NSWRL season 1987
| 1987 New South Wales Rugby League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 13 |
| Premiers |
 Manly-Warringah (5th title) |
| Minor premiers |
Manly-Warringah (6th title) |
| Matches played | 162 |
| Points scored | 5294 |
| Attendance | 1658354 |
| Top points scorer(s) |
 Ross Conlon (196) |
| Player of the year |
 Peter Sterling (Rothmans Medal) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |
 Terry Lamb (16) |
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 the grand final between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Canberra Raiders who were the first club ever from outside Sydney to appear in a premiership decider. This season, NSWRL teams also competed for the 1987 National Panasonic Cup.
This was to be the last season that the moniker "New South Wales Rugby League" would be actually correct, as the following season two teams from Queensland would be introduced, heralding a new era of interstate club participation in the Winfield Cup premiership (although the name would not be changed to the Australian Rugby League until 1995). This would also ultimately lead to the decline of the already-diminishing Brisbane Rugby League premiership of Queensland.
Twenty-six regular season rounds were played from February till August, resulting in a top five of Manly, Easts, Canberra, Balmain and Souths who battled it out in the finals.
Parramatta's captain and halfback Peter Sterling made a clean sweep of the 1987 season's major awards, winning the Rothmans Medal and Dally M Award as well as being named Rugby League Week's player of the year.
Western Suburbs moved their homeground to Campbelltown (Orana Park) this season.
1987 would be the last year in which the NSWRL used the Sydney Cricket Ground for regular weekly matches, including all finals and the Grand Final. From 1988 league headquarters would move next door to the SCG to the new 40,000 seat, A$68 million Sydney Football Stadium.
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