The 1987

Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen New S ...

season was the 80th in the club's history. They competed in the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

1987 Winfield Cup The 1987 NSWRL season was the 80th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in ...

Premiership, finishing the regular season 2nd (out of 13), before competing in the play-offs and coming within one match of the

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

only to lose to the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

. The Roosters also competed in the

1987 National Panasonic Cup The 1987 National Panasonic Cup was the 14th edition of the Amco Cup, NSWRL Midweek Cup, a New South Wales Rugby League, NSWRL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs from the New South Wales Rugby League, NSWRL ...

Line-up

Russell Bartlett,

Brian Battese Brian Battese (born 25 March 1961) is an Australians, Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a Rugby league positions#Second-row forward, second-row forward in the 1980s. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League and ...

, Wayne Challis, Paul Danes, David French,

Trevor Gillmeister Trevor Gillmeister (born 13 March 1964) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who is employed as a rugby league analyst at Channel 7 Brisbane. During his playing days, Gillmeister played for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, ...

, Brendon Hall,

Steve Hardy Steve Hardy is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital''. Former Major League Baseball infielder John Beradino originated the role of Steve Hardy on the show's April 1, 1963, premiere, portraying the character for 33 year ...

Kevin Hastings Kevin "Horrie" Hastings (born 5 January 1957) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and during the 1970s and 1980s. Hastings played for the Eastern Suburbs in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), ...

, Peter Johnston, Glenn Leggott, Joe Lydon,

Terry Matterson Terry Matterson (born 4 March 1967) is an Australian rugby league coach and former player. Matterson played in Australia's premiership for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters and the Brisbane Broncos, and was also selected to play in the State of Orig ...

Hugh McGahan Hugh Joseph McGahanMcGAHAN, Hugh Joseph 1982 - 90 - Kiwi #566

Mike McLean, John Mackay,

Tony Melrose Tony Melrose (born 7 September 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played in the NSWRL Premiership for Parramatta, South Sydney, Manly-Warringah and Eastern Suburbs in the Ne ...

, Steve Morris, Trevor Patterson, Wayne Portlock,

Gary Prohm Gary Prohm (born 3 October 1956) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer and coach who represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand, including in matches that counted towards the 1988 Rugby League World Cup, 1988 Worl ...

Tony Rampling Tony Rampling (born 25 October 1961) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the New South Wales Rugby League. During his career he played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs (two spells), Eastern Suburbs, Gold Coast Chargers, ...

, John Richards,

Ron Ryan Ronald Ryan (born July 11, 1938) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach and executive. Biography Ryan played junior hockey with the Guelph Biltmores and then enrolled in Colby College. He had 245 points in 73 games with his college ho ...

Craig Salvatori Craig Salvatori (born 22 January 1966) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He spent most of his career at the Sydney Roosters, Eastern Suburbs club. His position of choice was in the R ...

, Danny Shepherd,

Kurt Sherlock Kurt Sherlock is a dual international representing his home country of New Zealand in both rugby codes union and league, though he was never capped for a Test match under the union code. He made his rugby league début for the Kiwis in 1989.Coff ...

, Robert Simpkins, David Smith,

Laurie Spina Laurie Joseph Spina (born 21 May 1963) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and rugby league commentator. In 1995, Spina was the inaugural captain of the North Queensland Cowboys. Background Born in Ingham, Queensland, ...

Brad Tassell Brad Tassell is a former Australian professional rugby league player and executive. A Winger (rugby league), winger, he played nine games in the NSWRL for the Sydney Roosters, Eastern Suburbs between 1987 and 1989. Tassell also served as the chi ...

, Brad Tessmann, John Thomas,

John Tobin John Tobin may refer to: People * Sir John Tobin (1763–1851), Liverpool merchant * John Tobin (dramatist) (1770–1804), author of ''The Honey Moon'' * John F. Tobin (1880–1954), American football player and coach * Jack Tobin (1892–1969 ...

, David Trewhella,

Mark Wheeler Mark Anthony Wheeler (born April 1, 1970) is a former American football defensive tackle who played eight seasons in the National Football League for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, and the Philadelphia Eagles. He started in S ...

, Gary Wurth.

Ladder

Season summary

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

home ground was

Henson Park Henson Park is a multi purpose sports ground in Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia. History It was established in 1933 on the site of Daley's brick pit, Thomas Daley operated the Standsure Brick Company from 1886 to 1914. The brickworks ...

. * Eastern Suburbs were coached by

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

. *Rd.1 Bye *Rd.2 Eastern Suburbs 14 (W. Portlock, W. Challis Tries; T. Melrose 3 Goals) def Illawarra 8 (P. Haddock Try; D. Carney 2 Goals) at Henson Park. *Rd.3 Eastern Suburbs 5 ( T. Melrose 2

Goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

; K Hastings

Field Goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

) def North Sydney 4 (J. McArthur 2 Goals) at North Sydney Oval. A tackle by Wayne Challis bringing down opposition winger, Steven Keir only inches short of the line in the dying minutes of their match helped

maintain their undefeated start to the season. *Rd.4 saw Eastern Suburbs record their biggest win of the season, Eastern Suburbs 44 (W. Challis 3, S. Morris 2, G. Prohm, H. McGahan, T. Gillmeister Tries; T. Melrose 6 Goals) defeated St George 2 (B. Djura Goal) at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was also Eastern Suburb biggest ever win over the St George club. *Rd.5 Eastern Suburbs 21 (H. McGahn, T. Gillmeister, T. Melrose, L. Spina tries; T. Melrose 2 goals, W Portlock field goal) defeated

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

8 (W. Pearce try; R. Conlon 2 goals).

Season Highlights

* David Smith was

leading point scorer with 88 points, coming from 5 tries and 35

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

while their leading try scorer was Steve Morris with 10. *

biggest win of the season came in the 4th round match, played at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

, when they defeated

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

44 points to 2, with

Roosters The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

winger Wayne Challis scoring 3 tries. It was also the biggest ever loss the St George club suffered against East's. Though East's best win of the season came in their round 22 match at Henson Park, when they defeated that year's Premiers,

Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

26 to 16. * Representatives:

(

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

), Hugh McGahn(

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

), Gary Wurth(

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

) * Arthur Beetson was recognised as coach of the year.

References

* Rugby League 1987-88 yearbook, David Middleton {{Sydney Roosters Sydney Roosters seasons Eastern Suburbs Roosters season