# 1987 National Panasonic Cup

The 1987 National Panasonic Cup was the 14th edition of the NSWRL Midweek Cup, a NSWRL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs from the NSWRL, the BRL, the CRL, Papua New Guinea and State Representative Teams.
A total of 20 teams from across Australia and Papua New Guinea played 19 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 |||||
| Parramatta | Eels | NSWRL | Winners of the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Bulldogs | NSWRL | Runners-Up in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Balmain | Tigers | NSWRL | Third Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| South Sydney | Rabbitohs | NSWRL | Fourth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Manly-Warringah | Sea Eagles | NSWRL | Fifth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| North Sydney | Bears | NSWRL | Sixth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| St. George | Dragons | NSWRL | Seventh Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Penrith | Panthers | NSWRL | Eighth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Eastern Suburbs | Roosters | NSWRL | Ninth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Sharks | NSWRL | Tenth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Canberra | Raiders | NSWRL | Eleventh Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 6th (Previous: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Western Suburbs | Magpies | NSWRL | Twelfth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 14th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Illawarra | Steelers | NSWRL | Thirteenth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership | 6th (Previous: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Brisbane | Poinsettias | BRL | League Representative Team | 9th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| NSW Country | Kangaroos | CRL | Country League Representative Team | 9th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) |
| Enter in Preliminary round |||||
| Port Moresby | Vipers | PNGRFL | League Representative Team | 2nd (Previous: 1986) |
| Western Australia | Black Swans | WARL | State Representative Team | 4th (Previous: 1977, 1978, 1986) |
| Northern Territory | Bulls | NTRL | State Representative Team | 4th (Previous: 1976, 1977, 1978) |
| Victoria | Thunderbolts | VRL | State Representative Team | 1st |
| South Australia | Croweaters | SARL | State Representative Team | 1st |

## Venues

| Sydney | Sydney | Sydney | Tamworth | Bathurst | Tweed Heads | Perth | Goroka |
| Leichhardt Oval | Parramatta Stadium | Belmore Sports Ground | Scully Park | Carrington Park | Chris Cunningham Field | Lathlain Park | Danny Leahy Oval |
| Capacity: 23,000 | Capacity: 28,000 | Capacity: 28,000 | Capacity: 13,000 | Capacity: 12,000 | Capacity: 13,500 | Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 10,000 |

## Preliminary rounds

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
| 5/04/87 | Western Australia | 18 | South Australia | 14 | Perth |
| 12/04/87 | Western Australia | 28 | Victoria | 10 | Perth |
| 12/04/87 | Port Moresby (PNG) | 52 | Northern Territory | 5 | Danny Leahy Oval |
| 19/04/87 | Port Moresby (PNG) | 50 | Western Australia | 10 | Danny Leahy Oval |

## Round 1

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 4/03/87 | Canterbury-Bankstown (Bennett, Hagan, O’Brien, Bugden tries, Farrar 3 goals) | 22 | Manly-Warringah (Davis try) | 4 | Leichhardt Oval | David Gillespie - Canterbury-Bankstown |
| 11/03/87 | North Sydney (Friend, Lennon 2, Graham tries, McArthur 2 goals) | 24 | Western Suburbs (Davis try, Naden goal) | 6 | Leichhardt Oval | Mark Graham - North Sydney |
| 18/03/87 | Parramatta (Eden, Jackson, Sharp tries, Eden 6 goals, Muggleton field goal) | 25 | Illawarra (Carney, Upfield tries, Carney 4 goals) | 16 | Leichhardt Oval | Mike Eden - Parramatta |
| 25/03/87 | Cronulla-Sutherland (Docking 2, Russell tries, Stains, Wilson 2 goals) | 20 | Canberra (Belcher try, Meninga 2 goals) | 8 | Carrington Park | Jonathan Docking - Cronulla-Sutherland |
| 1/04/87 | South Sydney (Mavin, Harrington, P.Roberts, Blake tries, Baker 3 goals, Baker field goal) | 23 | St George (Wynn try, Quinton goal) | 6 | Scully Park | Craig Coleman - South Sydney |
| 8/04/87 | Penrith (Robards, Bevan, Alexander tries, Bevan goal) | 14 | Combined Brisbane (Hegarty goal) | 2 | Leichhardt Oval | Craig Izzard - Penrith |
| 22/04/87 | Balmain (Sinclair, Camroux 2, Grounds, Owens, John Davidson, Davies, Bevan, Gale, McGuire tries, Conlon 6, Elias 3 goals) | 62 | Port Moresby (PNG) (Saea try, Kovae 2 goals) | 8 | Leichhardt Oval | Bruce Sinclair - Balmain |
| 29/04/87 | Eastern Suburbs (French 3, McGahan 2, Challis, Morris, Spina, Simpkins tries, Portlock 5, Smith 4 goals) | 54 | NSW Country | 0 | Leichhardt Oval | Hugh McGahan - Eastern Suburbs |

## Quarter finals

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 15/04/87 | Parramatta (Crnkovich, Delroy, Laurie tries, Eden 3 goals) | 18 | North Sydney (I.French try) | 4 | Leichhardt Oval | Terry Leabeater - Parramatta |
| 6/05/87 | Balmain (John Davidson, Camroux tries, Conlon goal, Elias field goal) | 11 | South Sydney (Blake try, Ellison 3 goals) | 10 | Belmore Sports Ground | Ben Elias - Balmain |
| 13/05/87 | Eastern Suburbs (Challis, McGahan tries, Smith 2 goals) | 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown (P.Mortimer, Lamb tries, Lamb goal) | 10 | Chris Cunningham Field | Hugh McGahan - Eastern Suburbs |
| 20/05/87 | Penrith (Alexander 2 tries, Clements 3 goals) | 14 | Cronulla-Sutherland (Coleman try, Wilson goal) | 6 | Leichhardt Oval | Greg Alexander - Penrith |

## Semi finals

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue | Man of the Match |
| 27/05/87 | Penrith (B.Izzard, Smith, Alexander, Geyer, Vitanza tries, Fitzhenry 6 goals) | 32 | Parramatta (Erickson, Kenny, Sterling, Mares tries, Muggleton 3 goals) | 22 | Leichhardt Oval | Greg Alexander - Penrith |
| 3/06/87 | Balmain (Hanrahan, Neil, Sironen tries, Conlon goal) | 14 | Eastern Suburbs (Lydon try, Smith 4 goals) | 12 | Belmore Sports Ground | Scott Gale - Balmain |

## Final

* 10 June 1987
| Balmain Tigers | 14 – 12 | Penrith Panthers |
| Tries: 2 Scott Gale Russel Gartner Goals: 3 Ross Conlon | | Tries: 2 Mark Robinson Andrew Fitzhenry Goals: 2 Andrew Fitzhenry |
* Parramatta Stadium Attendance: 16,823 Referee: Mick Stone Player of the Match: Ben Elias (Balmain)

### Player of the Series

* Ben Elias (Balmain)

### Golden Try

* Steve O'Brien (Canterbury-Bankstown)

## Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070929092939/http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1987.htm
* Rugby League Project - Port Moresby Vipers