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.

1987 NSWRL Midweek Cup

NSWRL National Panasonic Cup
Tournament details
Dates	4 March - 10 June 1987
Teams	20
Venue(s)	8 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Balmain (3rd title)
Runners-up	Penrith
Tournament statistics
Matches played	19
← 1986 1988 →

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			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

1987 National Panasonic Cup Final

10 June 1987

Balmain Tigers	14 – 12	Penrith Panthers
Tries: 2 Scott Gale   Russel Gartner   Goals: 3 Ross Conlon	^[1]	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

• Rugby League Project - Port Moresby Vipers [1]

References

1. Middleton, David. Rugby League 1987-88. Sydney: Lester-Townsend Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 0949853119.