Willie Carne

Last updated

Willie Carne
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Carne
Born (1969-01-23) 23 January 1969 (age 55)
Roma, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Rugby league
Position Wing, Fullback
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1990–96 Brisbane Broncos 13672630414
Representative
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1990–96 Queensland 1253026
1991–93 Australia 10100040
Rugby union
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1997 Queensland Reds
Source: [1] [2]

William Carne (born 23 January 1969) is a former Australian rugby footballer who played rugby league for the Brisbane Broncos from 1990 to 1996, as well as representing both Queensland and Australia and rugby union for the Queensland Reds. An attacking player with dangerous speed, he played at wing and fullback.

Contents

Early years

Carne attended Ipswich Grammar School, of which former Brisbane Broncos Kevin Walters, Kerrod Walters and Steve Walters are also Alumni. In his younger days, Carne played for the Roma Wattles.

Brisbane Broncos career

In 1990 he played his first season with the Brisbane Broncos' and that year he co-won the club's rookie of the year with giant fullback Paul Hauff, [3] as well as being the club's top try-scorer with 15.

He played for the Brisbane Broncos in the 1992 NSWRL season's grand final against the St. George Dragons, which they won. A week after winning the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final, Carne played for the Broncos on the wing in the 1992 World Club Challenge against British champions Wigan, with Brisbane winning 22–8 to become the first Australian club to win the match in Britain.

"Willie Carne is the best broken field runner in the game"

−Peter Sterling, 1993 [4]

Carne was the Broncos' top try scorer in 1993, crossing the line for 17 tries, and enjoyed back-to-back premierships, playing on the wing in the Grand Final victory, again over St. George.

During the 1994 NSWRL season, Carne played at fullback (after being named on the wing) for the defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British champions Wigan for the 1994 World Club Challenge. In front of a record World Club Challenge crowd of 54,220 at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane, Wigan won 20–14. [5]

Carne moved back to his favoured wing position in 1995 and scored 8 tries in 20 games. [6] 1995 was the season dominated by the Super League war with Carne, like the majority of his Brisbane teammates, signing with the rebel Super League.

In his final season for the Broncos in 1996, Carne assumed the position of the club's goal-kicker and played most of the season at fullback. Carne was the top point-scorer for Brisbane with 146 points that year from 59 goals and 7 tries. [1]

Carne played a total of 136 first-grade games for the Broncos. He crossed for 73 tries and kicked 63 goals from 103 attempts (61.17%). [1]

In 2007, Carne was inducted into the Broncos' official Hall of Fame. [7]

Representative career

Carne made his State of Origin debut for Queensland in the third match of 1990 series.

Carne made his test début for Australia in the second test of the 1991 Trans-Tasman Test series against New Zealand at the Sydney Football Stadium. He crossed for a try as Australia defeated New Zealand 44–0. He subsequently retained his spot in the team for the final test at Lang Park in Brisbane, crossing for two tries. At the end of the 1991 season, Carne toured Papua New Guinea with the Kangaroos, scoring 3 tries in each of the two tests against the Papua New Guinea Kumuls and finished the 5 game tour as the leading try scorer with 8 and the equal top point scorer (with Gary Belcher) with 32. [1]

In 1992, he played for Queensland in Game 1 of their 2-1 Origin series loss to New South Wales. Carne missed Games 2 and 3 of the Origin series and this kept him out of the Australian side for the first two Ashes series tests against the touring Great Britain Lions. However, after an injury to Rod Wishart he was re-called for the third test at Lang Park where Australia retained The Ashes with a 16–10 win. [8] With Andrew Ettingshausen unavailable through injury, Carne then played fullback for Australia in their 36–12 win over Papua New Guinea in Townsville where he scored his 7th test try against the Kumuls in just 3 tests. [9]

At the end of 1992, Carne travelled to England where he and Broncos teammate Michael Hancock were selected as the Australian wingers in their 1992 Rugby League World Cup final victory over Great Britain at London's Wembley Stadium. He was one of seven Broncos players in the Australian side on the day with the others being Hancock, Renouf, Langer, Prop forward Glenn Lazarus and replacements Kevin Walters and Chris Johns (who did not get off the reserves bench during the Final).

Carne was named man-of-the-match in the opening game of the 1994 State of Origin series at the Sydney Football Stadium. However, injury kept him out of Australia's record 58–0 win over the touring French at Parramatta Stadium, while a late season foot injury would ultimately see him ruled him out of selection [ citation needed ] for the 1994 Kangaroo Tour.

Due to being a Super League aligned player, Carne was ruled ineligible for representative games by the Australian Rugby League in 1995 which saw him miss that years Origin series and international games.

Rugby union

Carne subsequently defected to rugby union, making his debut in a Queensland Reds trial match in 1997. Carne struggled in rugby union and was unable to secure a place in the Reds's regular line-up. Later that season he retired from professional sport altogether.

Post playing career

In 2000, Carne was awarded an Australian Sports Medal. [10]

Carne is now a real estate agent on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Lockyer</span> Australian TV commentator and former professional rugby league footballer

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.

Andrew "ET" Ettingshausen is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He played his first grade Australian club football for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, retiring at the end of the 2000 NRL season having played 328 first grade games for the club, the NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL record for most games at a single club. This record stood for ten years, before ultimately being broken by Darren Lockyer for the Broncos in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendell Sailor</span> Australia international rugby footballer

Wendell Jermaine Sailor is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Bowen</span> Australia international rugby league footballer

Matthew Jeremy Bowen is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative fullback, he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for Australian club, the North Queensland Cowboys, with whom he set the club's record for most matches, and in the Super League for English club, the Wigan Warriors. Bowen was the NRL's top try-scorer in the 2005 and 2007 seasons. Former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer has called Bowen a "little freak", citing his skills and dynamism. Two-time premiership winning coach Phil Gould remarked in 2005 that he was a "modern-day icon of the game", saying that "Bowen has unique football instincts. He performs the difficult with ease and some of his feats have redefined what we once believed to be impossible."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Prince</span> Australia international rugby league footballer

Scott Prince is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a halfback in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

Rod Wishart is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played the 1980s and 1990s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative goal-kicking winger, he played club football with the Illawarra Steelers and the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League.

Dale Shearer, also known by the nickname of "Rowdy", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative of Aboriginal heritage, he played club football in Queensland, New South Wales and England. His playing career included a NSWRL Premiership win with Manly-Warringah in 1987 and a Rugby League World Cup Final win in 1988. Ten years after his retirement, Shearer was still the all-time top try-scorer in State of Origin and he was named on the wing of the Indigenous Australian team of the century.

Steven Renouf is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Nicknamed 'the Pearl', he was known as one of the sport's greatest centres. Renouf set numerous records for the Brisbane Broncos club. After spending eleven years with Brisbane, which yielded four premierships, he left Australia to play for English club Wigan Warriors, where he spent two seasons before retiring. He was named in Australia's Indigenous team of the century (1908–2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darius Boyd</span> Australia international rugby league footballer

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.

Kerrod Walters is an Australian former rugby league footballer. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative hooker, he played most of his club football with the Brisbane Broncos, with whom he won the 1992 and 1993 NSWRL Premierships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Hancock (rugby league)</span> Australia international rugby league footballer

Michael John "Mick" Hancock is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative wing, he played in the Brisbane Broncos' first five Grand Final victories in 1992, 1993, 1997 Super League, 1998 and 2000. At the time of his retirement from football in Australia in 2000 he held the Broncos' club records for most career appearances. He played out the rest of his career in England with the Salford City Reds and retired in 2002.

Peter Jackson was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Nicknamed 'Jacko', he was an Australia national and Queensland State of Origin representative centre or five-eighth. Jackson played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League for the Souths Magpies, before moving to the New South Wales Rugby League and playing for the Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and North Sydney Bears. He also played in the Rugby Football League for English club Leeds. Jackson worked in the media following his retirement in 1993, and died as the result of a drug overdose in 1997.

Brian Julian O'Neill is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a goal-kicking fullback or five-eighth, during his 14-year top-grade career he played with several clubs in both Australia and England, which included two NSWRL premierships, a Challenge Cup victory as well as state and national representative honours. However O'Neill also regularly made headlines for his involvement in numerous controversial off-field incidents.

Chris Johns is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played in the centres, achieving representative honors for Australia and New South Wales. His club football career was spent with the St. George Dragons and Brisbane Broncos, as well as two spells in England, first with Castleford in 1986-87 and then Barrow in 1989–90. After retiring from the playing field, Johns worked in the administration of the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm clubs.

The 1992 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership season was the eighty-fifth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen teams competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final for the Winfield Cup between the Brisbane Broncos, making their grand final debut, and the St. George Dragons.

Paul Hauff is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative fullback, he played his whole top-level career in Australia for the Brisbane Broncos, later moving to their sister club in England, the London Broncos.

Les Kiss is an Australian professional rugby union coach who is the current head coach of Super Rugby Pacific side the Queensland Reds. Prior to this he was head coach of London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership until the club went into administration in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 World Club Challenge</span>

The 1994 MMI World Club Challenge was a replay of the 1992 World Club Challenge, with 1993–94 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan facing the 1993 NSWRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, this time in Australia. Wigan were clearly the dominant club in the English game, having won the previous four consecutive Rugby Football League Championships and Challenge Cup tournaments. The Broncos, having won consecutive premierships in 1992 and 1993, were the dominant team in the Australian game at the time. In the World Club Challenge–this time played unusually late in the year–Wigan were looking to get revenge for their loss against Brisbane in the sides' previous encounter, and obtained a strong first-half lead. The English club then survived a second-half comeback from Brisbane and won the match, cementing their position as the world's dominant rugby league club of the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Mead (rugby league)</span> Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer

David Mead is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a winger, centre or fullback for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Papua New Guinea at international level.

The 1991 Trans-Tasman Test series was an international rugby league test series played in Australia between Australia and New Zealand. The series, which started on 3 July in Melbourne and finished on 31 July in Brisbane, consisted of three test matches, with the third test doubling as a 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup tournament match. New Zealand did not play in any other matches while on tour.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Willie Carne Rugby League Project
  2. ↑ profile, Yesterday's Hero
  3. ↑ Harms, John (2005). The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. p. 99. ISBN   9780702235368.
  4. ↑ "Who Said That?". Rugby League Week. Sydney, NSW: ACP Publishing. 7 July 1993. p. 17.
  5. ↑ 1994 World Club Challenge at superleague.co.uk
  6. ↑ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project.
  7. ↑ "Broncos Hall of Fame". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos . Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ashes Series 1992 Series - Game 3". Rugby League Project.
  9. ↑ "Australia vs. Papua New Guinea". Rugby League Project.
  10. ↑ "Welcome Willie Carne by Noosa Real State Agent | New RJR Member".
  11. ↑ Paul Malone (31 May 2014). "Former Queensland Origin star Willie Carne loving life as a father, and away from league". The Courier Mail.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.