1988 Panasonic Cup

1988 NSWRL Midweek Cup
NSWRL Panasonic Cup
Tournament details
Dates17 February - 25 May 1988
Teams19
Venue(s)8 (in 7 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsSt. George (1st title)
Runners-upBalmain
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
← 1987
1989 →

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 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

Golden Try

Sources