New South Wales Rugby League season 1988
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| New South Wales Rugby League season 1988 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 16 |
| Premiers |  Canterbury-Bankstown (6th title) |
| Minor premiers |  Cronulla-Sutherland (1st title) |
| Matches played | 183 |
| Points scored | 6559 (average 35.842 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,966,658 (average 10,747 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Gary Belcher (218) |
| Top try scorer(s) | John Ferguson (20) |
The 1988 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the eighty-first season of professional rugby league football in Australia. This season saw further expansion of the competition, and the first since 1982. Sixteen clubs contested for the Winfield Cup, making it the largest NSWRL premiership yet, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one from the Australian Capital Territory. During the season NSWRL teams also competed for the 1988 Panasonic Cup.
Contents |
[edit] Season Summary
This season saw the premiership's first expansion since 1982 with the addition of three teams: the Brisbane Broncos, the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants and the Newcastle Knights. On March 4th the season opened with the first game of rugby league played at the newly-built Sydney Football Stadium. The St. George Dragons defeated the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 24–14. The brand new Brisbane Broncos, featuring Australian test and Queensland State of Origin captain Wally Lewis appearing for the first time in the NSWRL premiership, played their first match against the previous season's premiers Manly and won 44-10.
Eventual grand finalists the Balmain Tigers had a dreadful start to the season with six wins and five losses by the end of the first full round. But their plight was rescued by a masterstroke from their chief executive Keith Barnes. The Great Britain side was touring Australia that season and in strict secrecy Barnes negotiated to have the English captain and centre Ellery Hanley - then an undoubted world-class player - to join the Tigers. Barnes got to the NSWRL to register Hanley at 4.55pm on June 30th, just five minutes inside the deadline for signing players for that season.
Balmain then staged a gripping charge for the final five, winning nine of their last eleven games including five in a row to leave them in equal fifth spot with the Penrith Panthers at season's end. They then won four sudden death finals to make it to the Grand Final.
[edit] Teams
 Balmain Tigers |
 Brisbane Broncos |
 Canberra Raiders |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
 Eastern Suburbs Roosters |
 Gold Coast-Tweed Giants |
 Illawarra Steelers |
 Manly Sea Eagles |
 Newcastle Knights |
 North Sydney Bears |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs |
 St. George Dragons |
 Western Suburbs Magpies |
[edit] Advertising
1988 saw the NSWRL move their advertising account from John Singleton Advertising to Hertz Walpole Advertising. There was initially however no shift in the prior campaign direction.
For the second year in succession a visual and vocal performance by Australian rock journeyman John Swan (Swanee) was used. Swanee recorded a purpose-written jingle entitled "The Greatest Game of All" and a rock clip style advertisement was shot on a stage setting with smoke, lights and fireworks. The performance footage was interpersed with game action.
Five years later Swan's younger brother Jimmy Barnes would also feature in an NSWRL season advertisement performing alongside Tina Turner.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cronulla |
22 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 507 | 330 | +177 | 34 |
| 2 | Canterbury |
22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 412 | 268 | +144 | 32 |
| 3 | Canberra |
22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 596 | 346 | +250 | 30 |
| 4 |  Manly-Warringah |
22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 538 | 347 | +191 | 30 |
| 5 |  Penrith |
22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 394 | 258 | +136 | 30 |
| 6 |  Balmain |
22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 402 | 341 | +61 | 30 |
| 7 |  Brisbane |
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 474 | 368 | +106 | 28 |
| 8 |  South Sydney |
22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 425 | 383 | +42 | 24 |
| 9 |  North Sydney |
22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 366 | 424 | -58 | 20 |
| 10 |  St. George |
22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 352 | 493 | -141 | 18 |
| 11 |  Parramatta |
22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 359 | 412 | -53 | 16 |
| 12 |  Eastern Suburbs |
22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 387 | 443 | -56 | 15 |
| 13 |  Illawarra |
22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 353 | 510 | -157 | 13 |
| 14 |  Newcastle |
22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 270 | 460 | -190 | 11 |
| 15 |  Gold Coast-Tweed |
22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 238 | 484 | -246 | 10 |
| 16 |  Western Suburbs |
22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 287 | 493 | -206 | 9 |
- South Sydney were stripped of 2 competition points due to an illegal replacement in one game.
[edit] Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Playoff | ||||||||
 Penrith Panthers |
8-28 |  Balmain Tigers |
16 August 1988 | Parramatta Stadium | Mick Stone | 14,206 | ||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
6-19 | Balmain Tigers |
20 August 1988 | Sydney Football Stadium | Mick Stone | 25,327 | ||
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
19-18 |  Canberra Raiders |
21 August 1988 | Sydney Football Stadium | Graham Annesley | 19,259 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| Canberra Raiders |
6-14 | Balmain Tigers |
27 August 1988 | Sydney Football Stadium | Mick Stone | 28,879 | ||
 Cronulla Sharks |
8-26 | Canterbury Bulldogs |
28 August 1988 | Sydney Football Stadium | Graham Annesley | 31,684 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Cronulla Sharks |
2-9 | Balmain Tigers |
4 September 1988 | Sydney Football Stadium | Mick Stone | 34,848 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Canterbury Bulldogs |
24-12 | Balmain Tigers |
11 September 1988 | Sydney Football Stadium | Mick Stone | 40,000 | ||
[edit] Grand Final
| Canterbury Bulldogs | Position | Balmain Tigers |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Alchin | FB | Garry Jack |
| Glen Nissen | WG | Russell Gartner |
| Tony Currie | CE | Ellery Hanley |
| Andrew Farrar | CE | Michael Pobjie |
| Robin Thorne | WG | Ross Conlon |
| Terry Lamb | FE | Mick Neil |
| Michael Hagan | HB | Gary Freeman |
| Paul Dunn | PR | Bruce McGuire |
| Joe Thomas | HK | Benny Elias |
| Peter Tunks (c) | PR | Kerry Hemsley |
| David Gillespie | SR | Paul Sironen |
| Steve Folkes | SR | David Brooks |
| Paul Langmack | LK | Wayne Pearce (c) |
| Brandon Lee | Bench | Kevin Hardwick |
| Steve Mortimer | Bench | Steve Edmed |
| Darren McCarthy | Bench | Scot Gale |
| Mark Bugden | Bench | |
| Phil Gould | Coach | Warren Ryan |
Following Balmain's extraordinary late season run in winning thirteen of fifteen games, the stage was set for a Grand Final of great appeal. 1980s mastercoach Warren Ryan of Balmain was up against the club he had coached for four years to three grand finals and two premierships, as well as being matched against the the man who had replaced him at Canterbury - Phil Gould. It was master against pupil. At just 30 years of age, Gould was vying not only to become the youngest coach to win a grand final but the first since Balmain's Leo Nosworthy in 1969 to steer a team to premiership victory in his first season coaching the top-grade.
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs faced the Balmain Tigers on 11 September, 1988 in the first Grand Final played at the Sydney Football Stadium and the last game for Steve Mortimer. The match was played early so that Channel Ten could broadcast the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Balmain grabbed an early 6-4 lead when Benny Elias put up a bomb and was first to the ball ahead of Bulldog Jason Alchin.
A highly controversial tackle by Terry Lamb put Balmain's British import Ellery Hanley out of the game. Hanley staggered off, heavily concussed, with the score at 6-4. Under the rules of the time, Hanley was allowed 10 minutes to recover in the head bin. If he could not return he would need be replaced. He returned just before half-time and stood, out-of-sorts, on the wing. The Bulldogs then ran in a 70-metre try from broken play and went to the break with a lead of 12-8.
Hanley didn't return after half-time and the Bulldogs started to dominate. A great Canterbury team try to Michael Hagan sealed the match. Bruce McGuire scored Balmain's second try late in the match although the outcome was already clear. The match ended on a sentimental note when Gould called the Bulldog's representative star, former captain and 271 game veteran, Steve Mortimer to the sideline. He was less than fully fit and had his arm heavily padded to protect the wrist he had broken early in the season. However Mortimer had been named as a fresh reserve as tribute to his previous club contributions and the match ended with him moving to dummy half and taking the ball up for the last time.
Canterbury-Bankstown 24 (Tries: Nissen, Hagan, Gillespie, Lamb; Goals: Lamb 4 )
Balmain 12 (Tries: Elias, McGuire; Goals: Conlon 2 )
Clive Churchill Medal: Paul Dunn
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1988 The World of Rugby League.
