1989 Brisbane Broncos Season
The 1989 Brisbane Broncos season was the second in the club's history. They competed in the NSWRL's 1989 Winfield Cup premiership and in their second year improved on their first, finishing the season in sixth position after losing their first ever play-off match against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. The Broncos did however claim their first piece of silverware by winning the mid-week knock-out 1989 Panasonic Cup competition.
Broncos trio Allan Langer, Michael Hancock and Kerrod Walters were selected to make their international debuts for Australia in 1989.
Season summary
Coach Wayne Bennett said a mid-season Kangaroo Tour to New Zealand in 1989 contributed to the Broncos failing to reach the finals. Brisbane contributed captain Wally Lewis, Tony Currie, Peter Jackson, Michael Hancock, Kerrod Walters and Sam Backo - more players than any other club - to the successful Australian team, losing all three of their matches while they were away.
Match results
| Round | Opponent | Result | Bro. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC (1) | Canberra Raiders | Win | 18 | 13 | 1 Mar | Pioneer Oval | |||
| 1 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 28 | 8 | 19 Mar | Lang Park | 14,721 | 1/16 | |
| 2 | Manly Sea Eagles | Win | 22 | 18 | 26 Mar | Brookvale Oval | 17,736 | 2/16 | |
| 3 | Balmain Tigers | Loss | 6 | 15 | 2 Apr | Lang Park | 12,952 | 5/16 | |
| 4 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win | 10 | 8 | 9 Apr | Campbelltown | 5,755 | 3/16 | |
| 5 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 24 | 12 | 15 Apr | Lang Park | 13,080 | 1/16 | |
| 6 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 6 | 2 | 23 Apr | Parramatta | 17,006 | 2/16 | |
| 7 | North Sydney Bears | Win | 36 | 10 | 30 Apr | North Sydney | 8,390 | 2/16 | |
| 8 | Illawarra Steelers | Win | 32 | 24 | 7 May | Lang Park | 12,990 | 2/16 | |
| 9 | Eastern Suburbs | Win | 36 | 2 | 14 May | SFS | 7,426 | 1/16 | |
| PC (1/4) | Parramatta Eels | Win | 42 | 6 | 17 May | Townsville Sports Centre | 1/16 | ||
| 10* | Gold Coast-Tweed Giants | Win | 16 | 2 | 28 May | Lang Park | 19.992 | 1/16 | |
| PC (1/2) | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 24 | 4 | 31 May | Bathurst | 1/16 | ||
| 11 | St George Dragons | Loss | 10 | 20 | 4 Jun | Kogarah Oval | 6,691 | 2/16 | |
| PC (F) | Illawarra Steelers | Win | 22 | 20 | 7 Jun | Parramatta Stadium | 16,698 | 2/16 | |
| 12* | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 6 | 27 | 18 Jun | Seiffert Oval | 18,272 | 3/16 | |
| 13 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 42 | 10 | 24 Jun | Lang Park | 17,895 | 3/16 | |
| 14* | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 8 | 22 | 1 Jul | Belmore | 9,185 | 3/16 | |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Loss | 8 | 20 | 9 Jul | Lang Park | 21,388 | 3/16 | |
| 16 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 8 | 18 | 16 Jul | Penrith | 10,981 | 3/16 | |
| 17 | Manly Sea Eagles | Loss | 8 | 16 | 21 Jul | Lang Park | 16,100 | 4/16 | |
| 18 | Balmain Tigers | Loss | 6 | 24 | 30 Jul | Leichhardt Oval | 16,927 | 7/16 | |
| 19 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win | 20 | 8 | 6 Aug | Lang Park | 19,524 | 6/16 | |
| 20 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 20 | 16 | 13 Aug | Newcastle ISC | 27,000 | 6/16 | |
| 21 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 16 | 8 | 20 Aug | Lang Park | 33,245 | 5/16 | |
| 22 | North Sydney Bears | Win | 30 | 0 | 26 Aug | Lang Park | 18,496 | 5/16 | |
| Play-off for 5th | Cronulla Sharks | Loss | 14 | 38 | 29 Aug | Parramatta | 9,047 | 6/16 |
* Game following a State of Origin match
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs
|
22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 390 | 207 | +183 | 37 |
| 2 |  Penrith Panthers
|
22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 438 | 241 | +197 | 32 |
| 3 |  Balmain Tigers
|
22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 380 | 236 | +144 | 29 |
| 4 |  Canberra Raiders |
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 457 | 287 | +170 | 28 |
| 5 |  Brisbane Broncos
|
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 398 | 290 | +108 | 28 |
| 6 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
|
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 368 | 281 | +87 | 28 |
| 7 |  Newcastle Knights
|
22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 281 | 281 | 0 | 22 |
| 8 |  Parramatta Eels
|
22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 346 | 366 | -20 | 22 |
| 9 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
|
22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 280 | 337 | -57 | 22 |
| 10 |  St. George Dragons
|
22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 330 | 356 | -26 | 20 |
| 11 |  Eastern Suburbs Roosters
|
22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 348 | 346 | +2 | 19 |
| 12 |  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
|
22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 334 | 343 | -9 | 19 |
| 13 |  Western Suburbs Magpies
|
22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 229 | 389 | -160 | 15 |
| 14 |  Gold Coast-Tweed Giants
|
22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 223 | 383 | -160 | 15 |
| 15 |  North Sydney Bears
|
22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 194 | 406 | -212 | 11 |
| 16 |  Illawarra Steelers
|
22 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 256 | 503 | -247 | 5 |
Squad
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Head coach
| ||||||
Awards
League
nil
Club
- Player of the year: Greg Dowling
- Rookie of the year: Michael Hancock
- Forward of the year: Greg Dowling
- Back of the year: Tony Currie
- Clubman of the year: Tony Currie
Scorers
| Player | Tries | Goals | FG | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Matterson | 5 | 42/64 | 0 | 104 |
| Michael Hancock | 9 | 2/4 | 0 | 40 |
| Chris Johns | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Tony Currie | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Gary French | 2 | 10/19 | 0 | 28 |
| Joe Kilroy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Wally Lewis | 4 | 2/8 | 0 | 20 |
| Allan Langer | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Brett Plowman | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Sam Backo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Brett Le Man | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Gene Miles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| James Donnelly | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Grant Graving | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Peter Jackson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Bryan Neibling | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Rohan Teevan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Greg Conescu | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Greg Dowling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
References
- ^ Brian Curran (30 August 1989). "Kiwi tour killed our hopes, Bennett says". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: John Fairfax Group. p. 76. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- ^ Curran, Brian (2 March 1989). "Matterson the star as battling Broncos rally for Cup win". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 50.
- ^ Pramberg, Bernie (20 March 2018). "Currie and Johns destroy Penrith in 27-minute victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 63.
- ^ MacDonald, John (27 March 1989). "The King's exit rallies Broncos to heroic victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 41.
- ^ "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2013.