# 1987 Brisbane Rugby League season

The 1987 Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the 77th season of Brisbane's professional rugby league football competition. Nine teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Redcliffe and Past Brothers clubs.

## Season summary

The format of the Winfield Cup was changed once again for the 1987 season, with games between Brisbane sides in the Winfield State League no longer granting competition points for the regular season. Instead, rounds 2 to 5 of the Woolies Pre-Season Competition were once again treated as first-grade games (Round 1, in which only 2 games were played, did not give competition points).
Teams played each other twice, with 18 rounds of competition played. It resulted in a top four of Past Brothers, Northern Suburbs, Redcliffe and Wynnum-Manly. The 1987 season is significant as most Rugby League historians view it as the final season of the BRL as a true top-tier competition, as the entry of the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Giants into the NSWRL Premiership in 1988 devastated the BRL by stripping it of mainstream media coverage and players.

### Teams

| Club | Home ground | Coach | Captain |
| Eastern Suburbs | Langlands Park | Shane McNally | Ian Stains |
| Ipswich | North Ipswich Reserve | Tommy Raudonikis | Glen Haggarth |
| Northern Suburbs | Bishop Park | Greg Oliphant | Darryl Duncan |
| Past Brothers | Corbett Park | Ross Strudwick | Trevor Bailey |
| Redcliffe | Dolphin Oval | Darryl Van de Velde | Bryan Niebling → Steve Bleakley |
| Seagulls-Diehards | Neumann Oval | Peter McWhirter | Steve Hegarty → Mark Hohn |
| Southern Suburbs | Davies Park | Graeme Atherton | Gary French |
| Western Suburbs | Purtell Park | Peter Foreman | Kevin Langer → Darren Gilbert |
| Wynnum-Manly | Kougari Oval | Wally Lewis | Wally Lewis |

### Pre-Season

The 1987 Woolies pre-season competition took place over 5 rounds, from February 22 to March 22. Four competition points were available in each match, with one point going to the side that scored the most points in each half and two points to the winning side. Winfield Cup competition points were also available for teams that won games in rounds 2 through 5 of the pre-season. The pre-season final was held on March 29, between Brothers and Norths, both teams that had won all of their pre-season matches. The Brethren were without captain Trevor Bailey, who would also miss the Winfield State League and two rounds of the regular season. Second-row forward Gary Smith captained Brothers in Bailey's absence, the side winning 18–4 after taking the lead in the 33rd minute.

#### Results

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | F1 | F2 |
| Eastern Suburbs Tigers | X | BRO -34 | SOU -12 | RED -28 | WST +2 | | |
| Ipswich Jets | BRO -2 | X | WST +22 | VAL +6 | NOR -6 | BRO -10 | |
| Northern Suburbs Devils | X | SOU +10 | RED +12 | WST +14 | IPW +6 | WYN +3 | BRO -14 |
| Past Brothers | IPW +2 | EST +34 | WYN +4 | X | VAL +14 | IPW +10 | NOR +14 |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | X | WST +3 | NOR -12 | EST +28 | WYN -24 | | |
| Seagulls-Diehards | SOU +14 | WYN -10 | X | IPW -6 | BRO -14 | | |
| Southern Suburbs Magpies | VAL -14 | NOR -10 | EST +12 | WYN -14 | X | | |
| Western Suburbs Panthers | X | RED -3 | IPW -22 | NOR -14 | EST -2 | | |
| Wynnum-Manly Seagulls | X | VAL +10 | BRO -4 | SOU +14 | RED +24 | NOR -3 | |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | F1 | F2 |

#### Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Northern Suburbs | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 108 | 66 | +42 | 16.5 |
| 2 | Past Brothers (P) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 52 | +54 | 16 |
| 3 | Wynnum-Manly | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 88 | 44 | +44 | 13 |
| 4 | Ipswich | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 70 | 50 | +20 | 10.5 |
| 5 | Redcliffe | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 78 | 83 | -5 | 10 |
| 6 | Seagulls-Diehards | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 66 | 82 | -16 | 8.5 |
| 7 | Eastern Suburbs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 46 | 118 | -72 | 6.5 |
| 8 | Southern Suburbs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 70 | 96 | -26 | 5.5 |
| 9 | Western Suburbs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 74 | -41 | 3.5 |

### Regular Season Results

| Team | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | F1 | F2 | GF |
| Eastern Suburbs Tigers | BRO -34 | SOU -12 | RED -28 | WST +2 | NOR -4 | IPW -16 | WYN -28 | X | VAL -52 | BRO -50 | SOU -40 | RED -30 | WST -2 | NOR -30 | IPW -22 | WYN -10 | X | VAL -2 | | | |
| Ipswich Jets | X | WST +22 | VAL +6 | NOR -6 | BRO -12 | EST +16 | SOU -4 | WYN -16 | RED +14 | X | WST +14 | VAL +2 | NOR -4 | BRO -28 | EST +22 | SOU +2 | WYN -16 | RED -2 | | | |
| Northern Suburbs Devils | SOU +10 | RED +12 | WST +14 | IPW +6 | EST +4 | WYN +12 | X | VAL +7 | BRO -8 | SOU 0 | RED -18 | WST +16 | IPW +4 | EST +30 | WYN +10 | X | VAL +2 | BRO -10 | BRO -9 | RED -8 | |
| Past Brothers | EST +34 | WYN +4 | X | VAL +14 | IPW +12 | SOU -4 | RED -22 | WST +36 | NOR +8 | EST +50 | WYN -4 | X | VAL +9 | IPW +28 | SOU +24 | RED +12 | WST +4 | NOR +10 | NOR +9 | X | RED +18 |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | WST +3 | NOR -12 | EST +28 | WYN -24 | X | VAL +12 | BRO +22 | SOU +13 | IPW -14 | WST +44 | NOR +18 | EST +30 | WYN -5 | X | VAL +3 | BRO -12 | SOU +36 | IPW +2 | WYN +23 | NOR +8 | BRO -18 |
| Seagulls-Diehards | WYN -10 | X | IPW -6 | BRO -14 | SOU +21 | RED -12 | WST +38 | NOR -7 | EST +52 | WYN +9 | X | IPW -2 | BRO -9 | SOU -6 | RED -3 | WST +16 | NOR -2 | EST +2 | | | |
| Southern Suburbs Magpies | NOR -10 | EST +12 | WYN -14 | X | VAL -21 | BRO +4 | IPW +4 | RED -13 | WST +34 | NOR 0 | EST +40 | WYN +5 | X | VAL +6 | BRO -24 | IPW -2 | RED -36 | WST +14 | | | |
| Western Suburbs Panthers | RED -3 | IPW -22 | NOR -14 | EST -2 | WYN -31 | X | VAL -38 | BRO -36 | SOU -34 | RED -44 | IPW -14 | NOR -16 | EST +2 | WYN -10 | X | VAL -16 | BRO -4 | SOU -14 | | | |
| Wynnum-Manly Seagulls | VAL +10 | BRO -4 | SOU +14 | RED +24 | WST +31 | NOR -12 | EST +28 | IPW +16 | X | VAL -9 | BRO +4 | SOU -5 | RED +5 | WST +10 | NOR -10 | EST +10 | IPW +16 | X | RED -23 | | |
| Team | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | F1 | F2 | GF |
* X - Bye
* Y - Team played a non-first grade State League match
* Opponent for round listed above margin

### Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Past Brothers (P) | 16 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 442 | 227 | +215 | 30 |
| 2 | Northern Suburbs | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 340 | 249 | +91 | 29 |
| 3 | Redcliffe | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 404 | 262 | +142 | 26 |
| 4 | Wynnum-Manly | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 354 | 226 | +128 | 26 |
| 5 | Southern Suburbs | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 311 | 310 | +1 | 21 |
| 6 | Ipswich | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 325 | 315 | +10 | 20 |
| 7 | Seagulls-Diehards | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 373 | 304 | +69 | 16 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 16 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 164 | 462 | -298 | 6 |
| 9 | Eastern Suburbs | 16 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 185 | 543 | -358 | 6 |
Source:

### Woolies Trophy

The 1987 Woolies Trophy match was held on August 2, as part of round 15 of the regular season. The Trophy was contested by Northern Suburbs and Wynnum-Manly, the teams that led the competition after the end of round 9.

#### Match details

* 2 August 1987
| Northern Suburbs | 22 – 12 | Wynnum-Manly Seagulls |
| Tries: 3 C Grauf 2' M Booth 12' G Dowling 64' Goals: 5 G Harvey 2', 27', 43', 47', 64' | 1st: 12 – 12 2nd: 10 – 0 | Tries: 1 C Scott 15' Goals: 4 B Samuelson 8', 15', 24', 33' |
* Lang Park, Brisbane Referee: Eddie Ward

## Finals

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd |
| Semi-finals |||||||
| Redcliffe | 30-7 | Wynnum-Manly | 30 August 1987 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | 9,800 |
| Past Brothers | 25-16 | Northern Suburbs | 6 September 1987 | Lang Park | Ian Irwin | 7,500 |
| Preliminary Final |||||||
| Redcliffe | 24-16 | Northern Suburbs | 13 September 1987 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | 7,612 |
| Grand Final |||||||
| Past Brothers | 26-8 | Redcliffe | 20 September 1987 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | 25,000 |

## Grand Final

* 20 September 1987
| Past Brothers | 26 – 8 | Redcliffe |
| Tries: 5 T Bailey 13' J Kilroy 31' M Coyne 39' T Rea 47' C Mohr 74' Goals: 3/5 T Rea 39', 47', 74' | 1st: 14 – 0 2nd: 12 – 8 | Tries: 1 J Sandy 71' Goals: 2/3 B Keogh 43', 71' (2/2) T Benson (0/1) |
* Lang Park, Brisbane Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Eddie Ward
| Brothers | Position | Redcliffe |
| Clinton Mohr | FB | Greg Donnelly |
| 2. Joe Kilroy | WG | 2. Shane Knuth |
| 3. Robert Grogan | CE | 3. Rohan Teevan |
| 4. Jeff Burns | CE | 4. Steve Cherry |
| 5. Mark Coyne | WG | 5. Robin Thorne |
| 6. Peter Gill | FE | 6. Trevor Benson |
| 7. Greg Smith | HB | 7. Jamie Sandy |
| 8. Brett Le Man | LK | 8. Steve Bleakley (c) |
| 9. Tony Rea | SR | 9. Bob Keogh |
| 10. Gary Smith | SR | 10. Ashhley Tupea |
| 11. Steve Carter | PR | 11. Brian Niebling |
| 12. Trevor Bailey (c) | HK | 12. Greg Conescu |
| 13. Jim Stafford | PR | 13. Dave Brown |
| | Reserve | |
| | Reserve | |
| Ross Strudwick | Coach | Darryl Van De Velde |

## Winfield State League

The 1987 Winfield State League was the inaugural season of the Queensland Rugby League's statewide competition. A total of 14 teams competed in the season, 8 of which were BRL Premiership clubs. The remaining six were regional teams from across the state, hence the State League name. Wynnum Manly, Redcliffe, Brisbane Brothers and Toowoomba were the semi-finalists. Toowoomba were only the second non-Brisbane side to make the state league finals, but lost by 22 points to Wynnum-Manly in the semi-finals. The Seagulls faced Redcliffe in the State League Final for the second year in a row, winning 36–14.