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. Brisbane defeated Cronulla 26–8 to win their third premiership. Auckland had teams in both the Reserve grade and two age-group Grand Finals but lost all three. The winners in all grades were: 1st/Seniors Grade: Brisbane defeated Cronulla 2nd/Reserve Grade: Canterbury defeated Auckland 3rd/Under-19s Grade: Penrith defeated Auckland 4th/Under-17s Grade: Brisbane defeated Auckland
Tri-series The Super League Tri-series was contested by New South Wales, New Zealand and Queensland. Each team played the others once, with the best two teams playing a final. New South Wales defeated Queensland 23–22 in the final at
ANZ Stadium International matches In 1997 the Super League Australia team played two games against
New Zealand, winning the inaugural
ANZAC Test and losing the return match. At the end of the season Australia also played a
three-Test series against
Great Britain in the
British Gas Test series. Australia won the series by two games to one. Although these matches are considered to be Tests by the
New Zealand Rugby League and the English
Rugby Football League, they are not recognised by the
Australian Rugby League. As News had signed up most rugby league organisations outside of Australia, the ARL was starved of international competition. They had intended playing a team of New Zealand players signed with ARL clubs but the
New Zealand Rugby League took out an injunction in the Federal Court preventing the ARL from using the terms "Test", "Representative Team", "New Zealand" or "All Golds". The ARL instead played Tests against rebel teams from Papua New Guinea and Fiji, as well as playing a Test against a Rest of the World team in July 1997. The
Oceania Cup was run by Super League in place of the
Pacific Cup. It was contested by the
Cook Islands,
Fiji,
Tonga,
New Zealand Māori,
New Zealand XIII and
Papua New Guinea. New Zealand XIII defeated New Zealand Maori 20–15 in the final.
World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge, which had been contested occasionally since 1975, was expanded in 1997 to include all ten Australian Super League clubs competing against all twelve European clubs. The European teams were outclassed, winning only 8 of 83 matches, and suffering many heavy defeats. The competition was unpopular in Australia, and it lost $6,000,000 due to small crowds and heavy travel expenses. The
Brisbane Broncos won the final defeating the
Hunter Mariners 36–12 at
Ericsson Stadium,
Auckland.
Super League Challenge Cup The Super League Challenge Cup competition was played between the
Australian Capital Territory,
Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. The Australian Capital Territory won the competition, defeating the Northern Territory 40–14 at
ANZ Stadium Brisbane on 19 May 1997.
World Nines In 1996 and 1997 the Super League World Nines competition was held. In 1997 the tournament was known as the
Gatorade Super League World Nines due to sponsorship.
Nines rugby league is a faster form of the game with only nine players per side and playing in shorter halves. The World Nines competition were held as an alternative to the ARL's
World Sevens. The 1996 World Nines were held in
Suva, Fiji from 22 to 24 February. The winner of this competition was
New Zealand. The 1996 World Nines marked the first time that a video referee was used for a game of rugby league. The 1997 World Nines were held in
Townsville, Queensland from 31 January to 2 February. New Zealand won this competition for the second year in a row. ==Legacy==