castleford Tigers16 – 24 Perth RedsSunday 8 June, 3:30pmWheldon Road, CastlefordRobert Connolly3,590 Warrington Wolves12 – 40 Cronulla SharksSunday 8 June, 6:35pmWilderspool Stadium, WarringtonRussell Smith3,378 Canterbury Bulldogs18 – 22 Wigan WarriorsMonday 9 June, 7:30pmBelmore Sports Ground, SydneyGraham Annesley10,680 Bradford Bulls16 – 20 Penrith PanthersMonday 9 June, 7:45pmOdsal Stadium, BradfordDavid Campbell14,378Byes: Sheffield Eagles, Oldham BearsReferences: RLP

Round 2 June 13–16 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDay & Time (local)VenueRefereeAttendance Adelaide Rams34 – 8 Leeds RhinosFriday 13 June, 8:00pmAdelaide Oval, AdelaideSteve Clarke14,630 Castleford Tigers12 – 42 Hunter MarinersFriday 13 June, 7:30pmWheldon Road, CastlefordStuart Cummings3,087 North Queensland Cowboys54 – 16 Oldham BearsSaturday 14 June, 7:30pmStockland Stadium, TownsvilleGraham Annesley12,631 Bradford Bulls16 – 20 Auckland WarriorsSaturday 14 June, 6:00pmOdsal Stadium, BradfordRussell Smith13,133 Canberra Raiders66 – 20 London BroncosSunday 15 June, 2:30pmBruce Stadium, CanberraTim Mander6,471 Canterbury Bulldogs58 – 6 Halifax Blue SoxSunday 15 June, 2:30pmBelmore Sports Ground, SydneyBrian Grant5,034 Warrington Wolves22 – 52 Penrith PanthersSunday 15 June, 3:00pmWilderspool Stadium, WarringtonRobert Connolly3,850 Sheffield Eagles26 – 22 Perth RedsSunday 15 June, 6:35pmDon Valley Stadium, SheffieldJohn Connolly2,065 Brisbane Broncos34 – 0 Wigan WarriorsMonday 16 June, 7:30pmANZ Stadium, BrisbaneBill Harrigan14,833 St Helens8 – 48 Cronulla SharksMonday 16 June, 7:45pmKnowsley Road, St HelensDavid Campbell8,039Byes: Paris St-Germain, Salford RedsReferences: RLP

Round 3 June 20–23 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDay & Time (local)VenueRefereeAttendance Adelaide Rams42 – 14 Oldham BearsFriday 20 June, 8:00pmAdelaide Oval, AdelaideGraham Annesley13,852 Sheffield Eagles4 – 40 Hunter MarinersFriday 20 June, 7:30pmDon Valley Stadium, SheffieldRussell Smith2,350 Bradford Bulls10 – 30 Cronulla SharksFriday 20 June, 7:30pmOdsal Stadium, BradfordStuart Cummings10,756 North Queensland Cowboys44 – 8 Salford RedsSaturday 21 June, 7:30pmStockland Stadium, TownsvilleBrian Grant15,508 Paris St-Germain24 – 0 Perth RedsSaturday 21 June, 7:00pmCharlety Stadium, ParisDavid Campbell3,500 Brisbane Broncos76 – 0 Halifax Blue SoxSunday 22 June, 2:30pmANZ Stadium, BrisbaneTim Mander11,358 Canberra Raiders56 – 22 Wigan WarriorsSunday 22 June, 2:30pmBruce Stadium, CanberraSteve Clark9,098 St Helens30 – 50 Penrith PanthersSunday 22 June, 6:35pmKnowsley Road, St HelensJohn Connolly6,671 Canterbury Bulldogs34 – 18 London BroncosMonday 23 June, 7:30pmBelmore Sports Ground, SydneyBill Harrigan7,272 Warrington Wolves28 – 56 Auckland WarriorsMonday 23 June, 7:45pmWilderspool Stadium, WarringtonSteve Presley4,428Byes: Castleford Tigers, Leeds RhinosReferences: RLP Round 4 July 18–21 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDay & Time (local)VenueRefereeAttendance Penrith Panthers48 – 12 Warrington WolvesFriday 18 July, 7:30pmPenrith Football Stadium, PenrithBrian Grant5,642 Oldham Bears20 – 16 North Queensland CowboysFriday 18 July, 7:30pmBoundary Park, OldhamRobert Connolly2,961 Leeds Rhinos22 – 14 Adelaide RamsFriday 18 July, 7:30pmHeadingley Rugby Stadium, LeedsRussell Smith11,269 Perth Reds48 – 12 Sheffield EaglesSaturday 19 July, 7:30pmWACA Ground, PerthSteve Clark7,429 Auckland Warriors76 – 0 Bradford BullsSunday 20 July, 2:30pmEricsson Stadium, AucklandBill Harrigan12,500 Hunter Mariners26 – 8 Castleford TigersSunday 20 July, 2:30pmTopper Stadium, NewcastleTim Mander3,379 Halifax Blue Sox22 – 40 Canterbury BulldogsSunday 20 July, 3:00pmThrum Hall, HalifaxSteve Presley3,300 Wigan Warriors4 – 30 Brisbane BroncosSunday 20 July, 6:35pmCentral Park, WiganStuart Cummings13,476 Cronulla Sharks28 – 12 St. HelensMonday 21 July, 7:30pmShark Park, SydneyGraham Annesley7,721 London Broncos38 – 18 Canberra RaidersMonday 21 July, 7:30pmThe Stoop, LondonJohn Connolly7,819Byes: Paris St-Germain, Salford RedsReferences: RLP

Round 5 July 25–28 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDay & Time (local)VenueRefereeAttendance Auckland Warriors70 – 6 St. HelensFriday 25 July, 7:30pmEricsson Stadium, AucklandSteve Clark18,354 Oldham Bears2 – 18 Adelaide RamsFriday 25 July, 7:30pmBoundary Park, OldhamJohn Connolly3,315 Cronulla Sharks44 – 0 Warrington WolvesSaturday 26 July, 7:30pmShark Park, SydneyTim Mander6,112 Hunter Mariners32 – 0 Paris St-GermainSunday 27 July, 2:30pmTopper Stadium, NewcastleGraham Annesley2,210 Perth Reds24 – 14 Castleford TigersSunday 27 July, 2:30pmWACA Ground, PerthBrian Grant12,500 Halifax Blue Sox12 – 42 Canberra RaidersSunday 27 July, 3:00pmThrum Hall, HalifaxRobert Connolly3,620 Salford City Reds14 – 24 North Queensland CowboysSunday 27 July, 3:00pmThe Willows, SalfordSteve Presley7,448 London Broncos16 – 34 Brisbane BroncosSunday 27 July, 6:35pmThe Stoop, LondonStuart Cummings9,846 Penrith Panthers54 – 14 Bradford BullsMonday 28 July, 7:30pmPenrith Football Stadium, PenrithBill Harrigan5,336 Wigan Warriors31 – 24 Canterbury BulldogsMonday 28 July, 7:45pmCentral Park, WiganRussell Smith10,280Byes: Leeds Rhinos, Sheffield EaglesReferences: RLP

Round 6 August 1–4 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDay & Time (local)VenueRefereeAttendance Perth Reds18 – 8 Paris St-GermainFriday 1 August, 6:30pmWACA Ground, PerthTim Mander5,690 London Broncos22 – 44 Canterbury BulldogsFriday 1 August, 7:30pmThe Stoop, LondonJohn Connolly6,923 Cronulla Sharks40 – 12 Bradford BullsSaturday 2 August, 7:30pmShark Park, SydneyBrian Grant8,272 Auckland Warriors16 – 4 Warrington WolvesSunday 3 August, 2:30pmLancaster Park, ChristchurchGraham Annesley5,500 Hunter Mariners58 – 12 Castleford TigersSunday 3 August, 2:30pmTopper Stadium, NewcastleSteve Clark1,965 Wigan Warriors12 – 50 Canberra RaidersSunday 3 August, 3:00pmCentral Park, WiganSteve Presley12,504 Salford City Reds14 – 12 Adelaide RamsSunday 3 August, 6:35pmThe Willows, SalfordStuart Cummings6,995 Leeds Rhinos14 – 48 North Queensland CowboysSunday 3 August, 8:00pmHeadingley Rugby Stadium, LeedsRussell Smith12,224 Penrith Panthers32 – 26 St. HelensMonday 4 August, 7:30pmPenrith Football Stadium, PenrithBill Harrigan5,303 Halifax Blue Sox10 – 54 Brisbane BroncosMonday 4 August, 7:45pmThrum Hall, HalifaxRobert Connolly3,255Byes: Castleford Tigers, Oldham BearsReferences: RLP

Playoffs Bracket

Elimination qualifier

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

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 260 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 for winning the competition, with the Mariners collecting which the club split 50-50 with the players.

Teams

FB 1Darren LockyerRW 18Michael De VereRC 13Darren SmithLC 4Steve RenoufLW 5Wendell SailorFE 6Kevin WaltersHB 7Allan Langer (c)PR 21Shane WebckeHK 9John PlathPR 23Andrew GeeSR 11Gorden TallisSR 10Brad ThornLK 12Peter RyanSubstitutions:IC 14Ben WalkerIC 2Michael HancockIC 15Tonie CarrollIC 33Phillip LeeCoach: Wayne Bennett FB 1Robbie RossRW 3Nick ZistiLC 6Brad GoddenRC 4Kevin IroLW 5John CarlawFE 21Scott HillHB 20Brett KimmorleyPR 31Anthony BrannHK 9Robbie McCormack (c)PR 14Troy StoneSR 16Darrien DohertySR 12Paul MarquetLK 55Tyran SmithSubstitutions:IC 2Keith BeauchampIC 10Tim MaddisonIC 11Tony IroIC 18Richard SwainCoach: Graham Murray

Match details

Aftermath