   super league was an australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in australia and new zealand for one season in 1997. along with super league of europe, it was created by news corporation during the super league war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the pay television rights to rugby league in australia. after two years of legal battles the competition was played for a single season in 1997 alongside the rival australian rugby league (arl) competition before the two merged in 1998 to form the national rugby league (nrl). ==history==   ==teams==  ten clubs competed in domestic competition; eight which had previously competed in the australian rugby league, and two new teams. the teams were: *adelaide rams *auckland warriors *brisbane broncos *canberra raiders *canterbury bulldogs *cronulla-sutherland sharks *hunter mariners *north queensland cowboys *penrith panthers *western reds ==super league competitions== ===telstra cup===  the telstra cup was a ten team competition held over 18 rounds. the season was dominated by the minor premiers, the brisbane broncos, who won 14 of their 18 matches, losing only to the penrith panthers, the hunter mariners and eventual runners-up, the cronulla sharks. the grand final was played at brisbane's anz stadium in front of 58,912 people, the ground record for that venue. the broncos defeated the sharks 26â8 to win their third premiership. the auckland warriors had teams in both the reserve grade and two age-group grand finals but lost all three. the winners in all grades were: * first grade: brisbane broncos * reserve grade: canterbury bulldogs * under-19s: penrith panthers * under-17s: brisbane broncos ===tri-series===  the super league tri-series was contested by new south wales, new zealand and queensla
National_Rugby_League News_Corporation_subsidiaries Rugby_league_governing_bodies_in_Australia Super_League