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Hunter Mariners
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| 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, March 22, 1997 |
| Worst defeat | 0 - 26 vs. Cronulla, April 26, 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 new rebel competition. The team contained many former Knights juniors such as Brett Kimmorley. Michael Hagan, who was to become the Knight's future 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 World Club Challenge campaign. The Mariners made it to the final against the Brisbane Broncos. After putting in a strong performance, the Hunter side went down 36-12.
The Mariners, along with the Western Reds were disbanded with the formation of the National Rugby League.