# 1997 Adelaide Rams season

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.

## 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.
This game was the first to be played of the new Super League competition.
* Saturday, 1 March 1997
| North Queensland Cowboys | 24 – 16 | Adelaide Rams |
| Tries: Steve Walters (2) Luke Phillips Tyran Smith Goals: Luke Phillips (4/5) | | Tries: Brett Galea Kerrod Walters Goals: Kurt Wrigley (4/4) |
* Stockland Stadium, Townsville Attendance: 17,738 Referee: Brian Grant
| North Queensland | Adelaide Rams |
| FB | 22 | Scott Mahon |
| RW | 28 | Luke Phillips |
| RC | 30 | Ben Tabuai |
| LC | 1 | Kyle Warren |
| LW | 34 | Ray Mercy |
| FE | 6 | Andrew Dunemann |
| HB | 7 | Jason Ferris |
| PR | 8 | John Lomax |
| HK | 49 | Steve Walters |
| PR | 10 | Martin Locke |
| SR | 11 | Tyran Smith |
| SR | 31 | Ian Roberts (c) |
| LK | 13 | Owen Cunningham |
| Substitutions: ||
| IC | 9 | Jason Death |
| IC | 21 | Peter Jones |
| IC | 16 | Ian Dunemann |
| IC | 17 | Dion Cope |
| Coach: ||
| Tim Sheens ||
| FB | 3 | Michael Maguire |
| RW | 22 | Wayne Simonds |
| RC | 25 | Solomon Kiri |
| LC | – | Elias Paiyo |
| LW | 44 | Joe Tamani |
| FE | 33 | Kurt Wrigley |
| HB | 7 | Stuart Topper |
| PR | 11 | Andrew Hick |
| HK | 27 | Kerrod Walters (c) |
| PR | – | Marty McKenzie |
| SR | 13 | Dave Boughton |
| SR | 12 | Brett Galea |
| LF | 10 | Cameron Blair |
| Substitutions: ||
| IC | 36 | Kevin Campion |
| IC | 6 | Chris Quinn |
| IC | 9 | Steve Stone |
| IC | – | Bruce Mamando |
| Coach: ||
| Rod Reddy ||

## 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.
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 Stockland Stadium in Townsville (30,122). The Rams average home attendance of 15,330 was also the 4th best in the league behind Brisbane (19,298), North Queensland (17,539) and Auckland (15,442).
Adelaide Rams 1997 Super League season results :
| 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

| 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 |

### 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.
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.
Adelaide Rams 1997 World Club Championship results :
| Round | Home | Scoreline | Away | Date | Venue | Crowd |
| 1 | Adelaide Rams | 50 - 16 | Salford City Reds | 8 June | Adelaide Oval | 11,009 |
| 2 | Adelaide Rams | 34 - 8 | Leeds Rhinos | 13 June | Adelaide Oval | 14,360 |
| 3 | Adelaide Rams | 42 - 14 | Oldham Bears | 20 June | Adelaide Oval | 13,852 |
| 4 | Leeds Rhinos | 22 - 14 | Adelaide Rams | 18 July | Headingley | 11,269 |
| 5 | Oldham Bears | 2 - 18 | Adelaide Rams | 25 July | Boundary Park | 3,513 |
| 6 | Salford City Reds | 14 - 12 | Adelaide Rams | 6 April | The Willows | 6,995 |

#### Pool B

| Club | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Diff. | Points |
| Hunter Mariners | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 226 | 50 | 176 | 12 |
| North Queensland Cowboys | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 228 | 92 | 136 | 10 |
| Adelaide Rams | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 170 | 68 | 102 | 8 |
| Perth Reds | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 148 | 104 | 44 | 8 |

## 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 team's top try scorers with 5 each.
Under Super League's rules, players were free to choose their own numbers which they would use throughout the season rather than wearing the traditional 1 through 13.
| Player No. | Name | Pos. | Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 3 | Michael Maguire | Fullback, Wing | 1 March 1997 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 22 | Wayne Simonds | Wing | 1 March 1997 | 15† | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 25 | Solomon Kiri | Centre | 1 March 1997 | 13† | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| – | Elias Paiyo | Centre | 1 March 1997 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Joe Tamani | Wing | 1 March 1997 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 33 | Kurt Wrigley | Five-eighth, Centre | 1 March 1997 | 18† | 6 | 36 | 1 | 97 |
| – | Stuart Topper | Halfback | 1 March 1997 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Andrew Hick | Prop, Second-row | 1 March 1997 | 17† | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 49 | Kerrod Walters (c) | Hooker | 1 March 1997 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| – | Marty McKenzie | Prop | 1 March 1997 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 | Dave Boughton | Second-row, Lock | 1 March 1997 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 | Brett Galea | Second-row | 1 March 1997 | 14† | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | Cameron Blair | Second-row, Lock | 1 March 1997 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 36 | Kevin Campion | Prop, Second-row, Lock | 1 March 1997 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Chris Quinn | Centre, Fullback | 1 March 1997 | 19† | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 9 | Steve Stone | Halfback, Hooker | 1 March 1997 | 17† | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| – | Bruce Mamando | Prop, Second-row | 1 March 1997 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 1 | Rod Maybon | Fullback | 9 March 1997 | 16† | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 50 | Andrew Pierce | Second-row, Lock | 9 March 1997 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 21 | Dean Schifilliti | Hooker, Five-eighth, Halfback | 9 March 1997 | 17† | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 30 | Mark Corvo | Prop | 14 March 1997 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Luke Williamson | Centre, Five-eighth | 21 March 1997 | 15† | 5 | 49 | 0 | 118 |
| 8 | Alan Cann | Prop | 27 March 1997 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Danny Grimley | Centre | 19 April 1997 | 8† | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | Jason Donnelly | Wing | 27 April 1997 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | David Kidwell | Centre | 17 August 1997 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Adam Peek | Prop | 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.