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 TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)Enter in Round 1ParramattaEelsNSWRLWinners of the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th Canterbury-BankstownBulldogsNSWRLRunners-Up in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th BalmainTigersNSWRLThird Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th South SydneyRabbitohsNSWRLFourth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th Manly-WarringahSea EaglesNSWRLFifth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th North SydneyBearsNSWRLSixth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th St. GeorgeDragonsNSWRLSeventh Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th PenrithPanthersNSWRLEighth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th Eastern SuburbsRoostersNSWRLNinth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th Cronulla-SutherlandSharksNSWRLTenth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th CanberraRaidersNSWRLEleventh Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership6th Western SuburbsMagpiesNSWRLTwelfth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership14th IllawarraSteelersNSWRLThirteenth Place in the 1986 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership6th BrisbanePoinsettiasBRLLeague Representative Team9th NSW CountryKangaroosCRLCountry League Representative Team9th Enter in Preliminary roundPort MoresbyVipersPNGRFLLeague Representative Team2nd Western AustraliaBlack SwansWARLState Representative Team4th Northern TerritoryBullsNTRLState Representative Team4th VictoriaThunderboltsVRLState Representative Team1stSouth AustraliaCroweatersSARLState Representative Team1st
Venues SydneyTamworthBathurstTweed HeadsPerthGoroka 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 Venue5/04/87 Western Australia 18 South Australia 14 Perth12/04/87 Western Australia 28 Victoria 10 Perth12/04/87 Port Moresby (PNG) 52 Northern Territory 5 Danny Leahy Oval19/04/87 Port Moresby (PNG) 50 Western Australia 10 Danny Leahy Oval
Round 1 Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match4/03/87 Canterbury-Bankstown (Bennett, Hagan, O’Brien, Bugden tries, Farrar 3 goals) 22 Manly-Warringah (Davis try) 4 Leichhardt Oval David Gillespie - Canterbury-Bankstown11/03/87 North Sydney (Friend, Lennon 2, Graham tries, McArthur 2 goals) 24 Western Suburbs (Davis try, Naden goal) 6 Leichhardt Oval Mark Graham - North Sydney18/03/87 Parramatta (Eden, Jackson, Sharp tries, Eden 6 goals, Muggleton field goal) 25 Illawarra (Carney, Upfield tries, Carney 4 goals) 16 Leichhardt Oval Mike Eden - Parramatta25/03/87 Cronulla-Sutherland (Docking 2, Russell tries, Stains, Wilson 2 goals) 20 Canberra (Belcher try, Meninga 2 goals) 8 Carrington Park Jonathan Docking - Cronulla-Sutherland1/04/87 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 Sydney8/04/87 Penrith (Robards, Bevan, Alexander tries, Bevan goal) 14 Combined Brisbane (Hegarty goal) 2 Leichhardt Oval Craig Izzard - Penrith22/04/87 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 - Balmain29/04/87 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 Match15/04/87 Parramatta (Crnkovich, Delroy, Laurie tries, Eden 3 goals) 18 North Sydney (I.French try) 4 Leichhardt Oval Terry Leabeater - Parramatta6/05/87 Balmain (John Davidson, Camroux tries, Conlon goal, Elias field goal) 11 South Sydney (Blake try, Ellison 3 goals) 10 Belmore Sports Ground Ben Elias - Balmain13/05/87 Eastern Suburbs (Challis, McGahan tries, Smith 2 goals) 12 Canterbury-Bankstown (P.Mortimer, Lamb tries, Lamb goal) 10 Chris Cunningham Field Hugh McGahan - Eastern Suburbs20/05/87 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 Match27/05/87 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 - Penrith3/06/87 Balmain (Hanrahan, Neil, Sironen tries, Conlon goal) 14 Eastern Suburbs (Lydon try, Smith 4 goals) 12 Belmore Sports Ground Scott Gale - Balmain
Final
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
References