1988 Panasonic Cup

The 1988 Panasonic Cup was the name of the annual mid-week knockout rugby league competition. The naming rights sponsor changed from Panasonic's product brand National to Panasonic. The tournament was played from February to May 1988, culminating in the final between St George and Balmain.

Format

The fifteenth midweek cup competition operated on a straight knock-out format. The competition decreased to 19 teams with the Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia being left out and new New South Wales Rugby League teams Brisbane, Gold Coast & Newcastle joining the competition.

The competing teams were the 16 New South Wales Rugby League teams (Balmain, Brisbane , Canberra, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cronulla-Sutherland, Eastern Suburbs, Gold Coast, Illawarra, Manly-Warringah, Newcastle, North Sydney, Parramatta, Penrith, St George, South Sydney and Western Suburbs), Combined Brisbane, NSW Country and Port Moresby (PNG).

Combined Brisbane, NSW Country, Port Moresby (PNG) and Newcastle played in a Preliminary (or qualifying) round.

Preliminary rounds

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue	Man of the Match
22/03/88	NSW Country	25	Port Moresby (PNG)	0	Danny Leahy Oval
25/03/88	Combined Brisbane	8	NSW Country	0	Lang Park
30/03/88	Newcastle	26	Combined Brisbane	10	Newcastle ISC	Tony Townsend - Newcastle

Round 1

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue	Man of the Match
17/02/88	St George	10	Parramatta	6	Belmore Sports Ground	Peter Gill - St George
24/02/88	Cronulla-Sutherland	8	Canterbury-Bankstown	5	Parramatta Stadium	Michael Porter - Cronulla-Sutherland
28/02/88	Eastern Suburbs	36	Western Suburbs	16	Eric Weissel Oval	Gary Bridge - Eastern Suburbs
2/03/88	South Sydney	29	Canberra	10	Parramatta Stadium	Ian Roberts - South Sydney
9/03/88	North Sydney	12	Gold Coast	6	Chris Cunningham Field	Clayton Friend - North Sydney
16/03/88	Balmain	12	Illawarra	10	Parramatta Stadium	Paul Upfield - Illawarra
6/04/88	Penrith	24	Brisbane	10	Parramatta Stadium	Greg Alexander - Penrith
13/04/88	Newcastle	18	Manly-Warringah	10	Parramatta Stadium	Brett Shore - Newcastle

Quarter finals

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue	Man of the Match
23/03/88	South Sydney	6	Cronulla-Sutherland	2	Parramatta Stadium	Adam O'Neill - South Sydney
20/04/88	St George	14	Penrith	8	Parramatta Stadium	Steve Robinson - St George
27/04/88	Eastern Suburbs	16	Newcastle	6	Parramatta Stadium	David Trewhella - Eastern Suburbs
27/04/88	Balmain	14	North Sydney	10	Parramatta Stadium	Garry Jack - Balmain

Semi finals

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue	Man of the Match
4/05/88	Balmain	19	South Sydney	4	Scully Park	Bruce McGuire - Balmain
18/05/88	St George	18	Eastern Suburbs	14	Parramatta Stadium	Brett Clark - St George

Final

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue	Man of the Match
25 May 1988	St George	16	Balmain	8	Parramatta Stadium

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. Mick 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)

Sources

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