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.
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 Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville (30,122).
Adelaide Rams 1997 Super League season results[2]
| 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
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-Sutherland |
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][3]
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.
Pool B
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 teams top try scorers with 5 each.
| No. | Name | Pos. | Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Maguire, MichaelMichael Maguire | FB/WG | 1 March 1997 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Simonds, WayneWayne Simonds | WG | 1 March 1997 | 15† | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 3 | Kiri, SolomonSolomon Kiri | CE | 1 March 1997 | 13† | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 4 | Paiyo, EliasElias Paiyo | CE | 1 March 1997 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Tamani, JoeJoe Tamani | WG | 1 March 1997 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 6 | Wrigley, KurtKurt Wrigley | FE/CE | 1 March 1997 | 18† | 6 | 36 | 1 | 97 |
| 7 | Topper, StuartStuart Topper | HB | 1 March 1997 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Hick, AndrewAndrew Hick | PR | 1 March 1997 | 17† | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Walters, KerrodKerrod Walters | HK | 1 March 1997 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 10 | McKenzie, MartyMarty McKenzie | PR | 1 March 1997 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Boughton, DaveDave Boughton | SR | 1 March 1997 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 | Galea, BrettBrett Galea | SR | 1 March 1997 | 14† | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 | Blair, CameronCameron Blair | LK | 1 March 1997 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 14 | Campion, KevinKevin Campion | PR/SR | 1 March 1997 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 15 | Quinn, ChrisChris Quinn | CE/FB | 1 March 1997 | 19† | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 16 | Stone, SteveSteve Stone | HB | 1 March 1997 | 17† | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 17 | Mamando, BruceBruce Mamando | SR | 1 March 1997 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 18 | Maybon, RodRod Maybon | FB | 9 March 1997 | 16† | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 19 | Pierce, AndrewAndrew Pierce | SR | 9 March 1997 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 20 | Schifilliti, DeanDean Schifilliti | FE/HB | 9 March 1997 | 17† | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 21 | Corvo, MarkMark Corvo | PR | 14 March 1997 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Williamson, LukeLuke Williamson | CE/FE | 21 March 1997 | 15† | 5 | 49 | 0 | 118 |
| 23 | Cann, AlanAlan Cann | PR | 27 March 1997 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Grimley, DannyDanny Grimley | CE | 19 April 1997 | 8† | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 25 | Donnelly, JasonJason Donnelly | WG | 27 April 1997 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Kidwell, DavidDavid Kidwell | CE | 17 August 1997 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Peek, AdamAdam Peek | PR | 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
|
|---|
| | | | The club | |
|---|
| | Home grounds | |
|---|
| | League | |
|---|
| | Important figures | |
|---|
| | Seasons (2) | |
|---|
| Other
competitions | |
|---|
| | Affiliations | |
|---|
|
Penrith