Hmmmmm....
The ignorance is strong in this thread. Are you guys aware that steroids (and many other pharmaceuticals) are a fact of life for professional sportsmen? Everyone takes them. Everyone. There hasn't been a 'clean' Olympic medalist for almost 60 years. SIXTY. Taking steroids is not "cheating" because every other player/competitor is taking them too. The only thing MacDougall et al did wrong was get caught. That doesn't happen now because the players/athletes are told when their test is going to be.
In 1997 the ARL was by far the stronger comp. I'll concede that styles make matches, and the Broncos would have beaten the Knights that day. But Manly? Manly were an awesome unit, from 1 to 17. They would have smashed Brisbane, put 30-40 points on them. And the Knights would have done the same to any other SL team.
I can't believe we still have these loonies debating the SL/ARL stuff. History has judged, SL folded after a season. Brisbane were the only team getting crowds or TV audiences.
All I can say is News Ltd were lucky the ARL were feeling generous, otherwise they would have gone the way of the Dodo.