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 TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)Enter in Round 1Manly-WarringahSea EaglesNSWRLWinners of the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th CanberraRaidersNSWRLRunners-up in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership7th Eastern SuburbsRoostersNSWRLThird Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th South SydneyRabbitohsNSWRLFourth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th BalmainTigersNSWRLFifth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th Canterbury-BankstownBulldogsNSWRLSixth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th ParramattaEelsNSWRLSeventh Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th Cronulla-SutherlandSharksNSWRLEighth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th St. GeorgeDragonsNSWRLNinth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th North SydneyBearsNSWRLTenth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th IllawarraSteelersNSWRLEleventh Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership7th PenrithPanthersNSWRLTwelfth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th Western SuburbsMagpiesNSWRLThirteenth Place in the 1987 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership15th BrisbaneBroncosNSWRLNSWRL Expansion Team1st Gold Coast-TweedGiantsNSWRLNSWRL Expansion Team1st Enter in Preliminary roundNewcastleKnightsNSWRLNSWRL Expansion Team1st BrisbanePoinsettiasBRLLeague Representative Team10th NSW CountryKangaroosCRLCountry League Representative Team10th Port MoresbyVipersPNGRFLLeague Representative Team3rd

Venues SydneyTamworthTweed HeadsWagga WaggaBrisbaneNewcastleGoroka 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 Match22/03/88 NSW Country (Carney, Wishart, Stammers, Campbell tries, Wishart 2, Mehmet, Elwin goals, Hastings field goal) 25 Port Moresby (PNG) 0 Danny Leahy Oval25/03/88 Combined Brisbane (Neal, Holmes tries) 8 NSW Country 0 Lang Park30/03/88 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 Match17/02/88 St George (Wynn, Johnston tries, Waite goal) 10 Parramatta (Charmers try, Garnon goal) 6 Belmore Sports Ground Peter Gill - St George24/02/88 Cronulla-Sutherland (Docking try, Watson 2 goals) 8 Canterbury-Bankstown (Campbell try, Lamb field goal) 5 Parramatta Stadium Michael Porter - Cronulla-Sutherland28/02/88 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 Suburbs2/03/88 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 Sydney9/03/88 North Sydney (Friend, Vincent tries, Dorahy 2 goals) 12 Gold Coast (Eden 3 goals) 6 Chris Cunningham Field Clayton Friend - North Sydney16/03/88 Balmain (Pobjie, Neil tries, Conlon 2 goals) 12 Illawarra (Upfield, Carney tries, Carney goal) 10 Parramatta Stadium Paul Upfield - Illawarra6/04/88 Penrith (Cartwright, Alexander, Izzard, McNeill tries, McNeill 4 goals) 24 Brisbane (Dowling, Hancock tries, Matterson goal) 10 Parramatta Stadium Greg Alexander - Penrith13/04/88 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 Match23/03/88 South Sydney (O'Neill try, Ellison goal) 6 Cronulla-Sutherland (Wilson goal) 2 Parramatta Stadium Adam O'Neill - South Sydney20/04/88 St George (Robinson, Walford tries, Walford 3 goals) 14 Penrith (Gerard try, Baker 2 goals) 8 Parramatta Stadium Steve Robinson - St George27/04/88 Eastern Suburbs (McLean, Trewhella, Gillmeister tries, Smith 2 goals) 16 Newcastle (Kemp try, McKiernan goal) 6 Parramatta Stadium David Trewhella - Eastern Suburbs27/04/88 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 Match4/05/88 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 Match25 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 Peter Gill (St. George)

Golden Try Sandy Campbell (Canterbury-Bankstown)

Sources http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1988.htm