Hunter Mariners
| Full name | Hunter Mariners |
|---|---|
| Colours | Blue and gold |
| Entered 1st grade | 1997 |
| Departed 1st grade | 1997 |
| Sport | Rugby league |
| League | Super League |
| 1997 | 6th of 10 |
| Premierships | Nil |
| Runners-up | Nil |
| Minor premiers | Nil |
| Wooden spoons | Nil |
| Biggest win | 38 - 10 vs. North Queensland, 22 March 1997 |
| Worst defeat | 0 - 26 vs. Cronulla, 26 April 1997 |
The Hunter Mariners were a rugby league team based in The Hunter Valley region's largest city, Newcastle. They participated in the single Australasian Super League season in 1997.
The Hunter Mariners were formed after Super League failed to get the Newcastle Knights to switch from the Australian Rugby League to the rebel competition. The new team contained many former Knights juniors such as Brett Kimmorley. Michael Hagan, who would later become the Knight's coach, was the Mariners' public relations manager. Some other famous players who played for the Mariners are Scott Hill and Richard Swain. They were coached by Graham Murray.
The club played its home games at Topper Stadium (also known as Breakers Stadium) to only moderate attendances, the highlight of which was a defeat of eventual premiers, the Brisbane Broncos - one of 7 wins from 18 matches.
In their sole season they remained overshadowed by the rival Australian Rugby League's Newcastle Knights who won the premiership in their respective competition.
More successful was the 1997 World Club Challenge campaign. The Mariners made it to the final against the Brisbane Broncos. But after putting in a strong performance, the Hunter side went down 36-12.
On 31 December 1997, the Hunter Mariners were disbanded after merger talks with Gold Coast broke down.
Approximately six members of the team went on to form the foundation side of the Melbourne Storm, who had a very successful debut season.
External link
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
