The 1987 Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the 77th season of Brisbane's professional rugby league football competition. Nine teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Redcliffe and Past Brothers clubs.

Season summary The format of the Winfield Cup was changed once again for the 1987 season, with games between Brisbane sides in the Winfield State League no longer granting competition points for the regular season. Instead, rounds 2 to 5 of the Woolies Pre-Season Competition were once again treated as first-grade games (Round 1, in which only 2 games were played, did not give competition points).

Teams played each other twice, with 18 rounds of competition played. It resulted in a top four of Past Brothers, Northern Suburbs, Redcliffe and Wynnum-Manly. The 1987 season is significant as most Rugby League historians view it as the final season of the BRL as a true top-tier competition, as the entry of the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Giants into the NSWRL Premiership in 1988 devastated the BRL by stripping it of mainstream media coverage and players.Page 6, THE POST-BRONCOS BRISBANE RUGBY LEAGUE COMPETITION - https://www.rogerswebsite.com/rl/Post-BroncosHistory.pdf

Teams

Club Home ground Coach Captain Eastern Suburbs Langlands Park Shane McNally Ian Stains Ipswich North Ipswich Reserve Tommy Raudonikis Glen Haggarth Northern Suburbs Bishop Park Greg Oliphant Darryl Duncan Past Brothers Corbett Park Ross Strudwick Trevor Bailey Redcliffe Dolphin Oval Darryl Van de Velde → Steve Bleakley Seagulls-Diehards Neumann Oval Peter McWhirter → Mark Hohn Southern Suburbs Davies Park Graeme Atherton Gary French Western Suburbs Purtell Park Peter Foreman → Darren Gilbert Wynnum-Manly Kougari Oval Wally Lewis Wally Lewis

Pre-season The 1987 Woolies pre-season competition took place over 5 rounds, from February 22 to March 22. Four competition points were available in each match, with one point going to the side that scored the most points in each half and two points to the winning side. Winfield Cup competition points were also available for teams that won games in rounds 2 through 5 of the pre-season. The pre-season final was held on March 29, between Brothers and Norths, both teams that had won all of their pre-season matches. The Brethren were without captain Trevor Bailey, who would also miss the Winfield State League and two rounds of the regular season. Second-row forward Gary Smith captained Brothers in Bailey's absence, the side winning 18–4 after taking the lead in the 33rd minute.

Results

Team12345F1F2Eastern Suburbs TigersXBRO -34SOU -12RED -28WST +2Ipswich JetsBRO -2XWST +22VAL +6NOR -6BRO -10Northern Suburbs DevilsXSOU +10RED +12WST +14IPW +6WYN +3BRO -14Past BrothersIPW +2EST +34WYN +4XVAL +14IPW +10NOR +14Redcliffe DolphinsXWST +3NOR -12EST +28WYN -24Seagulls-DiehardsSOU +14WYN -10XIPW -6BRO -14Southern Suburbs MagpiesVAL -14NOR -10EST +12WYN -14XWestern Suburbs PanthersXRED -3IPW -22NOR -14EST -2Wynnum-Manly SeagullsXVAL +10BRO -4SOU +14RED +24NOR -3Team12345F1F2

Ladder TeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts1 Northern Suburbs4400110866 +4216.52 Past Brothers (P)4400110652 +54163 Wynnum-Manly430118844 +44134 Ipswich420217050 +2010.55 Redcliffe420217883 -5106 Seagulls-Diehards410316682 -168.57 Eastern Suburbs4103146118 -726.58 Southern Suburbs410317096 -265.59 Western Suburbs400413374 -413.5

Regular season results

TeamP2P3P4P556789101112131415161718F1F2GFEastern Suburbs TigersBRO -34SOU -12RED -28WST +2NOR -4IPW -16WYN -28XVAL -52BRO -50SOU -40RED -30WST -2NOR -30IPW -22WYN -10XVAL -2Ipswich JetsXWST +22VAL +6NOR -6BRO -12EST +16SOU -4WYN -16RED +14XWST +14VAL +2NOR -4BRO -28EST +22SOU +2WYN -16RED -2Northern Suburbs DevilsSOU +10RED +12WST +14IPW +6EST +4WYN +12XVAL +7BRO -8SOU 0RED -18WST +16IPW +4EST +30WYN +10XVAL +2BRO -10BRO -9RED -8Past BrothersEST +34WYN +4XVAL +14IPW +12SOU -4RED -22WST +36NOR +8EST +50WYN -4XVAL +9IPW +28SOU +24RED +12WST +4NOR +10NOR +9XRED +18Redcliffe DolphinsWST +3NOR -12EST +28WYN -24XVAL +12BRO +22SOU +13IPW -14WST +44NOR +18EST +30WYN -5XVAL +3BRO -12SOU +36IPW +2WYN +23NOR +8BRO -18Seagulls-DiehardsWYN -10XIPW -6BRO -14SOU +21RED -12WST +38NOR -7EST +52WYN +9XIPW -2BRO -9SOU -6RED -3WST +16NOR -2EST +2Southern Suburbs MagpiesNOR -10EST +12WYN -14XVAL -21BRO +4IPW +4RED -13WST +34NOR 0EST +40WYN +5XVAL +6BRO -24IPW -2RED -36WST +14Western Suburbs PanthersRED -3IPW -22NOR -14EST -2WYN -31XVAL -38BRO -36SOU -34RED -44IPW -14NOR -16EST +2WYN -10XVAL -16BRO -4SOU -14Wynnum-Manly SeagullsVAL +10BRO -4SOU +14RED +24WST +31NOR -12EST +28IPW +16XVAL -9BRO +4SOU -5RED +5WST +10NOR -10EST +10IPW +16XRED -23TeamP2P3P4P556789101112131415161718F1F2GF

X - Bye Y - Team played a non-first grade State League match Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder TeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts1 Past Brothers (P)1613032442227 +215302 Northern Suburbs1612132340249 +91293 Redcliffe1611052404262 +142264 Wynnum-Manly1611052354226 +128265 Southern Suburbs168172311310 +1216 Ipswich168082325315 +10207 Seagulls-Diehards1660102373304 +69168 Western Suburbs1610152164462 -29869 Eastern Suburbs1610152185543 -3586 Source:

Woolies Trophy

The 1987 Woolies Trophy match was held on August 2, as part of round 15 of the regular season. The Trophy was contested by Northern Suburbs and Wynnum-Manly, the teams that led the competition after the end of round 9.

Match details

Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Semi-finals Redcliffe30-7 Wynnum-Manly30 August 1987Lang ParkEddie Ward9,800 Past Brothers 25-16 Northern Suburbs6 September 1987Lang ParkIan Irwin7,500 Preliminary Final Redcliffe24-16 Northern Suburbs13 September 1987Lang ParkEddie Ward7,612 Grand Final Past Brothers 26-8 Redcliffe20 September 1987Lang ParkEddie Ward25,000

Grand Final

BrothersPositionRedcliffe Clinton MohrFB Greg Donnelly 2. Joe Kilroy WG 2. Shane Knuth 3. Robert Grogan CE 3. Rohan Teevan 4. Jeff Burns CE 4. Steve Cherry 5. Mark Coyne WG 5. Robin Thorne 6. Peter Gill FE 6. Trevor Benson 7. Greg Smith HB 7. Jamie Sandy 8. Brett Le Man LK 8. Steve Bleakley (c) 9. Tony Rea SR 9. Bob Keogh 10. Gary Smith SR 10. Ashhley Tupea 11. Steve Carter PR 11. Brian Niebling 12. Trevor Bailey (c) HK 12. Greg Conescu 13. Jim Stafford PR 13. Dave Brown Reserve Reserve Ross Strudwick Coach Darryl Van De Velde

1987 BRL Grand Final - Brothers v Redcliffe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOkkHCowzck&t=297s1987 Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final https://web.archive.org/web/20041225094700/http://queensland.rleague.com/flashback/1987gf.php1987 BRL season on Rugby League Project https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/brisbane-rugby-league-1987/results.html

Winfield State League

The 1987 Winfield State League was the inaugural season of the Queensland Rugby League's statewide competition. A total of 14 teams competed in the season, 8 of which were BRL Premiership clubs. The remaining six were regional teams from across the state, hence the State League name. Wynnum Manly, Redcliffe, Brisbane Brothers and Toowoomba were the semi-finalists. Toowoomba were only the second non-Brisbane side to make the state league finals, but lost by 22 points to Wynnum-Manly in the semi-finals. The Seagulls faced Redcliffe in the State League Final for the second year in a row, winning 36–14.

References