1987 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season

Last updated

1987 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season
NSWRL champions
NSWRL Rank1st
1987 recordWins: 20; draws: 1; losses: 5
Points scoredFor: 581; against: 370
Team information
Secretary Flag of Australia (converted).svg Doug Daley
Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Fulton
Assistant coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Thompson ( Reserve Grade )
Captains
Stadium Brookvale Oval
Top scorers
Tries Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dale Shearer (13)
Goals Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mal Cochrane (59)
Points Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mal Cochrane (138)
  1986 1988  

The 1987 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 41st in the club's history since their entry into the then New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in 1947.

Contents

The 1987 Sea Eagles were coached by triple Manly premiership player and former Kangaroo Tour captain Bob Fulton. Captaining the side was Queensland back rower Paul Vautin. The club competed in the New South Wales Rugby League's 1987 Premiership season and played its home games at the 27,000 capacity Brookvale Oval. [1]

Ladder

TeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah 2418152553356+19741
2 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs 2415182390353+3735
3 Canberra colours.svg Canberra 2415092441325+11634
4 Balmain colours.svg Balmain 2414192469349+12033
5 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney 24131102310342-3231
6 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown 24130112353316+3730
7 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta 24120122417411+628
8 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland 24111122390433-4327
9 St. George colours.svg St. George 24102122394409-1526
10 North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney 24110132368401-3326
11 Illawarra colours.svg Illawarra 2480162372449-7720
12 Penrith colours.svg Penrith 2461172274399-12517
13 Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs 2452172339527-18816

Regular season

Sunday 1 March St. George Dragons St. George colours.svg 4 – 4 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney
Tries:

Goals:
Bronko Djura (2/3)
[2]
Tries:

Goals:
Mal Cochrane (2/2)

Attendance: 10,650
Referee: Giles O'Donnell

Sunday 8 March Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 42 – 18 Penrith colours.svg Penrith Panthers Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Dale Shearer (3), Mal Cochrane, Des Hasler, Martin Meredith, David Ronson
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (6/9)
Michael O'Connor (1/1)
[3]
Tries:
Craig Connor, Ben Gonzales, Matt Goodwin
Goals:
Mark Bevan (3/3)

Attendance: 6,374
Referee: Graham Annesley

Sunday 15 March Western Suburbs Magpies Western Suburbs colours.svg 11 – 22 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Orana Park, Sydney
Tries:
John Allanson
Goals:
Ian Schubert (3/6)
[4]
Tries:
Des Hasler, Michael O'Connor, David Ronson, Dale Shearer
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (3/5)

Attendance: 8,822
Referee: Mick Stone

Sunday 22 March Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 16 – 13 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Ian Barkley, Mal Cochrane, Des Hasler, Steve Park
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (2/3)
Mal Cochrane (1/3)
[5]
Tries:

Goals:
John Muggleton (2/2)

Attendance: 17,757
Referee: Mick Stone

Bye


Sunday 5 April Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Canterbury colours.svg 18 – 6 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney
Tries:
Michael Hagan, Steve Mortimer
Goals:
Terry Lamb (5/6)
[6]
Tries:
Jeremy Ticehurst
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (1/3)

Attendance: 13,553
Referee: Mick Stone

Sunday 12 April Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 18 – 28 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Ian Barkley, Cliff Lyons, Michael O'Connor
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (3/4)
[7]
Tries:
David Boyle, Wayne Chisholm, Mario Fenech, Steve Mavin, Ian Roberts
Goals:
Michael Andrews (4/7)

Attendance: 14,601
Referee: Graham Annesley

Monday 20 April Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Cronulla colours.svg 18 – 13 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Caltex Field, Sydney
Tries:
Greg Nixon, Ron Quinn, Sean Watson
Goals:
Sean Watson (3/7)
[8]
Tries:
Des Hasler, Dale Shearer
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (2/3)
Field Goals:
Cliff Lyons (1)

Attendance: 10,931
Referee: Bill Harrigan

Saturday 25 April Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 18 – 10 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs Roosters Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Chris Close, Mark Pocock, Paul Vautin
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (3/4)
[9]
Tries:
Wayne Portlock
Goals:
Tony Melrose (3/4)

Attendance: 10,247
Referee: Mick Stone

Saturday 2 May Canberra Raiders Canberra colours.svg 10 – 18 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan
Tries:
Sam Backo, Ashley Gilbert
Goals:
Phil Carey (1/2)
[10]
Tries:
Greg Austin, Noel Cleal, Cliff Lyons
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (3/4)

Attendance: 4,885
Referee: Greg McCallum

Sunday 10 May Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 22 – 12 Illawarra colours.svg Illawarra Steelers Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Stuart Davis (2), Dale Shearer, Jeremy Ticehurst
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (3/6)
[11]
Tries:
Graeme Bradley, Perry Haddock
Goals:
Dean Carney (2/4)

Attendance: 7,053
Referee: Kevin Roberts

Sunday 17 May North Sydney Bears North Sydney colours.svg 22 – 30 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles North Sydney Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Mark Cannon, Greg Florimo, Ian French
Goals:
John Dorahy (5/5)
[12]
Tries:
Noel Cleal (2), Ian Barkley, Dale Shearer
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (7/7)

Attendance: 11,391
Referee: Greg McCallum

Sunday 24 May Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 48 – 14 Balmain colours.svg Balmain Tigers Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Darrell Williams (3), Ron Gibbs (2), Mal Cochrane, Stuart Davis, Michael O'Connor, David Ronson
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (6/9)
[13]
Tries:
Benny Elias, Russel Gartner
Goals:
Lee Crooks (3/3)

Attendance: 25,448
Referee: Kevin Roberts

Sunday 7 June Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 20 – 6 St. George colours.svg St. George Dragons Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Des Hasler, Dale Shearer, Darrell Williams
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (3/6)
Michael O'Connor (1/1)
[14]
Tries:
Graeme Wynn
Goals:
Ricky Walford (1/2)

Attendance: 12,041
Referee: Mick Stone

Sunday 14 June Penrith Panthers Penrith colours.svg 10 – 12 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Penrith Park, Sydney
Tries:
Mark Robinson
Goals:
Andrew Fitzhenry (3/4)
[15]
Tries:
Stuart Davis
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (4/4)

Attendance: Barry Barnes
Referee: 8,287

Sunday 21 June Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 26 – 25 Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs Magpies Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Stuart Davis (2), Cliff Lyons, Michael O'Connor, David Ronson
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (3/7)
[16]
Tries:
John Allanson, Trevor Cogger, Ian Naden, Paul Sheahan
Goals:
Ian Schubert (3/6)
Hew Rees (1/1)
Field Goals:
Ian Naden (1)

Attendance: 10,732
Referee: Bill Harrigan

Sunday 28 June Parramatta Eels Parramatta colours.svg 22 – 30 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Parramatta Stadium, Sydney
Tries:
Tony Chalmers, Michael Erickson, Brett Kenny, Bob Lindner, John Muggleton
Goals:
John Muggleton (1/5)
[17]
Tries:
Dale Shearer (2), Des Hasler, Cliff Lyons, Michael O'Connor, David Ronson
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (3/6)

Attendance: 25,139
Referee: Kevin Roberts

Bye


Sunday 12 July Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 32 – 2 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Greg Austin, Noel Cleal, Ron Gibbs, Des Hasler, Martin Meredith
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (6/8)
[18]
Tries:

Goals:
Terry Lamb (1/2)

Attendance: 16,252
Referee: Greg McCallum

Sunday 19 July South Sydney Rabbitohs South Sydney colours.svg 13 – 16 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Redfern Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Craig Coleman, Steve Mavin
Goals:
Mark Ellison (2/3)
Field Goals:
Mark Ellison (1)
[19]
Tries:
Ron Gibbs, Cliff Lyons
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (4/6)

Attendance: 23,257
Referee: Mick Stone

Sunday 26 July Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 30 – 8 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Michael O'Connor (2), Dale Shearer (2), Mal Cochrane, Stuart Davis
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (3/6)
[20]
Tries:
Jonathan Docking
Goals:
Sean Watson (1/3)
Alan Wilson (1/1)

Attendance: 14,323
Referee: Graham Annesley

Sunday 2 August Eastern Suburbs Roosters Eastern Suburbs colours.svg 26 – 16 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Henson Park, Sydney
Tries:
Steve Morris (2), Brendan Hall, David Smith
Goals:
David Smith (5/5)
[21]
Tries:
Noel Cleal, Michael O'Connor, Darrell Williams
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (2/3)

Attendance: 6,573
Referee: Graham Annesley

Sunday 9 August Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 20 – 18 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Mal Cochrane, Martin Meredith, Kevin Ward
Goals:
Mal Cochrane (4/5)
[22]
Tries:
Sam Backo, Ashley Gilbert, Kevin Walters
Goals:
Matthew Corkery (3/5)

Attendance: 9,114
Referee: Bill Harrigan

Sunday 16 August Illawarra Steelers Illawarra colours.svg 17 – 28 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Wollongong Showground, Wollongong
Tries:
Steve Larder (2), Graeme Bradley
Goals:
Dean Carney (2/5)
Field Goals:
Chris Withall (1)
[23]
Tries:
Noel Cleal (2), Paul Shaw, Michael O'Connor
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (4/4)

Attendance: 10,740
Referee: Giles O'Donnell

Sunday 23 August Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 30 – 32 North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney Bears Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Tries:
Stuart Davis, Michael O'Connor, David Ronson, Dale Shearer, Martin Meredith
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (5/7)
[24]
Tries:
Mark Cannon (2), John McArthur (2), Ian French, Kevin Marr
Goals:
John McArthur (4/7)

Attendance: 13,913
Referee: Bill Harrigan

Sunday 30 August Balmain Tigers Balmain colours.svg 8 – 26 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Tries:
John Davidson, Garry Schofield
Goals:
[25]
Tries:
Des Hasler (2), Cliff Lyons, David Ronson
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (5/5)

Attendance: 13,557
Referee: Graham Annesley

Finals

Major Semi-Final

Sunday 3 September Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 10 – 6 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs Roosters Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Tries:
David Ronson
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (3/3)
[26]
Tries:
David French
Goals:
David Smith (1/2)

Attendance: 36,399
Referee: Greg McCallum

Grand final

Sunday 27 September
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg 18 – 8 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders
Tries:
Cliff Lyons
Michael O'Connor
Goals:
Michael O'Connor (5/5)
[27]
Tries:
Chris O'Sullivan

Goals:
Mal Meninga (1/1)
Gary Belcher (1/1)
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 50,201
Referee: Mick Stone
Player of the Match: Cliff Lyons Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg
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Manly-Warringah
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Canberra
FB1 Dale Shearer
RW2 David Ronson
CE3 Darrell Williams
CE4 Michael O'Connor
LW5 Stuart Davis
FE6 Cliff Lyons
HB7 Des Hasler
LK8 Paul Vautin (c)
SR9 Noel Cleal
SR10 Ron Gibbs
PR11 Kevin Ward
HK12 Mal Cochrane
PR13 Phil Daley
Substitutions:
IC20 Paul Shaw
IC24 Mark Pocock
Coach:
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Fulton
FB1 Gary Belcher
RW2 Chris Kinna
CE3 Mal Meninga
CE4 Peter Jackson
LW5 Matthew Corkery
FE6 Chris O'Sullivan
HB7 Ivan Henjak
LK8 Dean Lance (c)
SR9 Gary Coyne
SR10 Ashley Gilbert
PR11 Sam Backo
HK12 Steve Walters
PR13 Brent Todd
Substitutions:
IC14 Kevin Walters
IC15 Terry Regan
Coach:
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 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 after Lyons had initially dummied to O'Connor, then proceeded to run around Peter Jackson and head 30 metres downfield. It all came to naught however when Lyons' reverse pass to O'Connor was put to ground after O'Connor had thought Lyons would dummy to him again, with Lyons actually having what TV replays showed to be an unimpeded run to the try line had he looked ahead and not tried to pass.

Manly continued to put pressure on the Raiders defence with both speedsters Michael O'Connor and Dale Shearer trying to catch the Raiders out with long range kicks to their in-goal area in front of the SCG hill, but both were only just beaten to the ball each time by Gary Belcher and Gary Coyne respectively.

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 Belcher to score.

The Sea Eagles led 6–0 at half-time though it could have been much greater had they taken advantage of the opportunities Cliff Lyons had been creating. Other than the Lyons try, the closest Manly actually got to scoring again in the first half ended with a ball-and-all tackle by Belcher on Dale Shearer just two metres from the Canberra try line. For their part, Canberra rarely threatened the Manly line with a midfield break by Mal Meninga stopped by a good Des Hasler tackle, while Shearer repaid his opposite when he took down Belcher who had taken an inside pass from a Peter Jackson break.

From the second half 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 O'Connor to take Manly out 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 on the players, though one of the more surprising efforts was Manly's English prop Kevin Ward who ran and tackled strongly all day. Meninga, who had only played 60 minutes of football since breaking his arm in a game against Manly almost two months earlier, was replaced by Kevin Walters 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 (for his part, Cochrane still can not remember the second half). Soon after a successful penalty goal from O'Connor, a Dale Shearer cross field kick from the Raiders 22m line was grounded over the line by O'Connor in the Paddington corner. While Manly winger David Ronson was thought to be offside (though he did not get involved in the play, he was still within 10 metres of O'Connor), many claim that the Manly centre should have been ruled offside as he got the ball "rather quickly" (Ch.10's television replays would prove inconclusive, however a wider shot shown on the ABC showed that O'Connor was actually onside). However, what counted was that referee Mick Stone ruled that Manly's international centre was onside and O'Connor was awarded the try. He converted his own try (giving him 4/4 goals at that point) and Manly had a premiership winning 16–2 lead.

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. With Meninga off the ground, 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. The Manly centre also had a try taken off him just minutes after his previous try when Mick Stone ruled a pass from Cliff Lyons had gone forward.

Right on full-time, O'Connor landed his fifth goal from five attempts after the Raiders were penalised in front of their own posts for being offside after a tap-kick restart. 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 team other than Canterbury-Bankstown or Parramatta to win the grand final during the 1980s (Manly had been beaten grand finalists in 1982 and 1983, losing both times to Parramatta).

Manly centre Darrell Williams became the first ever New Zealander to win the Sydney Premiership, while Paul Vautin became the first, and so far only Queenslander to captain the Sea Eagles to a winning Grand Final.

For Manly coach 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 club coaching career of Don Furner, the man who brought Canberra into the competition in 1982. Furner, a 1956–57 Kangaroo tourist, had been coaching in the Sydney Premiership since taking over as Easts coach in 1970 (losing the 1972 Grand Final to Manly), and along the way had also coached the undefeated 1986 Kangaroo Tour squad known as "The Unbeatables". For his partner, Queensland's 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 the Brisbane Broncos and a continuing career as Queensland Origin coach.

1987 World Club Challenge

1987 saw the second World Club Challenge game between the reigning New South Wales Rugby League premiers and the reigning Rugby Football League (England) champions. This game was held in England less than two weeks following the 1987 NSWRL grand final.

The match was played at 7:45pm on a dry Wednesday night, 7 October at the Central Park ground in Wigan. A crowd of 36,895 was in attendance for the game, though unofficial estimates from those present put the attendance as high as 50,000. [28] The game was refereed by RFL international referee John Holdsworth. Former four-time Manly premiership winning Fullback Graham Eadie, who at the time was playing in England with 1987 Challenge Cup winners Halifax, was on hand as a match commentator as was dual Manly premiership player (and captain of the 1978 team) and the skipper of the 1982 Invincibles, Max Krilich.

Wednesday, 7 October
Wigan Wigancolours.svg 8 – 2 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Tries:

Goals:
David Stephenson (4)
[29]
Tries:

Goals:
Michael O'Connor (1)
Central Park, Wigan
Attendance: 36,895
Referee: John Holdsworth Flag of England.svg
Player of the Match: Shaun Wane Wigancolours.svg
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Wigan
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Manly-Warringah
FB1 Steve Hampson
RW2 Richard Russell
CE3 Darrell Williams
CE4 Joe Lydon
LW5 Henderson Gill
SO6 Shaun Edwards
SH7 Andy Gregory
PR8 Brian Case
HK9 Nicky Kiss
PR10 Shaun Wane
SR11 Andy Goodway
SR12 Ian Potter
LF13 Ellery Hanley (c)
Substitutions:
IC14 Ged Byrne
IC15 Graeme West
IC16 Ian Gildart
IC17 Ian Lucas
Coach:
Flag of New Zealand.svg Graham Lowe
FB1 Dale Shearer
RW2 David Ronson
CE3 Darrell Williams
CE4 Michael O'Connor
LW5 Stuart Davis
FE6 Cliff Lyons
HB7 Des Hasler
LK8 Paul Vautin (c)
SR9 Owen Cunningham
SR10 Ron Gibbs
PR11 Ian Gately
HK12 Mal Cochrane
PR13 Phil Daley
Substitutions:
IC14 Mark Brokenshire
IC15 Jeremy Ticehurst
IC16 Mark Pocock
IC17 Paul Shaw
Coach:
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Fulton

No tries were scored in what was a closely fought and, at times, spiteful encounter. Michael O'Connor opened the scoring for Manly with a successful penalty kick in only the second minute, which would turn out to be the only time the Sea Eagles scored. Tempers flared as the match went on, punctuated by more penalties and a few unsavoury incidents:

Amongst all of these incidents Wigan's David Stephenson kicked four penalty goals, which in the end would prove decisive. The score was 8 - 2 in favour of the home side as the final whistle blew, [30] prompting the overjoyed Wigan supporters to flood onto the field to celebrate with the players.

In his biography The Strife and Times of Paul Vautin written by Mike Coleman and released in 1992, the Manly captain told that the Sea Eagles players were so convinced that they would beat Wigan after their grand final win over the Canberra Raiders and after the undefeated 1986 Kangaroo Tour, that they treated the trip to England more as a holiday than anything serious and continued celebrating their GF win while there. Vautin and the other Manly players believe that their poor attitude is what ultimately cost them the game. Wigan on the other hand, led by their Kiwi coach Graham Lowe and featuring 11 Great Britain and one New Zealand international (compared to 5 Australian and one New Zealand international for Manly), took the game very seriously with pride their main motivation after the Great Britain Lions had been humiliated by the Australian's with 4 straight 3-0 Ashes series losses since the disastrous 1979 Australasian tour and the popular belief that the NSWRL Premiership was superior to the RFL's.

In a twist, after leading Wigan to numerous cup titles over the next two seasons, Graham Lowe would become Manly's head coach from 1990 to 1992.

Player statistics

Note: Games and (sub) show total games played, e.g. 1 (1) is 2 games played. List does not include World Club Challenge.

PlayerGames (sub)TriesGoalsFGPoints
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Austin 1 (3)28
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Barkley 11 (1)416
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Brokenshire 12
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Noel Cleal (vc)14 (1)728
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Close 8 (2)14
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mal Cochrane 25559/92138
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mitchell Cox (2)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Cullum (3)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Owen Cunningham 4 (2)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Daley 18
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stuart Davis 15 (1)832
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Gately 4 (3)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Gibbs 26416
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Marty Gurr 3 (1)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Charlie Haggett (1)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Des Hasler 24936
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matthew Loft (1)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cliff Lyons 21 (1)7129
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Martin Meredith 7 (4)312
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Michael O'Connor 211139/51122
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Park 714
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Pocock 6 (12)14
Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Ronson 22 (2)832
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Glenn Ryan (3)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Paul Shaw 2 (9)28
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dale Shearer 201352
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jeremy Ticehurst 9 (4)312
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Paul Vautin (c)2314
Flag of England.svg Kevin Ward 1114
Flag of New Zealand.svg Darrell Williams 22520
TOTAL9698/1431581

Representative Players

International

State

City vs Country

References

  1. NSWRL 1987 - Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
  2. "1987 NSWRL Rd.1 - St George vs Manly". Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  3. 1987 NSWRL Rd.2 - Manly vs Penrith
  4. 1987 NSWRL Rd.3 - Western Suburbs vs Manly
  5. "1987 NSWRL Rd.4 - Manly vs Parramatta". Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  6. 1987 NSWRL Rd.6 - Canterbury-Bankstown vs Manly
  7. 1987 NSWRL Rd.7 - Manly vs South Sydney
  8. 1987 NSWRL Rd.8 - Cronulla-Sutherland vs Manly
  9. 1987 NSWRL Rd.9 - Manly vs Eastern Suburbs
  10. 1987 NSWRL Rd.10 - Canberra vs Manly
  11. 1987 NSWRL Rd.11 - Manly vs Illawarra
  12. 1987 NSWRL Rd.12 - North Sydney vs Manly
  13. 1987 NSWRL Rd.13 - Manly vs Balmain
  14. 1987 NSWRL Rd.14 - Manly vs St George
  15. 1987 NSWRL Rd.15 - Penrith vs Manly
  16. 1987 NSWRL Rd.16 - Manly vs Western Suburbs
  17. 1987 NSWRL Rd.17 - Parramatta vs Manly
  18. 1987 NSWRL Rd.19 - Manly vs Canterbury-Bankstown
  19. 1987 NSWRL Rd.20 - South Sydney vs Manly
  20. 1987 NSWRL Rd.21 - Manly vs Cronulla-Sutherland
  21. 1987 NSWRL Rd.22 - Eastern Suburbs vs Manly
  22. 1987 NSWRL Rd.23 - Manly vs Canberra
  23. 1987 NSWRL Rd.24 - Illawarra vs Manly
  24. "1987 NSWRL Rd.25 - Manly vs North Sydney". Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  25. 1987 NSWRL Rd.26 - Balmain vs Manly
  26. 1987 NSWRL major semi-final – Manly vs Eastern Suburbs
  27. 1987 NSWRL grand final – Manly-Warringah vs Canberra
  28. AAP (25 January 2001) "World Club Championship Factbox" [ dead link ] AAP Sports News (Australia)
  29. 1987 World Club Challenge - Wigan vs Manly
  30. Wilson, Zack (24 February 2011). "Wigan heroes of 1987 to parade before PROBIZ World Club Challenge". code13rugbyleague.com. UK: Code13 Sports Media. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.