1987 World Club Challenge
| 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge | |||||||||||||
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 Central Park hosted the match | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 7 October 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Network Ten  | ||||||||||||
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The 1987 World Club Challenge (also known as the 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers,
Originally,
Background
Wigan
The
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The
Match details
The match was played at 7:45pm on a dry Wednesday night, 7 October at the
Wednesday 7 October
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Wigan 
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8 – 2 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
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| Tries: Goals: David Stephenson (4) |
[4] |
Tries: Goals: Michael O'Connor (1) |
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 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:
- Manly forward Ron Gibbs became the first person to be sent off in a World Club Challenge match for illegal use of the elbow when taking out Joe Lydon high after he attempted a drop-goal;
- An all-in brawl erupted after Dale Shearer was lifted in a tackle then started a punch-up in the ruck with Brian Case;
- After taking Manly captain Paul Vautin over the touchline, a group of Wigan defenders went on to take him over the fence causing another all-in brawl;
- Later, when Shearer brought down Lydon in defence, he appeared to step on the Great Britaininternational's head as he got up after making the tackle.
Amongst all of these incidents Wigan's David Stephenson kicked four penalty goals, which proved decisive. The score was 8-2 in favour of Wigan as the final whistle blew,[5] prompting the 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
References
- ^ "Wigan move quickly to set up showpeice with Maroons", The Sydney Morning Herald (31 December 1988)
- ^ Wilson, Andy (3 October 2010). "Wigan prepare to slay Dragons after crushing St Helens in Grand Final". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ AAP (25 January 2001) "World Club Championship Factbox"[dead link] AAP Sports News (Australia)
- ^ 1987 WCC - Wigan vs Manly-Warringah
- ^ 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.
External links
- 1987 World Club Challenge Archived 16 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine at wigan.rlfans.com
- 1987 World Club Challenge at rugbyleagueproject.com