1998 Adelaide Rams season

The 1998 Adelaide Rams season was the Adelaide Rams' second and final season as a rugby league club. They competed in the first season of the National Rugby League.

1998 Adelaide Rams season
Team information
CoachRod Reddy
Dean Lance
Captain
StadiumAdelaide Oval
Hindmarsh Stadium
< 1997

The club was again coached by Rod Reddy and captained by Kerrod Walters. However, after the Rams lost nine of their first ten games, coach Reddy and the entire coaching staff were sacked by the Rams' administration. Reddy was replaced by former Perth Reds coach Dean Lance.

Results

In June after numerous financial disagreements with the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) who at the time owned the Adelaide Oval, the club changed home grounds to the smaller, 16,000 capacity Hindmarsh Stadium, a soccer specific venue which was better suited to a rugby league field than the Adelaide Oval was. The Rams celebrated the move with a record 52–0 win over the Balmain Tigers.[1]

The club went on to win six of their last fourteen games after the arrival of Dean Lance's, enough to avoid the wooden spoon awarded to the team finishing lowest on the competition ladder. Their overall results were comparable to those of their first season, coming fourth last in the 20–team competition. Appo broke several team records in his 14 games with the Rams.

The Adelaide Rams last home game in the penultimate round of the season saw a 36–0 thrashing at the hands of the finals bound North Sydney Bears in front of 7,035 fans on 15 August 1998.[2]

Throughout the 1998 season, the Rams attempted to build a stronger supporter base in order to avoid removal from the competition in 1999 or 2000. However, with the team's lack of on-field success, plus the success of other Adelaide-based sports teams who won national championships in 1997 and/or 1998 including the Adelaide Crows (AFL), Adelaide 36ers (NBL) and Adelaide Thunderbirds (netball), saw average home attendances dropped by more than half (51.3%) from the previous years 15,330 to just 7,472 over the course of the season.[3][4]

Adelaide Rams 1998 NRL season results[5]
RoundHomeScorelineAwayDateVenueCrowd
1 Adelaide Rams8 – 18 North Queensland Cowboys13 MarchAdelaide Oval11,289
2 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles22 – 6 Adelaide Rams22 MarchBrookvale Oval6,434
3 Adelaide Rams22 – 20 Canterbury Bulldogs27 MarchAdelaide Oval8,390
4 Penrith Panthers54 – 12 Adelaide Rams5 AprilPenrith Football Stadium6,637
5 Adelaide Rams8 – 16 Gold Coast Chargers9 AprilAdelaide Oval7,058
6 Sydney City Roosters50 – 12 Adelaide Rams17 AprilSydney Football Stadium6,200
7 Adelaide Rams12 – 22 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks25 AprilAdelaide Oval8,472
8 Canterbury Bulldogs30 – 4 Adelaide Rams3 MayBelmore Sports Ground5,041
9 Adelaide Rams18 – 24 Canberra Raiders8 MayAdelaide Oval6,500
10 Parramatta Eels18 – 2 Adelaide Rams16 MayPioneer Oval7,514
11 Adelaide Rams35 – 18 Penrith Panthers23 MayAdelaide Oval5,000
12 Western Suburbs Magpies36 – 24 Adelaide Rams31 MayCampbelltown Stadium6,392
13 Adelaide Rams22 – 20 St George Dragons6 JuneAdelaide Oval8,506
14 Melbourne Storm24 – 4 Adelaide Rams13 JuneOlympic Park8,293
15 Adelaide Rams4 – 39 Illawarra Steelers20 JuneBennett Oval5,153
16 Gold Coast Chargers12 – 40 Adelaide Rams27 JuneCarrara Stadium3,897
17 Adelaide Rams52 – 0 Balmain Tigers3 JulyHindmarsh Stadium7,351
18 South Sydney Rabbitohs18 – 34 Adelaide Rams12 JulySydney Football Stadium4,060
19 North Queensland Cowboys14 – 10 Adelaide Rams18 JulyDairy Farmers Stadium11,340
20 Adelaide Rams22 – 20 Auckland Warriors26 JulyHindmarsh Stadium7,445
21 Brisbane Broncos46 – 12 Adelaide Rams1 AugustANZ Stadium13,858
22 Adelaide Rams10 – 32 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles7 AugustHindmarsh Stadium7,459
23 Adelaide Rams0 – 36 North Sydney Bears15 AugustHindmarsh Stadium7,035
24 Newcastle Knights34 – 20 Adelaide Rams22 AugustMarathon Stadium17,281

Ladder

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Brisbane (P) 241815688310+37837
2 Newcastle 241815562381+18137
3 Melbourne 241716546372+17435
4 Parramatta 241716468349+11935
5 North Sydney 241707663367+29634
6 Sydney City 241608680383+29732
7 Canberra 241509564429+13530
8 St George 2413110486490-427
9 Canterbury 2413011489411+7826
10 Manly-Warringah 2413011503473+3026
11 Cronulla-Sutherland 2412111438387+5125
12 Illawarra 2411112476539-6323
13 Balmain 249114381463-8219
14 Penrith 248214525580-5518
15 Auckland 249015417518-10118
16 North Queensland 249015361556-19518
17 Adelaide Rams 247017393615-22214
18 South Sydney 245019339560-22110
19 Gold Coast 244020289654-3658
20 Western Suburbs 244020371802-4318

Ladder progression

  • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 10.
  • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
1 Brisbane Broncos 24681010121414141616161820222426282931333537
2 Newcastle Knights 24681010121214161820222424262729313131333537
3 Melbourne Storm 2468810121414161719212325252527272931333335
4 Parramatta Eels 24468881012141618202224242426282830323435
5 North Sydney Bears 02446881012121414161818202222242628303234
6 Sydney City Roosters 222468101214161616182020222424262626283032
7 Canberra Raiders 0022446810121214161618182020222426283030
8 St George Dragons 222468101214161820202222222224242626262627
9 Canterbury Bulldogs 2222246810101012121214141618181820222426
10 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 0222246666888810121414161820222426
11 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 0222446810101214141416181818192123232325
12 Illawarra Steelers 0222246688911131315171919191921212323
13 Balmain Tigers 2246810101010101212121416161618181919191919
14 Penrith Panthers 0224444668888888911121414141618
15 Auckland Warriors 002244444688101012141414161618181818
16 North Queensland Cowboys 2468810101010101012141414141616181818181818
17 Adelaide Rams 00222222224466681012121414141414
18 South Sydney Rabbitohs 222224444444444666688101010
19 Gold Coast Chargers 000022224444466668888888
20 Western Suburbs Magpies 002222222446688888888888

Players

The demise of three clubs from the Super League and ARL (Western Reds and Hunter Mariners (SL), and South Queensland Crushers (ARL)) saw some player re-shuffling, and brought Noel Goldthorpe, Tony Iro and Matt Daylight to the Adelaide club.[6]

No.NamePos.DebutAppTGFGPts
2Wayne SimondsWG1 March 1997102008
5Joe TamaniWG1 March 199772008
8Andrew HickPR1 March 19972130012
9Kerrod WaltersHK1 March 1997241004
10Marty McKenziePR1 March 1997141004
11Dave BoughtonSR1 March 199730000
12Brett GaleaSR1 March 199781004
15Chris QuinnFB/CE/FE1 March 1997172008
17Bruce MamandoSR1 March 199721004
18Rod MaybonFB9 March 199721004
19Andrew PiercePR/SR9 March 1997210011
20Dean SchifillitiFE/HB/LK9 March 19972160024
21Mark CorvoPR14 March 1997201004
22Luke WilliamsonCE/FE21 March 199717316044
23Alan CannPR/SR27 March 1997211004
24Danny GrimleyCE19 April 19971340016
26David KidwellCE17 August 1997142008
27Adam PeekPR/LK22 August 1997121004
28Peter ClarkeCE13 March 1998162008
29Noel GoldthorpeHB13 March 1998221106
30Tony IroSR13 March 1998201004
31Darrien DohertyPR/SR13 March 1998190000
32Matthew DaylightWG22 March 19982070028
33Craig KimmorleyHB27 March 199830306
34Meti NoovaoFE17 April 199810000
35Rod JensenWG25 April 19981780032
36Graham AppoFB/CE8 May 19981412340116
37Craig BowenFE8 May 199841004
38Deon BirdFB/FE23 May 19981406024
39Sam FaalafiPR6 June 199810000
40Alan WielandSR27 June 199871004
41Jamie McDonaldPR1 August 199820000

References

  1. "Newcastle stay top despite tie". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Australia: CNN/SI. Associated Press. 1998-07-05. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  2. 1998 Adelaide vs North Sydney at Rugby League Project
  3. Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-74110-075-5.
  4. "Rugby League Tables / Attendances / Adelaide". Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  5. "Rugby League Tables / All Games / Adelaide". Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  6. Fagan, Sean. "Rugby League History – RL1908.com – Adelaide Rams". RL1908. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
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