# 1988 Panasonic Cup

The 1988 Panasonic Cup was the 15th edition of the NSWRL Midweek Cup, a NSWRL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRL, the BRL, the CRL and Papua New Guinea.
A total of 19 teams from across Australia and Papua New Guinea played 18 matches in a straight knock-out format, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.

## Qualified teams

| Team | Nickname | League | Qualification | Participation (bold indicates winners) |
| Enter in Round 1 |||||
| Manly-Warringah | Sea Eagles | NSWRL | Winners of the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Canberra | Raiders | NSWRL | Runners-up in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Eastern Suburbs | Roosters | NSWRL | Third Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| South Sydney | Rabbitohs | NSWRL | Fourth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Balmain | Tigers | NSWRL | Fifth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Bulldogs | NSWRL | Sixth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Parramatta | Eels | NSWRL | Seventh Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Sharks | NSWRL | Eighth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| St. George | Dragons | NSWRL | Ninth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| North Sydney | Bears | NSWRL | Tenth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Illawarra | Steelers | NSWRL | Eleventh Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Penrith | Panthers | NSWRL | Twelfth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Western Suburbs | Magpies | NSWRL | Thirteenth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 15th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Brisbane | Broncos | NSWRL | NSWRL Expansion Team | 1st |
| Gold Coast-Tweed | Giants | NSWRL | NSWRL Expansion Team | 1st |
| Enter in Preliminary round |||||
| Newcastle | Knights | NSWRL | NSWRL Expansion Team | 1st |
| Brisbane | Poinsettias | BRL | League Representative Team | 10th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| NSW Country | Kangaroos | CRL | Country League Representative Team | 10th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) |
| Port Moresby | Vipers | PNGRFL | League Representative Team | 3rd (Previous: 1986, 1987) |

## Venues

| Sydney | Sydney | Tamworth | Tweed Heads | Wagga Wagga | Brisbane | Newcastle | Goroka |
| Parramatta Stadium | Belmore Sports Ground | Scully Park | Chris Cunningham Field | Eric Weissel Oval | Lang Park | Newcastle International Sports Centre | Danny Leahy Oval |
| Capacity: 28,000 | Capacity: 28,000 | Capacity: 13,000 | Capacity: 13,500 | Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 45,000 | Capacity: 33,000 | Capacity: 10,000 |

## Preliminary round

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 22/03/88 | NSW Country (Carney, Wishart, Stammers, Campbell tries, Wishart 2, Mehmet, Elwin goals, Hastings field goal) | 25 | Port Moresby (PNG) | 0 | Danny Leahy Oval |
| 25/03/88 | Combined Brisbane (Neal, Holmes tries) | 8 | NSW Country | 0 | Lang Park |
| 30/03/88 | Newcastle (Kemp 2, Stewart, Butterfield, Fulmer tries, Tew 3 goals) | 26 | Combined Brisbane | 0 | Newcastle ISC | Tony Townsend - Newcastle |

## Round 1

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 17/02/88 | St George (Wynn, Johnston tries, Waite goal) | 10 | Parramatta (Charmers try, Garnon goal) | 6 | Belmore Sports Ground | Peter Gill - St George |
| 24/02/88 | Cronulla-Sutherland (Docking try, Watson 2 goals) | 8 | Canterbury-Bankstown (Campbell try, Lamb field goal) | 5 | Parramatta Stadium | Michael Porter - Cronulla-Sutherland |
| 28/02/88 | Eastern Suburbs (Bridge, Williams 2, Wurth, Dart, Spina, French tries, Melrose, Papworth goals) | 36 | Western Suburbs (Peacock, Howcroft tries, Tronc 2, Schubert, Rawlings goals) | 16 | Eric Weissel Oval | Gary Bridge - Eastern Suburbs |
| 2/03/88 | South Sydney (I.Roberts, Mavin, Ellison, Blake tries, Ellison 5, Djura goals, Ellison field goal) | 29 | Canberra (Coyne try, Belcher 3 goals) | 10 | Parramatta Stadium | Ian Roberts - South Sydney |
| 9/03/88 | North Sydney (Friend, Vincent tries, Dorahy 2 goals) | 12 | Gold Coast (Eden 3 goals) | 6 | Chris Cunningham Field | Clayton Friend - North Sydney |
| 16/03/88 | Balmain (Pobjie, Neil tries, Conlon 2 goals) | 12 | Illawarra (Upfield, Carney tries, Carney goal) | 10 | Parramatta Stadium | Paul Upfield - Illawarra |
| 6/04/88 | Penrith (Cartwright, Alexander, Izzard, McNeill tries, McNeill 4 goals) | 24 | Brisbane (Dowling, Hancock tries, Matterson goal) | 10 | Parramatta Stadium | Greg Alexander - Penrith |
| 13/04/88 | Newcastle (Miller, Hanrahan, Kemp tries, McKiernan 3 goals) | 18 | Manly-Warringah (Dwyer goal) | 2 | Parramatta Stadium | Brett Shore - Newcastle |

## Quarter finals

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 23/03/88 | South Sydney (O'Neill try, Ellison goal) | 6 | Cronulla-Sutherland (Wilson goal) | 2 | Parramatta Stadium | Adam O'Neill - South Sydney |
| 20/04/88 | St George (Robinson, Walford tries, Walford 3 goals) | 14 | Penrith (Gerard try, Baker 2 goals) | 8 | Parramatta Stadium | Steve Robinson - St George |
| 27/04/88 | Eastern Suburbs (McLean, Trewhella, Gillmeister tries, Smith 2 goals) | 16 | Newcastle (Kemp try, McKiernan goal) | 6 | Parramatta Stadium | David Trewhella - Eastern Suburbs |
| 27/04/88 | Balmain (Parish, Robinson, Conlon tries, Conlon goal) | 14 | North Sydney (Florimo try, Dorahy 3 goals) | 10 | Parramatta Stadium | Garry Jack - Balmain |

## Semi finals

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 4/05/88 | Balmain (Robinson, Parish, McGuire tries, Conlon 3 goals, Elias field goal) | 19 | South Sydney (Blake try) | 4 | Scully Park | Bruce McGuire - Balmain |
| 18/05/88 | St George (Selby, Wynn, Beattie tries, Walford 3 goals) | 18 | Eastern Suburbs (McGahan try, Smith 5 goals) | 14 | Parramatta Stadium | Brett Clark - St George |

## Final

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 25 May 1988 | St George (Robinson, Gordon, Walford tries, Walford 2 goals) | 16 | Balmain (Moss try, Conlon 2 goals) | 8 | Parramatta Stadium | Peter Gill - St George |

## Teams

St. George : 1. Clinton Mohr, 2. Bert Gordon, 3. Brian Johnston, 4. Michael Beattie, 5. Ricky Walford, 6. Steve Robinson, 7. Brett Clark, 8. Peter Gill, 9. Graeme Wynn, 10. Wally Fullerton-Smith, 11. Craig Young, 12. Trevor Bailey, 13. Paul Osborne Reserves 14. Darren Higgins, 15. Colin Fraser, 16. Geoff Selby, 17. Mark Blackburn. Coach: Ted Glossop.
Balmain : 1. Garry Jack, 2. Clint Robinson, 3. Russel Gartner, 4. Matt Parish, 5. John Davidson, 6. Ross Conlon, 7. Michael Neil, 8. Wayne Pearce, 9. David Brooks, 10. Paul Sironen, 11. Steve Roach, 12. Ben Elias, 13. Bruce McGuire Reserves 14. Michael Moss, 15. Peter Camroux, 16. Kevin Hardwick, 17. Steve Edmed. Coach: Warren Ryan.

### Player of the Series

* Peter Gill (St. George)

### Golden Try

* Sandy Campbell (Canterbury-Bankstown)

## Sources

* http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1988.htm