1998 Brisbane Broncos season

1998 Brisbane Broncos season
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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.

Season summary

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]

The Broncos' consistent dominance over other teams at this period of time contributed to the National Rugby League's plans to cut the number of teams down to 14 in order to ensure competitiveness and the long-term financial success of the game.[3] Despite the rationalization of the league, the club has continued to dominate in the modern era of the league, winning two more premierships in 2000[4] and 2006,[5] as well as reaching another two Grand Finals in 2015[6] and 2023.[7][8]

The Broncos' 1998 premiership win came in a year in which their Australian Football League neighbours, the Brisbane Lions, won the wooden spoon.[9]

Match results

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

Ladder

1998 NRL season
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

Grand final

Main article: 1998 NRL grand final

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


1998 NRL Grand Final
Sunday, 27 September
15:00 AEST (UTC+10)
Brisbane Broncos 38 – 12 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Tries: 7
De Vere rugby ball 2'
Campion rugby ball 27'
Carroll rugby ball 41'
Sailor rugby ball 50'
Tallis rugby ball 59'
Lee rugby ball 68'
Smith rugby ball 75'
Goals: 5
Lockyer rugby goalposts icon 4', 43', 60', 69', 76' (5/7)
 1st: 10–12
2nd: 28–0
Report[10][11]
 Tries: 2
Grimaldi rugby ball 21'
Talau rugby ball 30'
Goals: 2
Halligan rugby goalposts icon pen 11', 22' (2/3)
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 40,857[12]
Referee: Bill Harrigan
Touch judges: Steve Betts, John McCormack
Clive Churchill Medal: Gorden Tallis (Brisbane)


Scorers

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

Honours

League

  • Premiership
  • Minor premiership

Club

References

  1. ^ Harms, John (2005). The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. p. 196. ISBN 9780702235368.
  2. ^ "Queensland Sport Awards Winners 1995-2008" (PDF). qsport.org.au. QSport. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Broncos, Dragons: two fallen powerhouses". The Roar. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  4. ^ "FBF: 2000 GF - The Kevvie and Ben Show". Brisbane Broncos. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  5. ^ Gould, Joel (21 November 2018). "2006 grand final rewind: Bennett hails Broncos 'finest hour'". National Rugby League. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  6. ^ Glover, Ben (25 September 2015). "Brisbane Broncos v Sydney Roosters: Live coverage of NRL preliminary final". Herald Sun. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Kev-olution complete: Broncos book GF as Wahs whacked by 'absolute freak'". Fox Sports Australia. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  8. ^ McDonald, Darcie (26 September 2023). "'Through the boardroom roof': Inside the Broncos' '06 week-long GF celebrations". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  9. ^ "A decade of misery is almost over for the Brisbane Lions". The Roar. 21 July 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  10. ^ Middleton, David (October 1998). Rugby League 1999. Sydney: Harper Sports. ISBN 0732267773.
  11. ^ "NRL Tables - 1998 NRL Grand Final". Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  12. ^ "1998 NRL Grand Final". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2013.

27°33′30″S 153°03′44″E / 27.558333°S 153.062222°E / -27.558333; 153.062222 (ANZ Stadium)