# 1997 Canberra Raiders season

The 1997 Canberra Raiders season was the 16th in the club's history. They competed in the Super League's Telstra Cup and World Club Championship. Coached by Mal Meninga and captained by Ricky Stuart, the Raiders finished third in the Telstra Cup regular season, and were eliminated in the Preliminary Final. The club did not make the finals of the World Club Championship, despite winning five of their six matches.

## Telstra Cup

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Brisbane (P) | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 481 | 283 | +198 | 29 |
| 2 | Cronulla | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 403 | 230 | +173 | 24 |
| 3 | Canberra | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 436 | 337 | +99 | 22 |
| 4 | Canterbury | 18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 453 | 447 | +6 | 20 |
| 5 | Penrith | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 431 | 462 | -31 | 18 |
| 6 | Hunter | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 350 | 363 | -13 | 14 |
| 7 | Auckland | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 332 | 406 | -74 | 14 |
| 8 | Perth | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 321 | 456 | -135 | 14 |
| 9 | Adelaide | 18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 303 | 402 | -99 | 13 |
| 10 | North Queensland | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 328 | 452 | -124 | 12 |
* (P) - Premiers

### 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 | 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 |

### Finals

| Qualifying/Elimination Final | Qualifying/Elimination Final | Qualifying/Elimination Final | Major/Minor Semi Final | Major/Minor Semi Final | Major/Minor Semi Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Brisbane | 34 | | | | Brisbane | 26 |
| | | | | Cronulla | 2 | | | | Cronulla | Cronulla | 8 |
| 2 | Cronulla | 22 | | | | Cronulla | Cronulla | 10 | | | |
| 3 | Canberra | 18 | | | | Canberra | Canberra | 4 | | | |
| | | | Canberra | Canberra | 32 | | | | | | |
| | | | Penrith | Penrith | 12 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Canterbury | 14 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Penrith | 15 | | | | | | | | | |

## World Club Championship

Pool A
| Club | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Diff. | Points |
| Brisbane Broncos | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 270 | 52 | 218 | 12 |
| Auckland Warriors | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 268 | 82 | 186 | 12 |
| Cronulla Sharks | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 230 | 54 | 176 | 12 |
| Penrith Panthers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 256 | 120 | 136 | 12 |
| Canberra Raiders | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 302 | 108 | 194 | 10 |
| Canterbury Bulldogs | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 218 | 121 | 97 | 8 |