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.

1997 Divisional Premiership Trophy
Structure	National knockout championship
Teams	20
Winners	Huddersfield Giants
Runners-up	Hull Sharks

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
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

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;

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
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

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;

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
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

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;

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
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

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;

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

See also

• 1997 RFL Division One
• 1997 RFL Division Two

References

• Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1998). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1998. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7472-7683-8.