Canberra Raiders 32–24 Eastern Suburbs Roosters — Preliminary Final, 1987 NRL Finals Series
20 Sep 1987 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 26,790
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 1987 NRL finals series: Canberra Raiders 32–24 Eastern Suburbs Roosters, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW on 20 Sep 1987.
Scorers
| Canberra Raiders | Tries: Gary Coyne (2); Matthew Corkery; Ashley Gilbert; Peter Jackson; Mal Meninga Goals: Gary Belcher (2/4); Mal Meninga (2/2) |
| Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Tries: Tony Melrose; Steve Morris; Robert Simpkins; Laurie Spina Goals: David Smith (4/6) |
Team sheets
| Canberra Raiders | Eastern Suburbs Roosters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Belcher | Fullback | Gary Wurth | 1 |
| 2 | Chris Kinna | Wing | Steve Morris | 2 |
| 4 | Peter Jackson | Centre | David Smith | 3 |
| 21 | Mal Meninga | Centre | Tony Melrose | 4 |
| 5 | Matthew Corkery | Wing | Joe Lydon | 5 |
| 6 | Chris O'Sullivan | Five-Eighth | Brendan Hall | 6 |
| 3 | Ivan Henjak | Halfback | Laurie Spina | 7 |
| 8 | Dean Lance (c) | Lock | David Trewhella | 8 |
| 9 | Gary Coyne | Prop | Hugh McGahan (c) | 9 |
| 10 | Ashley Gilbert | Prop | Trevor Gillmeister | 10 |
| 11 | Sam Backo | Second Row | Tony Rampling | 11 |
| 12 | Steve Walters | Hooker | Robert Simpkins | 12 |
| 13 | Brent Todd | Second Row | Danny Shepherd | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 16 | Terry Regan | Trevor Paterson | 50 | |
| 7 | Kevin Walters | Craig Salvatori | 23 | |
| 22 | Rowan Brennan | Wayne Challis | 15 | |
| 23 | Glenn Lazarus | Gary Prohm | 17 | |
| Wayne Bennett & Don Furner | Coach | Arthur Beetson | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Mick Stone |