Newcastle Knights 28–20 Parramatta Eels — Minor Qualifying Final, 1997-arl NRL Finals Series
7 Sep 1997 · Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 17,849
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Minor Qualifying Final, 1997-arl NRL finals series: Newcastle Knights 28–20 Parramatta Eels, at Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW on 7 Sep 1997.
Sourcing caveat: Rugby League Project's own page explicitly notes additional Parramatta try scorers were not individually named in its scoresheet breakdown for this match. Confirmed named scorers total Newcastle 16 of 28 points (12 short, roughly 3 further tries) and Parramatta 8 of 20 points (12 short, roughly 3 further tries) — both recorded as unattributed rather than guessed.
Scorers
| Newcastle Knights | Tries: Adam MacDougall (2); Owen Craigie Goals: Andrew Johns (3/4); Bill Peden (0/1) |
| Parramatta Eels | Goals: Ian Herron (4/5) |
Team sheets
| Newcastle Knights | Parramatta Eels | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie O'Davis | Fullback | Paul Carige | 1 |
| 2 | Darren Albert | Wing | Ian Herron | 2 |
| 3 | Matthew Gidley | Centre | Karl Lovell | 3 |
| 4 | Owen Craigie | Centre | Nathan Barnes | 4 |
| 5 | Adam MacDougall | Wing | Eparama Navale | 5 |
| 6 | Matthew Johns | Five-Eighth | Jason Bell | 6 |
| 7 | Andrew Johns | Halfback | John Simon | 7 |
| 8 | Tony Butterfield | Prop | Dean Pay (c) | 8 |
| 9 | Brett Clements | Hooker | Aaron Raper | 9 |
| 10 | Paul Harragon (c) | Prop | Justin Morgan | 10 |
| 11 | Bill Peden | Second Row | Jason Smith | 11 |
| 12 | Adam Muir | Second Row | Jarrod McCracken | 12 |
| 13 | Marc Glanville | Lock | Jim Dymock | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Wayne Richards | Troy Campbell | 14 | |
| 15 | Troy Fletcher | Brett Horsnell | 15 | |
| 16 | Brett Grogan | Russell Wyer | 16 | |
| 17 | Mark Hughes | Darren Pettet | 17 | |
| Malcolm Reilly | Coach | Brian Smith | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Paul McBlane |