1998 Brisbane Broncos season |
---|
The 1998 Brisbane Broncos season was the eleventh in the history of Brisbane's National Rugby League premiership team, the Brisbane Broncos. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Allan Langer, they participated in the newly formed National Rugby League's 1998 premiership and posted their three biggest ever wins in rounds 5, 7 and 15 before finishing the regular season as minor premiers. The Broncos then won the 1998 NRL Grand Final, capturing their fourth premiership in seven seasons.
For the 1998 season the Broncos were joined by future Melbourne Storm coach, Craig Bellamy who would work under head coach Wayne Bennett as performance co-ordinator and assistant coach.
As could be expected by their finish to the 1997 season, Brisbane were solid in their first five matches of 1998, snatching five victories. In rounds five and seven, the Broncos won by a margin of 54 points, which was the club's record at the time. This was followed by shock losses to the Sydney City Roosters and Cronulla, but Langer led them to a big win over Canterbury only to see two more club losses. But the Broncos recovered to post huge wins over Penrith and the Western Suburbs Magpies. The Broncos finished the remainder of the regular season undefeated finishing with 10 wins and 1 draw in their last 11 games. The top try-scorer from the NRL season was Brisbane's Darren Smith.
After a week off granted by winning the minor premiership, the Broncos were smothered out of the game by Parramatta 15–10 in their opening finals match. But they lifted and provided some miracle spark against the Melbourne Storm 30-6 a week later, resurrecting their premiership hopes. A huge win over Sydney City 46–18 in the preliminary final installed them at near unbackable odds against Canterbury in the first NRL Grand Final. The Broncos came back from a 12-10 half time deficit to again win consecutive premierships for the second time, and their fourth in seven seasons with a 38-12 Grand Final victory. [1]
The Broncos were also named "Queensland Sport Team of the Year" at the Queensland Sport Awards. [2]
Round | Opponent | Result | Bro. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Manly Sea Eagles | Win | 22 | 6 | 13 Mar | ANZ Stadium | 39,109 | 4/20 |
2 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Win | 20 | 12 | 22 Mar | Belmore Oval | 10,962 | 3/20 |
3 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 26 | 18 | 28 Mar | ANZ Stadium | 18,570 | 3/20 |
4 | Gold Coast Chargers | Win | 40 | 18 | 5 Apr | Carrara Stadium | 13,126 | 2/20 |
5 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 58 | 4 | 12 Apr | ANZ Stadium | 20,904 | 1/20 |
6 | Manly Sea Eagles | Loss | 4 | 28 | 17 Apr | Brookvale Oval | 13,194 | 1/20 |
7 | North Sydney Bears | Win | 60 | 6 | 26 Apr | ANZ Stadium | 18,791 | 1/20 |
8 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 26 | 6 | 1 May | Newcastle ISC | 27,119 | 1/20 |
9 | Sydney City Roosters | Loss | 12 | 26 | 10 May | ANZ Stadium | 19,346 | 1/20 |
10 | Cronulla Sharks | Loss | 10 | 20 | 16 May | Endeavour Field | 10,582 | 5/20 |
11^ | Canterbury Bulldogs | Win | 40 | 12 | 24 May | ANZ Stadium | 15,407 | 4/20 |
12 | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 18 | 24 | 31 May | Bruce Stadium | 14,728 | 5/20 |
13^ | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 16 | 20 | 7 Jun | ANZ Stadium | 18,163 | 6/20 |
14 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 44 | 4 | 13 Jun | Penrith Football Stadium | 11,637 | 6/20 |
15^ | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win | 56 | 4 | 21 Jun | ANZ Stadium | 12,415 | 5/20 |
16 | St George Dragons | Win | 30 | 18 | 26 Jun | Kogarah Oval | 16,258 | 4/20 |
17 | Melbourne Storm | Win | 34 | 16 | 3 Jul | ANZ Stadium | 35,119 | 3/20 |
18 | Illawarra Steelers | Win | 18 | 12 | 12 Jul | WIN Stadium | 12,018 | 3/20 |
19 | Gold Coast Chargers | Win | 44 | 10 | 19 Jul | ANZ Stadium | 12,740 | 2/20 |
20 | Balmain Tigers | Draw | 10 | 10 | 25 Jul | Leichhardt Oval | 7,159 | 2/20 |
21 | Adelaide Rams | Win | 46 | 12 | 1 Aug | ANZ Stadium | 13,858 | 1/20 |
22 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 22 | 10 | 8 Aug | Stockland Stadium | 30,250 | 1/20 |
23 | Auckland Warriors | Win | 16 | 4 | 16 Aug | ANZ Stadium | 16,456 | 1/20 |
24 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 16 | 10 | 23 Aug | Sydney Football Stadium | 7,262 | 1/20 |
Qualif. Final | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 10 | 15 | 6 Sep | ANZ Stadium | 21,172 | |
Semi Final | Melbourne Storm | Win | 30 | 6 | 13 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 20,354 | |
Prelim. Final | Sydney City Roosters | Win | 46 | 18 | 19 Sep | ANZ Stadium | 28,374 | |
GRAND FINAL | Canterbury Bulldogs | Win | 38 | 12 | 27 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 40,857 | |
^Game following a State of Origin match
Brisbane Broncos NRL average home attendance in 1998: 20,073
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brisbane Broncos (P) | 24 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 688 | 310 | +378 | 37 |
2 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 562 | 381 | +181 | 37 |
3 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 546 | 372 | +174 | 35 |
4 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 468 | 349 | +119 | 35 |
5 | North Sydney Bears | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 663 | 367 | +296 | 34 |
6 | Sydney City Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 680 | 383 | +297 | 32 |
7 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 564 | 429 | +135 | 30 |
8 | St. George Dragons | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 486 | 490 | -4 | 27 |
9 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 489 | 411 | +78 | 26 |
10 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 503 | 473 | +30 | 26 |
11 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 438 | 387 | +51 | 25 |
12 | Illawarra Steelers | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 476 | 539 | -63 | 23 |
13 | Balmain Tigers | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 381 | 463 | -82 | 19 |
14 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 525 | 580 | -55 | 18 |
15 | Auckland Warriors | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 417 | 518 | -101 | 18 |
16 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 361 | 556 | -195 | 18 |
17 | Adelaide Rams | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 393 | 615 | -222 | 14 |
18 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 339 | 560 | -221 | 10 |
19 | Gold Coast Chargers | 24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 289 | 654 | -365 | 8 |
20 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 371 | 802 | -431 | 8 |
Brisbane Broncos vs. Canterbury Bulldogs
Player | Position | Player |
---|---|---|
Darren Lockyer | Fullback | Rod Silva |
Michael De Vere | Wing | Gavin Lester |
Steve Renouf | Centre | Shane Marteene |
Darren Smith | Centre | Willie Talau |
Wendell Sailor | Wing | Daryl Halligan |
Kevin Walters | Five-eighth | Craig Polla-Mounter |
Allan Langer (C) | Halfback | Corey Hughes |
Shane Webcke | Prop | Darren Britt (C) |
Phillip Lee | Hooker | Jason Hetherington |
Andrew Gee | Prop | Steve Price |
Gorden Tallis | Second Row | Tony Grimaldi |
Brad Thorn | Second Row | Robert Relf |
Tonie Carroll | Lock | Travis Norton |
Michael Hancock | Interchange | Steve Reardon |
John Plath | Interchange | Troy Stone |
Kevin Campion | Interchange | Glen Hughes |
Petero Civoniceva | Interchange | David Thompson |
Wayne Bennett | Coach | Steve Folkes |
Brisbane 38 (TRIES: De Vere, Campion, Carroll, Sailor, Tallis, Lee, Smith; GOALS Lockyer 5/7)
defeated
Canterbury 12 (TRIES: Grimaldi, Talau; GOALS: Halligan 2/3)
Halftime: Canterbury 12–10
Referee: Bill Halligan
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Crowd: 40, 857
Clive Churchill Medal: Gorden Tallis (Brisbane)
Player | Tries | Goals | FG | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
Darren Lockyer | 19 | 98/144 | 0 | 272 |
Darren Smith | 23 | 0 | 0 | 92 |
Steve Renouf | 20 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
Wendell Sailor | 18 | 0 | 0 | 72 |
Michael De Vere | 8 | 9/13 | 0 | 50 |
Michael Hancock | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
Allan Langer | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
Gorden Tallis | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
Kevin Campion | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
Phillip Lee | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
Ben Walker | 4 | 1/2 | 0 | 18 |
Tonie Carroll | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Andrew Gee | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Kevin Walters | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Petero Civoniceva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
John Plath | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Peter Ryan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Brad Thorn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Shane Webcke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos currently compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club has won six premierships, including two New South Wales Rugby League premierships, a Super League premiership and three NRL premierships. The Broncos have won two World Club Challenges, and four minor premierships in multiple competitions. Prior to 2015, Brisbane had never been defeated in a grand final, and since 1991, the club has failed to qualify for the finals five times. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the National Rugby League since it began in 1998, winning three premierships. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the history of rugby league, having won 59.9% of games played since its induction in 1988, second only to Melbourne Storm with 67.3%.
Wayne James Bennett, also known by the nickname "Benny", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL), and has previously coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Brisbane Broncos, the Newcastle Knights, the St George Illawarra Dragons, the Canberra Raiders, the Queensland Maroons State of Origin team, the NRL All Stars and the Australian Kangaroos national team as well as the England and Great Britain national teams.
The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL).
Allan Jeffrey "Alfie" Langer AM is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national team, the Queensland Maroons and the Brisbane Broncos.
Darren James Lockyer is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire professional career with the Brisbane Broncos.
The 2004 NRL season was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed during the regular season before the top eight finishing teams contested the finals series. The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Roosters in the 2004 NRL grand final and in doing so claimed their eighth premiership.
Kevin David Walters is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player, who has been the head coach of the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 2021.
The 2006 Brisbane Broncos season was the nineteenth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Darren Lockyer, they won the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 3rd place before going on to defeat the first-placed Melbourne Storm in the 2006 NRL Grand Final.
Darius Boyd is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played fullback, wing, centre and five-eighth for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) and has played for Australia at international level and State of Origin for Queensland. Boyd captained the Brisbane Broncos from 2017 to 2019.
The 1993 Brisbane Broncos season was the sixth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Allan Langer, they competed in the NSWRL's 1993 Winfield Cup premiership, finishing the regular season 5th before going on to play in a re-match of the previous year's grand final against the St George Dragons and again win, claiming consecutive premierships. In doing so they also became the first team in history to win the premiership from fifth position.
The 1994 Brisbane Broncos season was the seventh in the club's history. As defending Premiers the Broncos competed in the NSWRL's 1994 Winfield Cup competition, finishing the regular season 5th. They then progressed as far as the Semi-finals where a one-point loss to the North Sydney Bears saw them knocked out. Brisbane also hosted and lost the 1994 World Club Challenge to England's Wigan.
The 1995 Brisbane Broncos season was the eighth in the club's history. They competed in the Australian Rugby League's 1995 Winfield Cup premiership, finishing in the regular season 3rd and making it to the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual premiers, the Sydney Bulldogs.
The 1996 Brisbane Broncos season was the ninth in the club's history. They competed in the Australian Rugby League's 1996 Optus Cup premiership and finished the regular season in second place on the ladder, progressing as far as the semi-finals.
The 1997 Brisbane Broncos season was the tenth in the history of the Brisbane Broncos club. This season was unique in that they participated in the Australian Super League's 1997 Telstra Cup premiership and 1997 World Club Championship, winning both competitions.
The 2000 Brisbane Broncos season was the thirteenth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Kevin Walters, they competed in the NRL's 2000 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 1st to claim their 4th minor premiership before going on to win the 2000 NRL Grand final, their fifth title in nine years.
The 2001 Brisbane Broncos season was the fourteenth in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2001 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in fifth position, going on to play in the finals and coming within one match of the grand final.
The 2002 Brisbane Broncos season was the fifteenth in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2002 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in third position before going on to again come within one match of the grand final for the second consecutive year.
The history of the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club stretches back from their inception in the mid-1980s to the present day. They were introduced to the NSWRL's Winfield Cup premiership in 1988, taking the competition by storm in winning their first six games. The Broncos participated in 18 consecutive finals series from 1992–2009, winning premierships six times, including the 1992 and 1993 NSWRL premierships, the Superleague premiership in 1997 and then the 1998, 2000 and 2006 National Rugby League premierships.
The 1998 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1998 NRL season. It was the first grand final of the re-unified National Rugby League and featured minor premiers and the previous year's Super League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished the regular season ninth to make a top-ten play-off grouping. It was to be the first grand final under the National Rugby League partnership's administration and the last to be played at the Sydney Football Stadium. It was also the first time these two sides had met in a grand final.
The Queensland derby refers to rugby league matches between National Rugby League (NRL) clubs, the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys, first contested in 1995. The rivalry features the two longest-serving Queensland based clubs in the ARL/Super League/NRL competitions. They have met 53 times since 1995, with Brisbane leading the head-to-head series 35–18; with two drawn matches.