# 1997 Rugby League Divisional Premiership

The 1997 Rugby League Divisional Premiership was the 11th and final end of season Rugby League Divisional Premiership competition and the second in the Super League era. Following this season, the competition was replaced by a play-off system which would be used to decide the second Division championship and promotion to the Super League.
The competition was completely restructured for the 1997 season. With the exception of the bottom two Division Two clubs, Doncaster Dragons and Prescot Panthers, it was expanded to include all Division One and Division Two clubs. A group stage was added, which consisted of four pools of five teams based on region, although some team were assigned to another pool to keep the group sizes even (Yorkshire-based Keighley Cougars were placed in the Lancashire pool, and Lancashire Lynx competed in the Cumbrian group). The top two teams in each group then progressed to the knockout stage of the competition.
The winners were Huddersfield Giants.

## Regional pools
### Cumbria

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Whitehaven Warriors | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 301 | 96 | +205 | 16 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 2 | Workington Town | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 162 | 187 | −25 | 10 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 3 | Carlisle Border Raiders | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 167 | 248 | −81 | 6 | |
| 4 | Barrow Braves | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 219 | 228 | −9 | 4 | |
| 5 | Lancashire Lynx | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 157 | 247 | −90 | 4 | |

### Lancashire

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Keighley Cougars | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 214 | 141 | +73 | 12 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 2 | Leigh Centurions | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 198 | 179 | +19 | 12 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 3 | Swinton Lions | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 218 | 156 | +62 | 10 | |
| 4 | Widnes Vikings | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 178 | 175 | +3 | 5 | |
| 5 | Rochdale Hornets | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 140 | 297 | −157 | 1 | |

### East Yorkshire

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hull | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 288 | 104 | +184 | 12 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 2 | Featherstone Rovers | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 228 | 153 | +75 | 10 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 3 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 188 | 130 | +58 | 10 | |
| 4 | Wakefield Trinity | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 134 | 198 | −64 | 6 | |
| 5 | York | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 92 | 345 | −253 | 2 | |

### West Yorkshire

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Huddersfield Giants | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 308 | 92 | +216 | 16 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 2 | Hunslet Hawks | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 174 | 173 | +1 | 10 | Qualification for knockout phase |
| 3 | Dewsbury Rams | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 179 | 131 | +48 | 8 | |
| 4 | Batley Bulldogs | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 150 | 196 | −46 | 4 | |
| 5 | Bramley | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 114 | 333 | −219 | 2 | |

## Quarter-finals

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 14 September 1997 | Huddersfield Giants | 37–12 | Featherstone Rovers |
| 14 September 1997 | Hull Sharks | 52–10 | Hunslet Hawks |
| 14 September 1997 | Leigh Centurions | 25–48 | Whitehaven Warriors |
| 14 September 1997 | Workington Town | 10–36 | Keighley Cougars |

## Semi-finals

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 21 September 1997 | Hull Sharks | 45–18 | Whitehaven |
| 21 September 1997 | Keighley Cougars | 8–18 | Huddersfield Giants |

## Final

* 28 September 1997
| Huddersfield Giants | 18 – 0 | Hull Sharks |
| Tries: Davys, Bunyan, Cheetham Goals: Cook (3) | Report | |
* Old Trafford, Manchester Referee: John Connolly (Wigan) Player of the Match: Craig Weston
| 1 | Phil Veivers (c) |
| 2 | Paul Cook |
| 3 | James Bunyan |
| 4 | Dean Hanger |
| 5 | Andy Cheetham |
| 6 | Craig Weston |
| 7 | Ali Davys |
| 8 | Neil Harmon |
| 9 | Danny Russell |
| 10 | Nick Fozzard |
| 11 | Tony Bowes |
| 12 | Dave King |
| 13 | Matt Sturm |
| Substitutions: |
| 14 | Steve Booth |
| 15 | Joe Berry |
| 16 | Paul Dixon |
| 17 | Basil Richards |
| Coach: |
| Steve Ferres |
| 1 | Steve Holmes |
| 2 | Graeme Hallas |
| 3 | Kevin Gray |
| 4 | Tevita Vaikona |
| 5 | Mark Johnson |
| 6 | Rob Nolan |
| 7 | Mark Hewitt |
| 8 | Richard Wilson |
| 9 | Mike Dixon |
| 10 | Andy Ireland |
| 11 | David Boyd (c) |
| 12 | Matt Schultz |
| 13 | Brad Hepi |
| Substitutions: |
| 14 | Rob Danby |
| 15 | Logan Campbell |
| 16 | Chico Jackson |
| 17 | Maea David |
| Coach: |
| Peter Walsh |