# 1997 Wigan Warriors season

The 1997 Wigan Warriors season was the 102nd season in the club's rugby league history and the second season in the Super League. Coached by Eric Hughes, the Warriors competed in Super League II and finished in 4th place, but went on to win the Premiership Final at Old Trafford against St. Helens. The club also competed in the 1997 Challenge Cup, and were knocked out in the fourth round by St Helens.

## Background

The inaugural Super League season in 1996 was a disappointing year for Wigan. Although they finished the year with a victory in the 1996 Premiership final, the club ended the league season as runners-up to rivals St Helens, the first time since 1989 that they had failed to win the league, and their nine-year unbeaten run in the Challenge Cup had come to an end. From the start of the 1997 season, the club became known as Wigan Warriors.
The club was struggling with financial problems, and was reportedly over £3 million in debt. Dave Whelan, owner of the town's football club Wigan Athletic, had offered to buy the rugby club's ground, Central Park, which would be redeveloped into an all-seater stadium and shared by both clubs. In January 1997, Wigan Warriors' shareholders voted in favour of accepting the offer, but two months later the board instead decided to sell the ground to Tesco, who had offered considerably more money than Whelan, and the club intended to share the newly built Reebok Stadium with Bolton Wanderers until it could build its own new stadium. The decision led to the departure of director John Martin, who had backed Whelan's proposal. The shareholders, unhappy that the club was being moved out of town, demanded the resignation of two of the club's board members, Jack Robinson and Tom Rathbone. Following months of continuous protests by shareholders and supporters, Robinson and Rathbone resigned in August, with Arthur Thomas taking over as chairman. Thomas resigned in October, and the club was taken over by Mike Nolan, a local businessman and former rugby league player with Rochdale Hornets and St Helens. The plan to move in with Bolton Wanderers was dropped, and the club announced they would share a proposed new stadium at Robin Park with Wigan Athletic as of the start of the 2000 season.
Prior to the start of the league season, The Independent wrote that Wigan's squad was "thin on genuine quality", and predicted that the team would finish third.

## Match results
### Challenge Cup

Wigan were drawn against St Helens in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup. Wigan lost 12–26 against their local rivals, with the result eventually leading to the departure of coach Graeme West a week later.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Fourth | 8 February 1997 | St Helens | Away | 12–26 | Radlinski | Farrell (4) | 12,262 |

### World Club Championship

Wigan were in Pool A for the 1997 World Club Championship.
Group stage
| Game | Date | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 1 | 9 June 1997 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Away | 22–18 | Robinson (2), Haughton, A. Johnson | Farrell (2), Paul | 10,680 |
| 2 | 16 June 1997 | Brisbane Broncos | Away | 0–34 | | | 14,833 |
| 3 | 22 June 1997 | Canberra Raiders | Away | 22–56 | Radlinski (2), Connolly, Hall | Farrell (3) | 9,098 |
| 4 | 20 July 1997 | Brisbane Broncos | Home | 4–30 | | Farrell (2) | 13,476 |
| 5 | 28 July 1997 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Home | 31–24 | Connolly, Cowie, Farrell, Radlinski, Robinson | Farrell (5, 1dg) | 10,280 |
| 6 | 3 August 1997 | Canberra Raiders | Home | 10–50 | Haughton | Farrell (3) | 12,504 |
Knockout stage
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Quarter-final | 3 October 1997 | Hunter Mariners | Home | 18–22 | Ellison (2), Radlinski | Farrell (3) | 9,553 |

## Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Bradford Bulls (C) | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 769 | 397 | +372 | 40 | |
| 2 | London Broncos | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 616 | 418 | +198 | 33 | |
| 3 | St Helens | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 592 | 506 | +86 | 29 | |
| 4 | Wigan | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 683 | 398 | +285 | 28 | |
| 5 | Leeds Rhinos | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 544 | 463 | +81 | 27 | |
| 6 | Salford Reds | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 428 | 495 | −67 | 22 | |
| 7 | Halifax Blue Sox | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 524 | 549 | −25 | 18 | |
| 8 | Sheffield Eagles | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 415 | 574 | −159 | 18 | |
| 9 | Warrington Wolves | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 437 | 647 | −210 | 16 | |
| 10 | Castleford Tigers | 22 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 334 | 515 | −181 | 12 | |
| 11 | Paris Saint-Germain | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 362 | 572 | −210 | 12 | |
| 12 | Oldham Bears (R) | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 461 | 631 | −170 | 9 | Relegated to Division One |

## Squad

Source:
Players marked * left the club during the season.
| No | Player | Apps | Tries | Goals | DGs | Points |
| 1 | Kris Radlinski | 33 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| 2 | Jason Robinson | 31 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
| 3 | Va'aiga Tuigamala * | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Gary Connolly | 28 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| 5 | Rob Smyth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Henry Paul | 27 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 36 |
| 7 | Shaun Edwards * | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Neil Cowie | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 9 | Mick Cassidy | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 10 | Terry O'Connor | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Simon Haughton | 31 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| 13 | Andy Farrell | 33 | 9 | 146 | 4 | 332 |
| 14 | Craig Murdock | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | Andy Johnson | 31 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 64 |
| 16 | Danny Ellison | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 17 | Stephen Holgate | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Stuart Lester | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Nigel Wright | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 21 | Daryl Cardiss | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 22 | Paul Johnson | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 23 | Ian Sherratt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Sean Long * | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Gaël Tallec | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 26 | Doc Murray | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Martin Hall | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 28 | Paul Koloi | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 29 | Lee Hansen | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Tony Smith | 23 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 64 |
| 31 | Ian Talbot | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 32 | Neil Baynes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Lee Gilmour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Jon Clarke | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

## Transfers

| Player | Pos | From | Fee | Date |
| Tony Smith | Scrum half | Castleford Tigers | £150,000 | March 1997 |
| Lee Hansen | Prop forward | Widnes Vikings | Exchange | April 1997 |
| Paul Koloi | Centre | Canterbury Cardinals | | May 1997 |
| Denis Betts | Second-row | Auckland Warriors | | May 1997 |
| Tony Mestrov | Prop forward | London Broncos | | November 1997 |
| Mark Bell | Winger | St. George Dragons | | November 1997 |
| Robbie McCormack | Hooker | Hunter Mariners | | November 1997 |
| Danny Moore | Centre | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | | December 1997 |
| Player | Pos | To | Fee | Date |
| Kelvin Skerrett | Prop forward | Halifax | Free | January 1997 |
| Va'aiga Tuigamala | Centre | Newcastle Falcons (RU) | £500,000 | February 1997 |
| Shaun Edwards | Scrum half | London Broncos | Undisclosed | March 1997 |
| Sean Long | Scrum half | Widnes Vikings | Exchange | April 1997 |
| Matthew Knowles | | Widnes Vikings | Exchange | April 1997 |