Shane Webcke (born 28 September 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who spent his entire club career playing for the Brisbane Broncos. Webcke represented Queensland in the State of Origin 21 times and also captained the side. He made 26 test appearances for Australia. His position was prop forward and at his peak he was renowned as the best front rower in the world. Alongside Glenn Lazarus and Arthur Beetson, Webcke is considered by many to have been one of the finest post-war front-rowers to play the game.[3][4][5]
After retiring from playing in 2006, Webcke became the Sunday–Thursday sports presenter on Seven News in his hometown of Brisbane, a position he holds to this day.[6]
Originally from Leyburn, Queensland and having played for Toowoomba, Webcke was scouted by Wayne Bennett, whom he acknowledges as the greatest influence on his career, after seeing him play as a schoolboy in 1993. The following year Webcke's father was killed in a work accident when he was still 19 years of age. [9]
Webcke made his first appearance for the Queensland Maroons in the first game of the 1998 State of Origin series and was named man of the match in the third and deciding game that year. From his debut until his retirement from representative football following Game III in 2004, no other player wore the number 8 for Queensland.
In 2000 Webcke broke his arm during the finals series that season but went on to play for the Broncos in their grand final victory over the Sydney Roosters.[10] Post-season he was a member of the Australian team that won the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Webcke was also awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. Following Australia's World Cup victory, Webcke and teammate Gorden Tallis wrote an open letter to players appealing for an end to scandalous behaviour amongst footballers which had been tarnishing the sport.[11]
Having won the 2000 NRL Premiership, the Broncos travelled to England to play against 2000's Super League V Champions, St. Helens for the 2001 World Club Challenge, with Webcke playing at prop forward in Brisbane's loss.
Webcke announced on 26 April 2006 that he would retire at the end of the 2006 NRL season. Webcke's final game was the Broncos' victory in the 2006 grand final against the Melbourne Storm,[14] days after his 32nd birthday.
Post-playing
Webcke training with the Broncos in 2006
Post-football, Webcke went on to release his auto-biography, Warhorse and also ventured into media with the Seven Network in his hometown of Brisbane, presenting sport on the local Seven News bulletin on Sundays to Thursdays.[6] He also worked on-screen with Matthew Johns in the first and only season of The Matty Johns Show.
Webcke's pub at Leyburn, Queensland – the Royal Hotel – is the longest, continuously licensed premises in Queensland . Webcke was set to become the first player to give the annual Tom Brock Lecture when he was invited to do so in 2007,[15] but this did not eventuate.
In 2007 at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Webcke.[16]
In February 2008, Webcke was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[17][18]
A few months later the Brisbane Broncos appointed Shane Webcke, along with Allan Langer, as full-time assistant coaches to work alongside new head coach Ivan Henjak from the 2009 season. However, shortly after the start of the season, Webcke quit his post in the wake of controversy surrounding the release of his new book in which he was openly critical of the Broncos administration not standing down star players Darius Boyd, Sam Thaiday and Karmichael Hunt when police were investigating sexual assault allegations against them in September 2008.[19] He went on to state that he was 'filthy' about the state of affairs at the Broncos.[20]
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos currently compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at Suncorp Stadium in nearby Milton.
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. He is considered one of the greatest five-eighths of all time.
Glenn Patrick Lazarus is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative prop, Lazarus won premierships with the Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm, who he also captained. He is the only player in the history of the game to win grand finals with three separate clubs, with the grand final wins also being the first for each club. After his retirement from football he assisted several NRL clubs in a coaching capacity.
Gorden James Tallis, also known by the nickname of "Raging Bull" for his on-field aggression, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is currently a commentator and pundit for the Fox Sports network.
Samuel Arthur Thaiday is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, serving as their captain from 2012 until 2013. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative second-row, he could also play prop and lock as well as hooker and spent all of his career at the Broncos, with whom he won the 2006 premiership. In 2008, Australia's centenary of rugby league and Thaiday's sixth year at the top level, he was one of only three current players to be named in the Indigenous Australian rugby league team of the century. On 6 July 2018, Thaiday announced his intention to retire from the NRL at the end of the 2018 season. He currently plays for the Samford Stags in the Brisbane open men’s division 2 competition.
Joel Clinton is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international representative, he played his club football in the NRL for the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos. He also played for English club Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League.
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.
Petero Civoniceva, is a Fijian-Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative prop forward, in 2009 he broke the record for most international matches for Australia of any forward in history. Civoniceva played his club football for the Brisbane Broncos, with whom he won the 1998, 2000 and 2006 NRL Premierships, as well as for the Penrith Panthers, whom he captained. Late in his career whilst playing for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup, Civoniceva captained the Fiji national team in their 2013 Rugby League World Cup campaign. The Petero Civoniceva Medal is awarded to the Australian Fijian rugby league footballer of the year, while the Civoniceva Medal is awarded to the Queensland Cup player voted as the best and fairest.
Benjamin Hannant, also known by the nickname of "Polar Bear", is a former Australian rugby league footballer and boxer.
Corey Parker is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. A Queensland State of Origin and Australia international representative, Parker played in the lock, second-row and prop positions. Parker played his entire professional career at the Broncos club, with whom he won the 2006 NRL Premiership. He also fulfilled goal kicking duties for the Broncos.
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.
The 1997 Super League season was a breakaway professional rugby league football competition in Australia and the only one to be run by the News Limited-controlled Super League organisation. Eight teams which had broken away from the existing Australian Rugby League, in addition to the newly created Adelaide Rams and Hunter Mariners, competed over eighteen weekly rounds of the regular season. The top five teams then played a series of knock-out finals which culminated in a September grand final played in Brisbane between the Brisbane Broncos and Cronulla.
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.
Craig Smith is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Illawarra Steelers, St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Newcastle Knights as well as representing New Zealand, New Zealand Māori and Queensland.
Benjamin Hunt is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who last played as a halfback for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL) and hooker for Australia at international level.
The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, 1 October. The 2006 grand final was the first ever to feature teams which were both from cities outside the borders of New South Wales, in this case the capitals of Queensland and Victoria, yet was played at the traditional venue of Sydney's Telstra Stadium. It was the first time the two sides had met in a grand final. They had played each other twice during the 2006 regular season, with Melbourne winning both times. The Melbourne side went into the grand final as heavy favorites, having won the minor premiership. Both teams were looking to keep their perfect grand final records intact: Brisbane with 5/5 and the Melbourne side with 1/1 heading into the game.
The Matty Johns Show was an Australian variety television show largely focused on the National Rugby League (NRL) competition, starring former professional rugby league footballer Matthew "Matty" Johns. It first aired in 2010 on Thursdays at 7.30pm in New South Wales and Queensland, on the Seven Network. The show usually ran for 1 hour. It was produced by Matty Johns and John Singleton.
The 2000 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2000 NRL season. It was contested by the Brisbane Broncos, who had finished the season in 1st place, and the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the season in 2nd place. The Brisbane Broncos were favourites heading into the grand final with the Sydney Roosters as underdogs. Brisbane were premiership favourites for most of the season after leading the competition every round since round 4. It was their fifth grand final appearance in nine years, while it was the first for the Roosters in twenty years. The attendance of 94,277 was the third highest ever seen at a rugby league match in Australia. It was the first time that the Clive Churchill Medal was presented separately with a ribbon being worn around the neck, as previously it was presented in a case.
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