1988 Brisbane Broncos season
The 1988 Brisbane Broncos season was the first in the club's history. The new venture team was added, along with the Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast-Tweed Giants to the New South Wales Rugby League's 1988 Winfield Cup premiership, coached by previous season grand final co-coach Wayne Bennett and captained by Australian national skipper Wally Lewis. Despite a strong start to the season, Brisbane failed to make the finals. During the season the Broncos also competed in the 1988 Panasonic Cup.
1988 Brisbane Broncos season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
NSWRL Rank | 7th | |||
Play-off result | Did not qualify | |||
1988 record | Wins: 10; draws: 0; losses: 8 | |||
Points scored | For: 474; against: 368 | |||
Team information | ||||
CEO | John Ribot | |||
Coach | Wayne Bennett | |||
Captain | ||||
Stadium | Lang Park | |||
Avg. attendance | 15,071 | |||
Top scorers | ||||
Tries | Wally Lewis | |||
Goals | Terry Matterson | |||
Points | Terry Matterson | |||
|
Season summary
The same year Brisbane hosted World Expo 88, the Brisbane Broncos joined the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, making their debut on 6 March at Lang Park in Brisbane. The brand-new club which featured many Queensland-based international and state representatives, defeated the 1987 Winfield Cup Premiers Manly-Warringah 44-10 in their first premiership game. Brett Le Man scored the Broncos' first ever try from the scraps of a Craig Grauf bomb.
Although the Broncos won their first six games in their inaugural season, a midseason slump cost the club a debut finals appearance, finishing the season in seventh position. The Broncos also competed in the mid-week knockout competition, the 1988 Panasonic Cup, losing in the first round while they were still yet to lose a Winfield Cup match.
Match results
Round | Opponent | Result | Bro. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trial | Canberra Raiders | Win | 22 | 16 | Lang Park | 10,000+ | ||
Trial | New Zealand President's XIII | Win | 38 | 6 | 27 Feb | 8,324 | ||
1 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Win | 44 | 10 | 6 Mar | Lang Park | 17,451 | [1][2] |
2 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 20 | 18 | 12 Mar | Lang Park | 13,621 | [3] |
3 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win | 38 | 4 | 20 Mar | Campbelltown | 10,112 | [4] |
4 | North Sydney Bears | Win | 24 | 12 | 27 Mar | North Sydney | 9,329 | [5] |
5 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 24 | 18 | 3 Apr | Lang Park | 23,202 | [6] |
PC | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 10 | 24 | 6 Apr | Parramatta Stadium | [7] | |
6 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 24 | 10 | 10 Apr | Newcastle ISC | 30,220 | [8] |
7 | Balmain Tigers | Loss | 18 | 26 | 16 Apr | Lang Park | 18,434 | [9] |
8 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Loss | 8 | 38 | 23 Apr | Endeavour | 10,115 | |
9 | Sydney Roosters | Win | 24 | 20 | 1 May | Lang Park | 16,489 | [10] |
10 | Gold Coast-Tweed Giants | Loss | 22 | 25 | 8 May | Seagulls | 13,432 | [11] |
11* | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 16 | 36 | 22 May | Lang Park | 15,909 | [12] |
12* | Illawarra Steelers | Win | 32 | 10 | 5 Jun | Wollongong | 9,738 | [13] |
13 | St. George Dragons | Win | 26 | 22 | 13 Jun | Lang Park | 19,954 | [14] |
14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Loss | 4 | 16 | 17 Jun | SFS | 10,871 | [15] |
15* | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 10 | 25 | 26 Jun | Lang Park | 15,371 | [16] |
16 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Win | 28 | 10 | 3 Jul | Brookvale Oval | 17,193 | [17] |
17 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 8 | 6 | 10 Jul | Penrith Park | 17,106 | [18] |
18 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win | 32 | 6 | 16 Jul | Lang Park | 11,419 | [19] |
19 | North Sydney Bears | Win | 24 | 6 | 23 Jul | Lang Park | 11,452 | [20] |
20 | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 14 | 22 | 31 Jul | Parramatta | 13,190 | [21] |
21 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 24 | 8 | 6 Aug | Lang Park | 13,919 | [22] |
22 | Balmain Tigers | Loss | 10 | 20 | 13 Aug | Leichhardt Oval | 13,015 | [23] |
- Game following a State of Origin match
Ladder
Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 22 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 507 | 330 | +177 | 34 |
2 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 412 | 268 | +144 | 32 |
3 | Canberra | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 596 | 346 | +250 | 30 |
4 | Manly-Warringah | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 538 | 347 | +191 | 30 |
5 | Penrith | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 394 | 258 | +136 | 30 |
6 | Balmain | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 402 | 341 | +61 | 30 |
7 | Brisbane Broncos | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 474 | 368 | +106 | 28 |
8 | South Sydney | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 425 | 383 | +42 | 24 |
9 | North Sydney | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 366 | 424 | -58 | 20 |
10 | St. George | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 352 | 493 | -141 | 18 |
11 | Parramatta | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 359 | 412 | -53 | 16 |
12 | Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 387 | 443 | -56 | 15 |
13 | Illawarra | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 353 | 510 | -157 | 13 |
14 | Newcastle Knights | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 270 | 460 | -190 | 11 |
15 | Gold Coast-Tweed Giants | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 238 | 484 | -246 | 10 |
16 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 287 | 493 | -206 | 9 |
Awards
League
nil
Club
- Player of the year: Allan Langer[24]
- Rookie of the year: Shane Duffy / Kerrod Walters
- Forward of the year: Terry Matterson
- Back of the year: Wally Lewis
- Clubman of the year: Greg Conescu
References
- Adrian McGregor (7 March 1988). "Wallypower starts a new era in Rugby League". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 61.
- Alan Clarkson (7 March 1988). "Two-try Lewis is still the king". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 61.
- Brett Thomas (13 March 1988). "Last-gasp try saves Broncos". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 86.
- Ian Heads (21 March 1988). "Lewis and Broncos toy with Wests". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 64.
- Paul Tait (28 March 1988). "Lewis steers the Broncos home". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 61.
- Brad Forrest (5 April 1988). "Ward earns good report for 'ruling it as I saw it'". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 43.
- Paul Tait (7 April 1988). "Alexander ends Broncos' charge". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 47.
- MacDonald, John (11 April 1988). "King Wally staves off the bold Knights". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 63.
- Alan Clarkson (17 April 1988). "Tigers turn the screws on tail poppies". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 75.
- Brad Forrest (2 May 1988). "Bennett's blast brings on Bronco revival". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 60.
- Brad Forrest (9 May 1988). "Gibbs and Gold Coast batter the Broncos". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 56.
- Masters, Roy; Tait, Paul (23 May 1988). "Last Post sounds for Brisbane's baldful Old Veterans". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 65.
- Weidler, Danny (6 June 1988). "Backrow pair seal win for Broncos". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 60.
- Forrest, Brad (14 June 1988). "Possession helps beat St. George". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 47.
- MacDonald, John (18 June 1988). "Souths still in top-five race". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 68.
- Heads, Ian. "Super sub Turvey's picnic in the park". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 56.
- MacDonald, John. "Dowling stands up where no Eagles dare". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 59.
- MacDonald, John. "Bloodied Broncos survive an epic". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 52.
- "Broncos run riot – but only in patches". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 July 1988. p. 70.
- Alan Clarkson (24 July 1988). "Broncos drop Bears and ball in semis quest". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 63.
- Tait, Paul (1 August 1988). "Brave win eases the dispair for Eels". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 59.
- Clarkson, Alan (7 August 1988). "A Bronco breakout". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 64.
- Clarkson, Alan (14 August 1988). "Tigers on the hunt". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 71.
- "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2013.