# 1997 Queensland Cup

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

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.
| 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

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

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | 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

* 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

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

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.

## End-of-season awards

* Courier Mail Medal: Alan Wieland ( Wests Panthers)
* Rookie of the Year: Jason Campbell ( Wests Panthers)

## Brisbane Rugby League

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 | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | 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: