1988 NSWRL season teams also competed for the 1988 Panasonic Cup. 1988 was the year of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations, and on 4 March, the season opened with the first game of rugby league played at the newly built Sydney Football Stadium. The St. George Dragons defeated the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 24–14. Easts and South Sydney would use the SFS as their home venue from 1988. This saw the end of both the Sydney Sports Ground (which closed due to the building of the SFS) and Redfern Oval as regular venues. The brand new Brisbane Broncos club, featuring Australian Kangaroos captain Wally Lewis
Country Knolls, New York (North), Country Knolls South, Country Knolls West, and the earlier Clifton Knolls were built by the local Clifton Park housing development company owned by Robert Van Patten. The Country Knolls Civic Association has an excellent description of the development and growth of the original Country Knolls from its initial homes built on Hillcrest Drive, Meridian Lane, Ridge Lane, and Manor Court in 1964, to the expansion of Country Knolls into the Town of Malta, and the later addition of homes in 1988/89 on previously untouched land in the middle of Country Knolls in 1988 on the new road Huntington Parkway.