| 1987 NSWRL season | |
| Teams | 13 |
| Premiers | Manly-Warringah (5th title) |
| Minor premiers | Manly-Warringah (6th title) |
| Matches played | 162 |
| Points scored | 5294 (total) 32.679 (per match) |
| Attendance | 1,658,354 (total) 10,237 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Ross Conlon (196) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Terry Lamb (16) |
The 1987 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the eightieth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Canberra Raiders. This season, NSWRL teams also competed for the 1987 National Panasonic Cup.
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This was to be the last season that the moniker "New South Wales Rugby League" would be actually correct, as the following season two teams from Queensland would be introduced, heralding a new era of interstate club participation in the Winfield Cup premiership (although the name wouldn't be changed to the Australian Rugby League until 1995). This would also ultimately lead to the decline of the already-diminishing Brisbane Rugby League premiership of Queensland.
Twenty-six regular season rounds were played from February till August, resulting in a top five of Manly, Easts, Canberra, Balmain and Souths who battled it out in the finals.
Parramatta's captain and halfback Peter Sterling made a clean sweep of the 1987 season's major awards, winning the Rothmans Medal and Dally M Award as well as being named Rugby League Week's player of the year.[1]
Western Suburbs moved their homeground to Campbelltown (Orana Park) this season.
The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with thirteen contesting the premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah | 24 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 553 | 356 | +197 | 41 |
| 2 | Eastern Suburbs | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 390 | 353 | +37 | 35 |
| 3 | Canberra | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 441 | 325 | +116 | 34 |
| 4 | Balmain | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 469 | 349 | +120 | 33 |
| 5 | South Sydney | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 310 | 342 | -32 | 31 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 353 | 316 | +37 | 30 |
| 7 | Parramatta | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 417 | 411 | +6 | 28 |
| 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 390 | 433 | -43 | 27 |
| 9 | St. George | 24 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 394 | 409 | -15 | 26 |
| 10 | North Sydney | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 368 | 401 | -33 | 26 |
| 11 | Illawarra | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 372 | 449 | -77 | 20 |
| 12 | Penrith | 24 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 274 | 399 | -125 | 17 |
| 13 | Western Suburbs | 24 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 339 | 527 | -188 | 16 |
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
| Balmain Tigers | 12-15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 5 September 1987 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg McCallum | 22,134 | ||
| Eastern Suburbs Roosters | 25-16 | Canberra Raiders | 6 September 1987 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Mick Stone | 15,852 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| Canberra Raiders | 46-12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 12 September 1987 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Mick Stone | 24,744 | ||
| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 10-6 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters | 13 September 1987 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg McCallum | 36,399 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Eastern Suburbs Roosters | 24-32 | Canberra Raiders | 20 September 1987 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Mick Stone | 26,790 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 18-8 | Canberra Raiders | 27 September 1987 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Mick Stone | 50,201 | ||
Manly dominated the 1987 season with a 12-match winning sequence between May and July and Bob Fulton's elusive goal of coaching a side to Grand Final victory began to look a possibility. The path to glory had been four years in the making. In 1983 Fulton had returned to the club as coach, the second year running that they lost to Parramatta and he set about pursuing a stable of players needed to win a premiership.
The sole survivors of the 1983 loss to Parramatta were Noel Cleal and club captain, Paul Vautin. Cleal had by now developed into one of the most menacing forwards in the game and although Vautin had been largely overlooked by the Australian selectors, his leadership of the Sea-Eagles was an integral factor in the club's success. In 1984 young halfback Des Hasler who had spent several seasons warming the bench at Penrith trialled with the club, became a mainstay of the Manly side and achieved Test selection the following year. 1986 Rothmans medallist, winger-turned-hooker, Mal Cochrane a reliable goalkicker and a deceptive open runner was also an asset to the side. The forwards were led by 1986 Kangaroo Tour prop Phil Daley and English import, Castleford's Kevin Ward who was flown back out to Australia specifically for the grand final. Manly's masterstroke was the signing of former rugby union international Michael O'Connor from St. George who was regarded as one of the most gifted attacking backs in the game.
Their opponents were to be the Canberra Raiders who, after 5 years of competition, had reached their first Grand Final. 50,201 fans were on hand to watch the last rugby league grand final played at the SCG and the first to involve a club from outside the Sydney area. Network 10 televised a memorable pre-match entertainment involving a symbolic building of a huge model of the Sydney Harbour Bridge by representatives of the Navy's apprentices.
| Manly-Warringah | Position | Canberra |
|---|---|---|
| Dale Shearer | FB | Gary Belcher |
| David Ronson | WG | Chris Kinna |
| Darrell Williams | CE | Mal Meninga |
| Michael O'Connor | CE | Peter Jackson |
| Stuart Davis | WG | Matthew Corkery |
| Cliff Lyons | FE | Chris O'Sullivan |
| Des Hasler | HB | Ivan Henjak |
| Paul Vautin (c) | LK | Dean Lance (c) |
| Ron Gibbs | SR | Ashley Gilbert |
| Noel Cleal | SR | Gary Coyne |
| Kevin Ward | PR | Sam Backo |
| Mal Cochrane | HK | Steve Walters |
| Phil Daley | PR | Brent Todd |
| Mark Pocock | Reserve | Kevin Walters |
| Paul Shaw | Reserve | Terry Regan |
| Bob Fulton | Coach | Don Furner and Wayne Bennett |
From the outset Manly's Cliff Lyons attempted to find gaps out wide in Canberra's defence and kept the Raiders hemmed in on their own side of half-way with his astute kicking. Lyons stepped inside the Raiders' defence and after a seventy-metre burst found Noel Cleal stampeding on to the ball but Cleal's final pass to Des Hasler was ruled forward. Another promising Manly raid broke down when Lyons' reverse pass to O'Connor was put to ground.
In the 27th minute Lyons eventually broke through on his third threatening attempt. Scurrying from a scrum win on the Canberra quarter-line, Lyons brushed off the tackle of Chris O'Sullivan and stepped inside Gary Belcher to score.
The Sea Eagles led 6-0 at half-time, with a crushing ball-and-all tackle by Belcher on Dale Shearer at the Canberra tryline preventing the lead being greater.
From the restart kick-off Belcher fielded the ball in his in-goal but was penalised for shepherding behind Chris O'Sullivan as he ran the ball out. It was a gift penalty for Michael O'Connor to take Manly to an 8-0 lead.
The Sea Eagles kept the pressure on Canberra by charging down two attempted clearing kicks by a tiring Mal Meninga. Only occasionally did the Raiders break through. After a run by Peter Jackson, Manly's Phil Daley was penalised for a high tackle and Meninga's goal finally put Canberra on the scoreboard.
Fatigue and the heat began to take a toll. Meninga was replaced after 15 minutes of the second half and Manly's Gibbs, Cleal and Cochrane all went down hurt at different stages as the pace of the match slowed. Soon after a successful penalty goal from O'Connor, a Dale Shearer crossfield kick was grounded over the line by O'Connor in the Paddington corner. The Manly centre seemed to have been in front of Shearer's kick but the converted try cemented Manly's lead, 16-2.
A brief hope of a fightback loomed after an ingeniously constructed "trojan horse" move by Canberra. Chris O'Sullivan went down "injured" after being tackled and then miraculously popped up in the next passage of play to take the inside pass from Ivan Henjak and score. Gary Belcher converted to narrow the scores to 16-8.
Ron Gibbs' return from the head-bin helped snap the Sea Eagles out of their complacency. Daley's tackle on Canberra replacement Terry Regan and Dale Shearer's try-saving tackle on Ashley Gilbert three minutes from full-time ended any chance of a Canberra fightback. Paul Vautin led the charge back up-field with Hasler being bundled into the corner post after a run-around movement with O'Connor.
Right on full-time, O'Connor landed his fifth goal after the Raiders were penalised in front of their own posts. The 18-8 scoreline was a fair indication of Manly's supremacy on the day and a just result considering the Sea Eagles' consistency throughout the year. Manly became the first non-Canterbury-Bankstown or Parramatta club to win the grand final since St. George in 1979.
For Manly coach and treasured son Bob Fulton, premiership glory in a nine-year coaching career was finally achieved. For the dual Canberra coaches it marked a milestone. It was a sad ending to the long coaching career of Don Furner, the man who brought Canberra into the competition. For his partner Wayne Bennett, the tactician behind the side, it was a disappointing exit but another door was about to open on his own stellar coaching career with Brisbane and Queensland.
Manly Sea Eagles 18 (Tries: O'Connor, Lyons. Goals: O'Connor 5)
Canberra Raiders 8 (Tries: O'Sullivan. Goals: Meninga, Belcher).
Clive Churchill Medal Winner: Cliff Lyons.
Having won the premiership, the Manly side travelled to England to play British Champions Wigan on the 7th of October. This was only the second match of its kind, since the first time the Australian and British premiers faced off in 1976. 36,895 spectators turned out at Central Park, Wigan to see the Sea Eagles go down 8 to 2.
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