1988 NSWRL season explained

Year:	1988
Teams:	16
Count:	6th
Mpcount:	1st
Matches:	183
Points:	6,559
Attendance:	1,966,658
Top Point Scorer:	Gary Belcher (218)
Top Try Scorer:	John Ferguson (20)
Player Of The Year:	Barry Russell (Rothmans Medal)
Prevseason Link:	1987 NSWRL season
Prevseason Year:	1987
Nextseason Link:	1989 NSWRL season
Nextseason Year:	1989

The 1988 NSWRL season was the 81st season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and saw the first expansion of the New South Wales Rugby League Premiership outside the borders of New South Wales, and another expansion outside of Sydney, with the addition of three new teams: the Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast-Tweed Giants. The largest NSWRL premiership yet, sixteen clubs competed during the 1988 season, with the J J Giltinan Shield for minor premiers going to Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. The finals culminated in a grand final for the Winfield Cup between the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Balmain Tigers. This season NSWRL teams also competed for the 1988 Panasonic Cup.

Season summary

1988 was the year of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations, and on 4 March, the season opened with the first game of rugby league played at the newly built Sydney Football Stadium.^[1] The St. George Dragons defeated the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 24–14. Easts and South Sydney would use the SFS as their home venue from 1988. This saw the end of both the Sydney Sports Ground (which closed due to the building of the SFS) and Redfern Oval as regular venues.

The brand new Brisbane Broncos club, featuring Australian Kangaroos captain Wally Lewis and starting their first ever season of football, played their first match against the previous season's premiers the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 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 – judged the best player in the English competition the previous season and an undoubted world-class player – to join the Tigers. Barnes got to the NSWRL to register Hanley at 4:55pm on 30 June, just five minutes inside the deadline for signing players for that season.

The 1988 season's Rothmans Medallist was Cronulla-Sutherland's Barry Russell.^[2] The Dally M Award went to Russell's teammate Gavin Miller, and Rugby League Week gave its player of the year award to Balmian's hooker, Ben Elias.

Twenty-two regular season rounds were played in total from March till August, with Cronulla-Sutherland winning their first ever minor premiership since joining the competition in 1967. Penrith and Balmain finished on equal points in fifth place and played each other for the place in the top five, alongside Cronulla, Canterbury, Canberra and Manly.

The grand finals;

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs vs Balmain Tigers (Senior Grade)
Eastern Suburbs vs Manly Sea Eagles (Reserve Grade)
Under 21s team vs Under 21s (Under 21s Grade)

The Tests;

Australia vs Great Britain
Australia vs Rest of the World

The State of Origin;

Queensland vs New South Wales

Teams

This season saw the premiership's first expansion since 1982 with the addition of three newly created teams: the Brisbane Broncos, the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants and the Newcastle Knights.^[3] This brought the League another step closer to becoming a national competition as a total of sixteen teams, the largest number in the tournament's history, contested the premiership, 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.

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 running a visual and vocal performance by Australian rock journeyman John "Swanee" Swan was used. Swanee recorded a purpose-written jingle entitled "The Greatest Game of All" and a rock-clip style ad was shot on a stage setting with smoke, lights and fireworks. The performance footage was interspersed with game action.

Five years later Swan's younger brother Jimmy Barnes would also feature in an NSWRL season advertisement performing alongside Tina Turner.

Regular season

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	F4	GF
Balmain Tigers	NOR +20	PAR −20	NEW −4	WES +3	MAN +2	PEN −10	BRI +8	STG +8	SOU −9	CBY +11	CRO −2	EAS +10	GCG +14	CAN −24	ILA +12	NOR +10	PAR +16	NEW +2	WES +6	MAN −4	PEN +2	BRI +10	PEN +20	MAN +13	CAN +8	CRO +7	CBY −12
Brisbane Broncos	MAN +34	PEN +2	WES +34	NOR +12	PAR +6	NEW +14	BAL −8	CRO −30	EAS +4	GCG −3	CAN −20	ILA +22	STG +4	SOU −12	CBY −15	MAN +18	PEN +2	WES +26	NOR +18	PAR −8	NEW +16	BAL −10
Canberra Raiders	ILA +20	STG +24	SOU +28	CBY −5	CRO +18	EAS +36	GCG +44	PAR −28	WES +14	NOR −8	BRI +20	PEN −6	MAN −6	BAL +24	NEW +18	ILA +9	STG +16	SOU +33	CBY −7	CRO −22	EAS +8	GCG +20	X	CBY −1	BAL −8
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	GCG +11	CRO +4	EAS +4	CAN +5	ILA −6	STG +14	SOU +4	PEN +6	MAN −18	BAL −11	NEW +18	PAR +28	WES +25	NOR −12	BRI +15	GCG +15	CRO −8	EAS +15	CAN +7	ILA +6	STG +26	SOU −4	X	CAN +1	CRO +18	X	BAL +12
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	SOU −1	CBY −4	GCG +1	EAS 0	CAN −18	ILA +18	STG +16	BRI +30	PEN +22	MAN −14	BAL +2	NEW 0	PAR +5	WES +36	NOR +4	SOU +2	CBY +8	GCG +20	EAS +18	CAN +22	ILA +8	STG +2	X	X	CBY −18	BAL −7
Eastern Suburbs Roosters	STG −10	SOU −2	CBY −4	CRO 0	GCG +18	CAN −36	ILA −4	NOR 0	BRI −4	PEN +22	MAN +4	BAL −10	NEW +16	PAR −4	WES 0	STG +21	SOU −25	CBY −15	CRO −18	GCG +24	CAN −8	ILA −21
Gold Coast-Tweed Giants	CBY −11	ILA 0	CRO −1	STG −8	EAS −18	SOU −12	CAN −44	WES −20	NOR −4	BRI +3	PEN −35	MAN −28	BAL −14	NEW +9	PAR +3	CBY −15	ILA +15	CRO −20	STG −2	EAS −24	SOU 0	CAN −20
Illawarra Steelers	CAN −20	GCG 0	STG +16	SOU −13	CBY +6	CRO −18	EAS +4	NEW +8	PAR −22	WES +16	NOR −29	BRI −22	PEN −34	MAN −16	BAL −12	CAN −9	GCG −15	STG −2	SOU −2	CBY −6	CRO −8	EAS +21
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	BRI −34	NOR +26	PAR +52	NEW +32	BAL −2	WES +20	PEN −22	SOU −14	CBY +18	CRO +14	EAS −4	GCG +28	CAN +6	ILA +16	STG +16	BRI −18	NOR +4	PAR +30	NEW +8	BAL +4	WES −3	PEN +14	X	BAL −13
Newcastle Knights	PAR −24	WES +4	BAL +4	MAN −32	PEN −6	BRI −14	NOR −34	ILA −8	STG −12	SOU +7	CBY −18	CRO 0	EAS −16	GCG −9	CAN −18	PAR +1	WES −10	BAL −2	MAN −8	PEN −11	BRI −16	NOR +32
North Sydney Bears	BAL −20	MAN −26	PEN −27	BRI −12	WES +7	PAR +4	NEW +34	EAS 0	GCG +4	CAN +8	ILA +29	STG −8	SOU 0	CBY +12	CRO −4	BAL −10	MAN −4	PEN −5	BRI −18	WES +4	PAR +6	NEW −32
Parramatta Eels	NEW +24	BAL +20	MAN −52	PEN −2	BRI −6	NOR −4	WES −2	CAN +28	ILA +22	STG −12	SOU +8	CBY −28	CRO −5	EAS +4	GCG −3	NEW −1	BAL −16	MAN −30	PEN −4	BRI +8	NOR −6	WES +4
Penrith Panthers	WES +20	BRI −2	NOR +27	PAR +2	NEW +6	BAL +10	MAN +22	CBY −6	CRO −22	EAS −22	GCG +35	CAN +6	ILA +34	STG +4	SOU +8	WES +12	BRI −2	NOR +5	PAR +4	NEW +11	BAL −2	MAN −14	BAL −20
South Sydney Rabbitohs	CRO +1	EAS +2	CAN −28	ILA +13	STG +32	GCG +12	CBY −4	MAN +14	BAL +9	NEW −7	PAR −8	WES +8	NOR 0	BRI +12	PEN −8	CRO −2	EAS +25	CAN −33	ILA +2	STG −2	GCG 0	CBY +4
St. George Dragons	EAS +10	CAN −24	ILA −16	GCG +8	SOU −32	CBY −14	CRO −16	BAL −8	NEW +12	PAR +12	WES +2	NOR +8	BRI −4	PEN −4	MAN −16	EAS −21	CAN −16	ILA +2	GCG +2	SOU +2	CBY −26	CRO −2
Western Suburbs Magpies	PEN −20	NEW −4	BRI −34	BAL −3	NOR −7	MAN −20	PAR +2	GCG +20	CAN −14	ILA −16	STG −2	SOU −8	CBY −25	CRO −36	EAS 0	PEN −12	NEW +10	BRI −26	BAL −6	NOR −4	MAN +3	PAR −4
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	F4	GF

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	22	16	2	4	507	330	+177	34
2	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (P)	22	16	0	6	412	268	+144	32
3	Canberra Raiders	22	15	0	7	596	346	+250	30
4	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	22	15	0	7	538	347	+191	30
5	Penrith Panthers	22	15	0	7	394	258	+136	30
6	Balmain Tigers	22	15	0	7	402	341	+61	30
7	Brisbane Broncos	22	14	0	8	474	368	+106	28
8	South Sydney Rabbitohs	22	12	2	8	425	383	+42	24
9	North Sydney Bears	22	9	2	11	366	424	−58	20
10	St. George Dragons	22	9	0	13	352	493	−141	18
11	Parramatta Eels	22	8	0	14	359	412	−53	16
12	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	22	6	3	13	387	443	−56	15
13	Illawarra Steelers	22	6	1	15	353	510	−157	13
14	Newcastle Knights	22	5	1	16	270	460	−190	11
15	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants	22	4	2	16	238	484	−246	10
16	Western Suburbs Magpies	22	4	1	17	287	493	−206	9

South Sydney were stripped of 2 competition points due to an illegal replacement in one game.

Ladder progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 5.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.

width=20 abbr="Position"	width=250	Team	width=20 abbr="Round 1"	1	width=20 abbr="Round 2"	2	width=20 abbr="Round 3"	3	width=20 abbr="Round 4"	4	width=20 abbr="Round 5"	5	width=20 abbr="Round 6"	6	width=20 abbr="Round 7"	7	width=20 abbr="Round 8"	8	width=20 abbr="Round 9"	9	width=20 abbr="Round 10"	10	width=20 abbr="Round 11"	11	width=20 abbr="Round 12"	12	width=20 abbr="Round 13"	13	width=20 abbr="Round 14"	14	width=20 abbr="Round 15"	15	width=20 abbr="Round 16"	16	width=20 abbr="Round 17"	17	width=20 abbr="Round 18"	18	width=20 abbr="Round 19"	19	width=20 abbr="Round 20"	20	width=20 abbr="Round 21"	21	width=20 abbr="Round 22"	22
1	0	0	2	3	3	5	7	9	11	11	13	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34
2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	24	26	28	30	32	32
3	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28	30
4	0	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	28	28	30
5	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	30	30	30
6	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	30
7	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	14	14	16	18	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	28
8	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	15	17	17	17	19	19	21	21	22	24
9	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	7	9	11	13	13	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	18	20	20
10	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	16	18	18	18
11	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	14	16
12	0	0	0	1	3	3	3	4	4	6	8	8	10	10	11	13	13	13	13	15	15	15
13	0	1	3	3	5	5	7	9	9	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	13
14	0	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	7	7	7	7	9	9	9	9	9	9	11
15	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	5	7	7	9	9	9	9	10	10
16	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	7	7	7	7	9	9

Finals

Balmain had 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 the regular season's end. They then won four sudden death finals to make it to the Grand final.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	width=17%	Date and Time	width=17%	Venue	width=11%	Referee	width=7%	Crowd
Playoff
align=left	Penrith Panthers	8–28	align=left	Balmain Tigers	16 August 1988	Parramatta Stadium	Mick Stone	14,206
Qualifying Finals
align=left	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	6–19	align=left	Balmain Tigers	20 August 1988	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	25,327
align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	19–18	align=left	Canberra Raiders	21 August 1988	Sydney Football Stadium	Graham Annesley	19,259
Semi-finals
align=left	Canberra Raiders	6–14	align=left	Balmain Tigers	27 August 1988	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	28,879
align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	8–26	align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	28 August 1988	Sydney Football Stadium	Graham Annesley	31,684
Preliminary final
align=left		2–9	align=left	Balmain Tigers	4 September 1988	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	34,848
Grand final
align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24–12	align=left		11 September 1988	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	40,000

Chart

Grand final

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Position	Balmain Tigers
Jason Alchin	FB	Garry Jack
	WG	2. Russell Gartner
		3. Ellery Hanley
	CE	4. Michael Pobjie
		5. Ross Conlon
	FE	6. Mick Neil
		7. Gary Freeman
13. Paul Dunn	PR	13. Bruce McGuire
	HK	12. Benny Elias
11. Peter Tunks (c)		11. Kerry Hemsley
		10. Paul Sironen
		9. David Brooks
		8. Wayne Pearce (c)
14. Mark Bugden	Bench
	Bench	18. Kevin Hardwick
	Bench	19. Steve Edmed
	Bench
	Coach	Warren Ryan

This was the first grand final not to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. 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 master coach 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 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. The Australian national anthem was performed by Glenn Shorrock.

After five minutes Peter Tunks was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes for treading on Ben Elias. The first points of the match were scored shortly after from Terry Lamb's successful penalty kick. Another penalty kick from Lamb put the Bulldogs in front 4 nil. However Balmain grabbed the first try an Elias put up a bomb and was first to the ball ahead of Bulldog Jason Alchin. Conlon's conversion from in front gave the Tigers the lead for first time at 6–4.^[4]

A highly controversial tackle by Terry Lamb put Balmain's in form British import Ellery Hanley out of the game before the 30-minute mark had been reached.^[5] 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 to 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 10–8.

Hanley did not 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 Bulldogs' 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 Bulldogs 24
Tries: Nissen, Hagan, Gillespie, Lamb
Goals: Lamb 4

Balmain Tigers 12
Tries: Elias, McGuire
Goals: Conlon 2

Clive Churchill Medal

Paul Dunn (Canterbury)^[6]

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.Top 5 point scorers

width=50	Points	width=200	Player	width=30	Tries	width=30	Goals	width=30	Field goals
210	Gary Belcher	10	85	0
196	Michael O'Connor	17	64	0
164	Ricky Walford	15	52	0
161	Alan Wilson	7	66	1
155	David Smith	7	63	1

Top 5 try scorers

width=50	Tries	width=200	Player
19	John Ferguson
17	Andrew Ettingshausen
17	Michael O'Connor
15	Wally Lewis
15	Ricky Walford

Top 5 goal scorers

width=50	Goals	width=200	Player
85	Gary Belcher
66	Alan Wilson
66	Mark Ellison
64	Michael O'Connor
64	Ross Conlon

1988 Transfers

Players

Player	1987 Club	1988 Club
data-sort-value="Hanrahan, Gavin"	Gavin Hanrahan	Balmain Tigers	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Sigsworth, Phil"	Phil Sigsworth	Balmain Tigers	Retirement
data-sort-value="Fahey, Terry"	Terry Fahey	Canberra Raiders	Retirement
data-sort-value="Hoffman, Jay"	Jay Hoffman	Canberra Raiders	Retirement
data-sort-value="Regan, Terry"	Terry Regan	Canberra Raiders	Hull F.C.
data-sort-value="Boyd, David"	David Boyd	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Frendo, Glen"	Glen Frendo	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Jarvis, Pat"	Pat Jarvis	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Eastern Suburbs Roosters
data-sort-value="Kelly, Peter"	Peter Kelly	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Mortimer, Chris"	Chris Mortimer	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Mortimer, Peter"	Peter Mortimer	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Hull Kingston Rovers
data-sort-value="Hurst, Phil"	Phil Hurst	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Canberra Raiders
data-sort-value="Leis, Jim"	Jim Leis	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Retirement
data-sort-value="Battese, Brian"	Brian Battese	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Canberra Raiders
data-sort-value="Hastings, Kevin"	Kevin Hastings	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Retirement
data-sort-value="Leggett, Glen"	Glen Leggett	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Illawarra Steelers
data-sort-value="Matterson, Terry"	Terry Matterson	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Prohm, Gary"	Gary Prohm	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Retirement
data-sort-value="Rampling, Tony"	Tony Rampling	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Simpkins, Robert"	Robert Simpkins	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Tessmann, Brad"	Brad Tessmann	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Tobin, John"	John Tobin	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Retirement
data-sort-value="Bradley, Graeme"	Graeme Bradley	Illawarra Steelers	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Close, Chris"	Chris Close	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Cox, Mitchell"	Mitchell Cox	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Retirement
data-sort-value="Gibbs, Ron"	Ron Gibbs	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Gurr, Marty"	Marty Gurr	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Leeds
data-sort-value="Meredith, Martin"	Martin Meredith	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Halifax
data-sort-value="Brockwell, Simon"	Simon Brockwell	North Sydney Bears	Retirement
data-sort-value="Filipaina, Olsen"	Olsen Filipaina	North Sydney Bears	Retirement
data-sort-value="McCaffery, Paul"	Paul McCaffery	North Sydney Bears	Hull F.C.
data-sort-value="McKinnon, Don"	Don McKinnon	North Sydney Bears	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
data-sort-value="Atkins, Graeme"	Graeme Atkins	Parramatta Eels	Retirement
data-sort-value="Eden, Michael"	Michael Eden	Parramatta Eels	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Garland, Ernie"	Ernie Garland	Parramatta Eels	Western Suburbs Magpies
data-sort-value="Hunt, Neil"	Neil Hunt	Parramatta Eels	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Jurd, Stan"	Stan Jurd	Parramatta Eels	Retirement
data-sort-value="Wolffe, Ken"	Ken Wolffe	Parramatta Eels	Retirement
data-sort-value="Brohman, Darryl"	Darryl Brohman	Penrith Panthers	Retirement
data-sort-value="Butterfield, Tony"	Tony Butterfield	Penrith Panthers	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Fenton, Warren"	Warren Fenton	Penrith Panthers	Retirement
data-sort-value="Gonzales, Ben"	Ben Gonzales	Penrith Panthers	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Houghton, Chris"	Chris Houghton	Penrith Panthers	Canberra Raiders
data-sort-value="Izzard, Craig"	Craig Izzard	Penrith Panthers	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Lee, Brandon"	Brandon Lee	Penrith Panthers	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
data-sort-value="Liddiard, David"	David Liddiard	Penrith Panthers	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Miller, Glenn"	Glenn Miller	Penrith Panthers	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Robinson, Mark"	Mark Robinson	Penrith Panthers	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Vitanza, Joe"	Joe Vitanza	Penrith Panthers	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Baker, Neil"	Neil Baker	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Pobjie, Michael"	Michael Pobjie	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Balmain Tigers
data-sort-value="Ross, Mark"	Mark Ross	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Burgess, Glenn"	Glenn Burgess	St. George Dragons	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Djura, Bronko"	Bronko Djura	St. George Dragons	South Sydney Rabbitohs
data-sort-value="Fifita, John"	John Fifita	St. George Dragons	Castleford
data-sort-value="Glanville, Marc"	Marc Glanville	St. George Dragons	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Johns, Chris"	Chris Johns	St. George Dragons	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Johnstone, Billy"	Billy Johnstone	St. George Dragons	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Noke, Billy"	Billy Noke	St. George Dragons	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Quinton, Brian"	Brian Quinton	St. George Dragons	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Townsend, Tony"	Tony Townsend	St. George Dragons	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Bilbija, John"	John Bilbija	Western Suburbs Magpies	South Sydney Rabbitohs
data-sort-value="Clark, Brett"	Brett Clark	Western Suburbs Magpies	St. George Dragons
data-sort-value="Elias, John"	John Elias	Western Suburbs Magpies	Eastern Suburbs Roosters
data-sort-value="Ellis, Craig"	Craig Ellis	Western Suburbs Magpies	Retirement
data-sort-value="Sheahan, Paul"	Paul Sheahan	Western Suburbs Magpies	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Webster, Gary"	Gary Webster	Western Suburbs Magpies	Retirement
data-sort-value="White, Les"	Les White	Western Suburbs Magpies	South Sydney Rabbitohs
data-sort-value="Rix, Grant"	Grant Rix	Fortitude Valley Diehards (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Langer, Allan"	Allan Langer	Ipswich Jets (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Walters, Kerrod"	Kerrod Walters	Ipswich Jets (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Bagnall, Geoff"	Geoff Bagnall	Norths Devils (BRL)	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Dowling, Greg"	Greg Dowling	Norths Devils (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Bailey, Trevor"	Trevor Bailey	Past Brothers (BRL)	St. George Dragons
data-sort-value="Gill, Peter"	Peter Gill	Past Brothers (BRL)	St. George Dragons
data-sort-value="Kilroy, Joe"	Joe Kilroy	Past Brothers (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Mohr, Clinton"	Clinton Mohr	Past Brothers (BRL)	St. George Dragons
data-sort-value="Smith, Gary"	Gary Smith	Past Brothers (BRL)	North Sydney Bears
data-sort-value="Conescu, Greg"	Greg Conescu	Redcliffe Dolphins (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Doyle, Jeff"	Jeff Doyle	Redcliffe Dolphins (BRL)	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Niebling, Bryan"	Bryan Niebling	Redcliffe Dolphins (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Lewis, Wally"	Wally Lewis	Wynnum Manly Seagulls (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Miles, Gene"	Gene Miles	Wynnum Manly Seagulls (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Scott, Colin"	Colin Scott	Wynnum Manly Seagulls (BRL)	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Atkins, Brett"	Brett Atkins	Castleford	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="James, Neil"	Neil James	Halifax	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Boustead, Kerry"	Kerry Boustead	Hull Kingston Rovers	North Sydney Bears
data-sort-value="Hohn, Mark"	Mark Hohn	Hunslet	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Smith, Peter"	Peter Smith	Leeds	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Bridge, Gary"	Gary Bridge	Oldham	Eastern Suburbs Roosters
data-sort-value="Halliwell, Steve"	Steve Halliwell	Wakefield Trinity	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
data-sort-value="Bishop, Paul"	Paul Bishop	Warrington	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Ropati, Joe"	Joe Ropati	Warrington	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
data-sort-value="Hanley, Ellery"	Ellery Hanley	Wigan	Balmain Tigers
data-sort-value="Shelford, Adrian"	Adrian Shelford	Wigan	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Kemp, Tony"	Tony Kemp	Doncaster	Newcastle Knights

Coaches

Coach	1987 Club	1988 Club
data-sort-value="Bennett, Wayne"	Wayne Bennett	Canberra Raiders	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Ryan, Warren"	Warren Ryan	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Balmain Tigers
data-sort-value="Sheens, Tim"	Tim Sheens	Penrith Panthers	Canberra Raiders

External links

Rugby League Tables – Season 1988 The World of Rugby League.
1988 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup at rleague.com
Results:1981–90 at rabbitohs.com.au
NSWRL season 1988 at rugbyleagueproject.com

Notes and References

Web site: Sydney Football Stadium Magic Moments . sydneycricketground.com.au . Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust . https://web.archive.org/web/20070816081038/http://www.scgt.nsw.gov.au/MM-SFS.html . dead . 16 August 2007 . 2 September 2009 .
News: Paul Tait & Heather Smith . Cool Russell is ready to shoulder the burden for Sharks . . Australia . 50 . Fairfax . 1 September 1988 . 6 May 2010.
Web site: History of the Premiership . centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au . . 21 October 2013 . dead . https://archive.today/20131021091506/http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/about/history/history-of-the-premiership.aspx . 21 October 2013 .
News: Weidler . Danny . Minutes that mattered . . 3 . Fairfax Digital . 11 September 1988 . 6 October 2009.
News: Coady . Ben . Grand final dramas . WA Today . Australia . Fairfax Digital . 28 September 2009 . 15 January 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181004074123/http://blogs.watoday.com.au/executive-style/sportandstyle/bencoady/2009/09/28/grandfinaldra.html . 4 October 2018 . dead .
Web site: D'Souza. Miguel. Grand Final History. https://web.archive.org/web/20140819082626/http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/league/2009-grand-final/grandFinal_History.swf. dead. 19 August 2014. wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Australian Associated Press. 8 September 2013.