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1997 Queensland Cup

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1997 Queensland Cup
DurationMarch 29 – September 6, 1997
Teams14
Premiers Redcliffe Dolphins (1st title)
Minor premiers Wynnum Seagulls (1st title)
Matches played135
Points scored5,945
Top points scorer(s) Tony Devlin (183)
Player of the year Alan Wieland
Top try-scorer(s) Jabin Picker (25)
← 1996
1998 →

The 1997 Queensland Cup season was the 2nd season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition.

The competition, then known as the Channel Nine Queensland Cup for sponsorship purposes, was contested by fourteen teams over a 23-week-long season (including finals) which was eventually won by the Redcliffe Dolphins, who defeated the Easts Tigers 18–16 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium.

Teams

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The number of teams in the Queensland Cup was reduced from 16 to 14 teams in 1997. The Burleigh Bears joined the competition, becoming the first Gold Coast-based side, while the Bundaberg Grizzlies, Mackay Sea Eagles and Sunshine Coast Falcons all withdrew.

Colours Club Home ground(s)
Burleigh Bears Pizzey Park
Cairns Cyclones Barlow Park
Central Capras Browne Park
Easts Tigers Langlands Park
Ipswich Jets North Ipswich Reserve
Logan City Scorpions Meakin Park
Norths Devils Bishop Park
Pine Rivers Brothers Bray Park
Port Moresby Vipers Lloyd Robson Oval
Redcliffe Dolphins Dolphin Oval
Souths Magpies Davies Park
Toowoomba Clydesdales Athletic Oval
Wests Panthers Purtell Park
Wynnum Seagulls Kougari Oval

Ladder

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1997 Queensland Cup
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Wynnum Seagulls 18 14 1 3 498 235 +263 29
2 Redcliffe Dolphins (P) 18 14 0 4 573 271 +302 28
3 Easts Tigers 18 13 1 4 521 328 +192 27
4 Burleigh Bears 18 13 1 4 427 347 +80 27
5 Wests Panthers 18 12 2 4 468 271 +197 26
6 Central Capras 18 10 2 6 455 398 +57 22
7 Norths Devils 18 9 0 9 460 346 +114 18
8 Port Moresby Vipers 18 9 0 9 433 518 -85 18
9 Cairns Cyclones 18 7 1 10 318 352 -34 15
10 Toowoomba Clydesdales 18 6 1 11 312 354 -42 13
11 Souths Magpies 18 6 1 11 315 424 −109 13
12 Pine Rivers Brothers 18 6 0 12 391 524 -133 12
13 Ipswich Jets 18 1 1 16 276 657 −381 3
14 Logan City Scorpions 18 0 1 17 226 648 −422 1

Finals series

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Home Score Away Match Information
Date Venue
Week 1 Semi-finals
Wests Panthers 38 – 10 Central Capras 9 August 1997 Purtell Park
Easts Tigers 14 – 8 Burleigh Bears 9 August 1997 Langlands Park
Wynnum Seagulls 12 – 17 Redcliffe Dolphins 11 August 1997 Kougari Oval
Week 2 Semi-finals
Burleigh Bears 8 – 14 Wests Panthers 16 August 1997 Pizzey Park
Wynnum Seagulls 8 – 14 Easts Tigers 16 August 1997 Kougari Oval
Week 3 Semi-finals
Wynnum Seagulls 6 – 12 Wests Panthers 23 August 1997 Purtell Park
Redcliffe Dolphins 18 – 14 Easts Tigers 24 August 1997 Dolphin Oval
Preliminary Final
Easts Tigers 22 – 14 Wests Panthers 30 August 1997 Langlands Park
Grand Final
Redcliffe Dolphins 18 – 16 Easts Tigers 6 September 1997 Suncorp Stadium

Grand Final

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Saturday, 6 September
Redcliffe Dolphins 18 – 16 Easts Tigers
Tries:
James Hinchey 2
Anthony Singleton 1
Goals:
Anthony Singleton 3 		1st: 6 - 12
2nd: 12 - 4
 Tries:
1 Rob Braun
1 Dale Williams
1 Leon Yeatman
Goals:
2 Scott Sipple
Suncorp Stadium
Referee: Stuart Berndt
Redcliffe Dolphins Position Easts Tigers
Adam Mogg FB Leon Yeatman
Cameron Hurren WG Rob Braun
Bevan Canning CE Chris Beattie
George Wilson CE Travis Baker
Aaron Douglas WG Peter Turner
Anthony Singleton FE Scott Sipple
Peter Robinson (c) HB Brett McPherson
Grant Cleal PR Graham Cotter
Richard Ackerman HK Dale Williams
Troy Lindsay PR Scott Neilson
Ian Graham SR Doug Evans
James Hinchey SR Mark Sessarago (c)
Tony Gould LK Jeff Wakefield
Russell Lahiff Bench Phil Lockwood
Chris Essex Bench Steve Mills
Wayne Miller Bench Jamie Day
Selwyn Toby Bench Aaron Smith
John Boxsell Coach Gavin Payne

Redcliffe, who finished the season in 2nd place, qualified for their second straight Grand Final after going undefeated in the finals series. Easts, who finished 3rd, were defeated by Redcliffe in Week 3 of the finals and later qualified for the Grand Final after defeating Wests in the preliminary final. The two sides had first met in Round 13 of the regular season, with Easts running out 30-6 winners.

First half

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Easts opened the scoring through fullback Leon Yeatman, who broke a number of tackles on a 20-metre run to the try line. The Tigers would soon extend their lead through hooker Dale Williams, who dummied and broke a tackle to score. Following the try, Williams and Dolphins' hooker Richard Ackerman were both sent to the sin bin. Redcliffe got on the board just before the break, after five-eighth Anthony Singleton crossed easily from dummy half.

Second half

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After the intermission, an early Easts' try to winger Rob Braun extended the Tigers' lead to 10 points. With 14 minutes left to play, the Dolphins finally cracked the Tigers' defence, with second rower James Hinchey scoring out wide. With less than a minute to play and on the last tackle of the set, the Dolphins' spread it wide again to Hinchey, who scored his second try of the game and levelled the scores. After the siren had sounded, Singleton converted the try from close to the sideline to give Redcliffe their first Queensland Cup premiership.[1]

Player statistics

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End-of-season awards

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Brisbane Rugby League

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The Queensland Rugby League also decided to continue the tradition of crowning a Brisbane club premier as was tradition since 1922. The competition, which was run as a second-tier title, started with the Brisbane teams who missed the finals, with the finalists filtering in upon their elimination from the Queensland Cup finals. This was the last year a BRL Champion was crowned, after 76 seasons of football.

Home Score Away Match Information
Date Venue
Week 1 Qualifying Finals
Souths Magpies 31 – 10 Pine Rivers Brothers
Week 2 Qualifying Finals
Norths Devils 20 – 10 Souths Magpies
Minor Semi Final
Norths Devils 16 – 10 Wynnum Seagulls
Major Semi Final
Norths Devils (score unknown) Wests Panthers
Preliminary Final
Easts Tigers 22 – 16 Norths Devils
Grand Final
Redcliffe Dolphins 35 – 6 Easts Tigers Suncorp Stadium

Source:[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Set of Six: Best Queensland Cup grand final comebacks".
  2. ^ "Rugby League – Welcome to Roger's Website". Retrieved 15 August 2023.
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