1993 Brisbane Broncos season
| 1993 Brisbane Broncos season |
|---|
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 (out of 16) 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.[1]
Season summary
After years of dispute with the Lang Park Trust over brewery advertising, Fourex had pouring rights for Lang Park while Powers Brewing was major sponsor of the Broncos. For the 1993 season the Broncos moved to the Council-owned ANZ Stadium, in suburban Nathan.[2]
Signs of a hangover existed with the club losing two of its first three matches, including their debut at the new home ground against the struggling Parramatta Eels before over 51,000 fans. But the Broncos bounced back, beating the Balmain Tigers 50-0, (the highest winning margin for the club at the time) to establish themselves solidly in the upper echelons of the competition. A last round lapse against St George relegated the Broncos to fifth spot, meaning they had to win four straight elimination games to defend their title. This match also set the club's highest home ground attendance figure with over 58,000 at ANZ Stadium.
In the finals, Brisbane went on to demolish the Manly Sea Eagles' defence in a 36-10 romp. Canberra dropped dead with the loss of Ricky Stuart and the Broncos ran roughshod over them with a 30-12 win. Against the Canterbury Bulldogs in the preliminary final, Brisbane were trailing 16-10 at half time, but Allan Langer scored immediately in the second half to level, then potted a field goal to break the dead lock late in the game with Allan Cann sealing the win scoring under the posts winning the match for the Broncos 23-16.
In the grand final, again against the Dragons, the Broncos were victorious once more, this time 14-6. This win was significant because it was the only time a team which had finished 5th in the minor premiership had gone on to win the competition. It was Glenn Lazarus' fifth consecutive grand final appearance, having already played in the previous year's for Brisbane and the three years' before that for Canberra.
Match results
| Round | Opponent | Result | Bro. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 19 | 10 | 14 Mar | Endeavour Field | 8,200 | 5/16 |
| 2 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 10 | 20 | 19 Mar | Carlaw Park | 16,236 | 9/16 |
| 3 | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 8 | 12 | 28 Mar | ANZ Stadium | 51,517 | 10/16 |
| 4 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 12 | 8 | 4 Apr | ANZ Stadium | 46,001 | 9/16 |
| 5 | Balmain Tigers | Win | 12 | 6 | 10 Apr | Leichhardt Oval | 7,522 | 8/16 |
| 6 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 34 | 8 | 18 Apr | ANZ Stadium | 35,904 | 6/16 |
| 7 | St George Dragons | Win | 20 | 14 | 25 Apr | Kogarah Oval | 17,025 | 6/16 |
| 8* | Illawarra Steelers | Win | 24 | 22 | 9 May | ANZ Stadium | 28,126 | 4/16 |
| 9* | North Sydney Bears | Loss | 20 | 40 | 23 May | North Sydney Oval | 20,378 | 5/16 |
| 10* | Wests Magpies | Win | 36 | 16 | 6 June | ANZ Stadium | 40,733 | 5/16 |
| 11 | Easts Roosters | Win | 26 | 22 | 12 Jun | Sydney Football Stadium | 10,450 | 5/16 |
| 12 | Gold Coast Seagulls | Win | 14 | 6 | 18 Jun | ANZ Stadium | 57,212 | 4/16 |
| 13 | Manly Sea Eagles | Loss | 8 | 24 | 26 Jun | Brookvale Oval | 12,203 | 5/16 |
| 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 54 | 8 | 2 Jul | ANZ Stadium | 31,896 | 5/16 |
| 15 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 31 | 2 | 11 Jul | Newcastle ISC | 12,604 | 4/16 |
| 16 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 38 | 34 | 18 Jul | ANZ Stadium | 31,270 | 4/16 |
| 17 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Win | 38 | 18 | 25 Jul | ANZ Stadium | 54,751 | 4/16 |
| 18 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 15 | 8 | 30 Jul | Parramatta Stadium | 10,047 | 2/16 |
| 19 | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 4 | 20 | 6 Aug | Bruce Stadium | 24,801 | 4/16 |
| 20 | Balmain Tigers | Win | 50 | 0 | 13 Aug | ANZ Stadium | 39,193 | 3/16 |
| 21 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 34 | 14 | 21 Aug | Penrith Football Stadium | 16,810 | 2/16 |
| 22 | St George Dragons | Loss | 10 | 16 | 27 Aug | ANZ Stadium | 58,593 | 5/16 |
| Prelim. Semi Final | Manly Sea Eagles | Win | 36 | 10 | 5 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 38,432 | |
| Semi Final | Canberra Raiders | Win | 30 | 12 | 11 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 33,893 | |
| Prelim. Final | Canterbury Bulldogs | Win | 23 | 16 | 19 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 34,821 | |
| GRAND FINAL | St George Dragons | Win | 14 | 6 | 26 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 42,329 |
*Game following a State of Origin match
Scorers
| Player | Tries | Goals | FG | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Matterson | 7 | 58/89 | 0 | 144 |
| Julian O'Neill | 9 | 28/41 | 3 | 95 |
| Willie Carne | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
| Steve Renouf | 16 | 0 | 0 | 64 |
| Michael Hancock | 12 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Allan Langer | 11 | 0 | 1 | 45 |
| Chris Johns | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Alan Cann | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Kevin Walters | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Glenn Lazarus | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| John Plath | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Wendell Sailor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Kerrod Walters | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Peter Ryan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Trevor Gillmeister | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mark Hohn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Keiren Meyer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Brett Plowman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Grand final
| St. George Dragons | Position | Brisbane Broncos | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
| Mick Potter (c) | 1 | 1 | Julian O'Neill | |
| Ricky Walford | 2 | 2 | Michael Hancock | |
| Mark Coyne | 3 | 3 | Steve Renouf | |
| Graeme Bradley | 4 | 4 | Chris Johns | |
| Ian Herron | 5 | 5 | Willie Carne | |
| Tony Smith | 6 | 6 | Kevin Walters | |
| Noel Goldthorpe | 7 | 7 | Allan Langer (c) | |
| Tony Priddle | 8 | 8 | Glenn Lazarus | |
| Wayne Collins | 9 | 9 | Kerrod Walters | |
| Jason Stevens | 10 | 10 | Mark Hohn | |
| David Barnhill | 11 | 11 | Trevor Gillmeister | |
| Scott Gourley | 12 | 12 | Alan Cann | |
| Brad Mackay | 13 | 13 | Terry Matterson | |
| Nathan Brown | 22 | 14 | Andrew Gee | |
| Gorden Tallis | 24 | 15 | John Plath | |
| Phil Blake | 40 | 16 | Peter Ryan | |
| Jeff Hardy | 41 | |||
| Brian Smith | Coach |
Wayne Bennett | ||
St. George Dragons 
|
6 – 14 |  Brisbane Broncos
|
|---|---|---|
| Goals: 3 Herron  pen 40', pen 48', pen 62' (3/3) |
1st: 2–10 2nd: 4–4 [4] |
Tries: 3 Johns  21'Matterson 30'Carne 68'Goals: 1 O'Neill 23' (1/3) |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 42,329 Referee: Greg McCallum Clive Churchill Medal: Brad Mackay[5] (St George) |
Honours
League
- Winfield Cup Premiership
Club
- Player of the year: Allan Langer[6]
- Rookie of the year: Wendell Sailor
- Back of the year: Willie Carne
- Forward of the year: Kerrod Walters
- Club man of the year: Chris Johns
References
- ^ Pramberg, Bernie (26 September 2006). "Broncos beat critics". The Courier-Mail. Australia: Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
- ^ Harms, John (2005). The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-7022-3536-8.
- ^ Middleton, David (ed.). Rugby League 1994. Pymble, New South Wales: HarperSports.
- ^ a b Hauser, Liam. The Great Grand Finals – Rugby League's Greatest Contests (2022 ed.). Wahroonga, Australia: New Holland. ISBN 9781760794736.
- ^ D'Souza, Miguel. "Grand Final History". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Australian Associated Press. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
- ^ "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2013.