1994 Brisbane Broncos season

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1994 Brisbane Broncos season
Seasons
  1993
1995  

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 (out of 16). 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.

Contents

Season summary

In the English spring of 1994 it was announced that the Brisbane Broncos club was buying the London Crusaders, who would be renamed 'London Broncos'. [1]

New South Wales Rugby League season 1994 started in fine fashion for Brisbane. They cruised through to the final of the Tooheys Challenge Cup for the fifth time, but amazingly were pipped by the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the decider. That started a shocking opening to the premiership that saw them win just one game in the first month of the competition and leave them languishing near oblivion. They were flat out winning two games in a row for much of the season.

Behind the scenes, Broncos chief executive John Ribot sent his first report on the Super League concept to News Ltd chief executive Ken Cowley.

On-field Brisbane continued to struggle, with frustration reaching boiling point against the Newcastle Knights. Referee Greg McCallum sinbinned Allan Langer for dissent as the Knights beat the Broncos for the first time. More disappointment came when Wigan avenged their 1992 loss by winning the 1994 World Club Challenge at ANZ Stadium mid-season.

A late season revival catapulted the Broncos into fifth spot, narrowly beating out the Illawarra Steelers for a spot in the finals. A tight contest against Manly-Warringah which resulted in 16-4 victory revived some hope of a 'three-peat'. [2] The following week they played against the North Sydney Bears, and after trailing 14-4 the Broncos staged a comeback to level at 14-14. In the end, a Jason Taylor field goal won the game for North Sydney 15-14 shortly before full-time.

Match results

RoundOpponentResultBro.Opp.DateVenueCrowdPosition
1 Parramatta Eels Draw181812 Mar ANZ Stadium 31,7017/16
2 Gold Coast Seagulls Loss122518 Mar Carrara Stadium 22,68814/16
3 St George Dragons Loss182225 Mar ANZ Stadium 37,74914/16
4 Eastern Suburbs Win44121 Apr Sydney Football Stadium 20,21611/16
5 Penrith Panthers Win37610 Apr ANZ Stadium 44,5116/16
6 North Sydney Bears Loss101116 Apr ANZ Stadium 35,9178/16
7 Balmain Tigers Win361423 Apr Princes Park 14,6727/16
8 Cronulla Sharks Win3421 May ANZ Stadium 34,0605/16
9 Manly Sea Eagles Loss11218 May Brookvale Oval 18,3098/16
10 Western Suburbs Magpies Win401015 May ANZ Stadium 30,7627/16
11* Illawarra Steelers Loss42627 May Wollongong 14,0208/16
WCC Wigan Warriors Loss14201 Jun ANZ Stadium 54,2208/16
12* Canterbury Bulldogs Win121010 Jun ANZ Stadium 38,3028/16
13* Canberra Raiders Loss102926 Jun Bruce Stadium 23,7759/16
14 South Sydney Rabbitohs Win40101 Jul ANZ Stadium 36,5498/16
15 Newcastle Knights Loss102410 Jul Newcastle ISC 26,7439/16
16 Parramatta Eels Win36617 Jul Parramatta Stadium 11,3589/16
17 Gold Coast Seagulls Win481224 Jul ANZ Stadium 36,5105/16
18 St George Dragons Win281630 Jul Kogarah Oval 9,1065/16
19 Eastern Suburbs Win34167 Aug ANZ Stadium 41,2115/16
20 Penrith Panthers Loss62214 Aug Penrith 10,9445/16
21 North Sydney Bears Win17019 Aug North Sydney Oval 20,8385/16
22 Balmain Tigers Win41628 Aug ANZ Stadium 47,4865/16
Qualif. Final Manly Sea Eagles Win1644 Sep Sydney Football Stadium 34,891
Semi Final North Sydney Bears Loss141510 Sep Sydney Football Stadium 36,011
*Game following a State of Origin match

Season Ladder

TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts
1 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown 221804537340+19736
2 North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney 221714517291+22635
3 Canberra colours.svg Canberra 221705677298+37934
4 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah 221615605311+29433
5 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 221318544316+22827
6 Illawarra colours.svg Illawarra 221138484387+9725
7 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland 2212010432401+3124
8 Penrith colours.svg Penrith 2210210404448-4422
9 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney 229112401569-16819
10 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 229013427458-3118
11 St. George colours.svg St. George 229013386497-11118
12 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta 227114350474-12415
13 Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs 226214439650-21114
14 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs 226115344513-16913
15 Northern Eagles colours.svg Gold Coast Seagulls 225116363618-25511
16 Balmain colours.svg Balmain 224018303642-3398

Scorers

PlayerTriesGoalsFGPoints
Julian O'Neill 847/783129
Steve Renouf 230092
Wendell Sailor 140056
Allan Langer 112/2149
Terry Matterson 318/35048
Michael Hancock 110044
Willie Carne 80032
John Plath 60024
Kevin Walters 50020
Chris McKenna 40016
Alan Cann 30012
Brett Galea 2008
Andrew Gee 2008
Peter Ryan 2008
John Driscoll 1004
Mark Hohn 1004
Paul Hauff 1004
Chris Johns 1004
Paul Morris 1004
Brad Thorn 1004
Kerrod Walters 1004

Honours

League

Club

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References

  1. Hadfield, Dave (8 June 1994). "Rugby League: Brisbane's capital investment in London: Broncos to spend big bucks on crusade to develop barren British territory" . The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  2. Harms, John (2005). The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. p. 161. ISBN   978-0-7022-3536-8.
  3. "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2013.

See also

27°33′30″S153°03′44″E / 27.558333°S 153.062222°E / -27.558333; 153.062222 (ANZ Stadium)