Brisbane Broncos

Infobox rugby league club
clubname = Brisbane Broncos


fullname = Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club
nickname =
short name =
founded = 1988
ground = Suncorp Stadium
capacity = 52,500
ceo = Bruno Cullen
coach = Ivan Henjak
captain = Darren Lockyer
url = [http://www.broncos.com.au broncos.com.au]
league = National Rugby League
season = 2008
position = 5th
c

mostc
Darren Lockyer
points = 1,220
mostpoints = Darren Lockyer
premierships = 6
premiershipyears = 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2006
minorpremierships = 4
minorpremiershipyears = 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000
2007 = National Rugby League, 8th
current = Brisbane Broncos 2008
homejersey = Brisbane Broncos home jersey 2007.svg
awayjersey = Brisbane Broncos away jersey 2007.svgThe Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane, Queensland. The Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. They have won six premierships during their twenty years in competition, making them the league's most successful club over the past two decades. The Broncos have one of the largest fan bases in Australia and also records the highest annual revenue of all NRL clubs and sell the second most amount of merchandise behind the Bulldogs. The club records the highest attendance averages of any Rugby club of any code in the world at just over 33,000 a game.

The club was founded in 1988 as part of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's national expansion, becoming, along with the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants, one of Queensland's first two participants in the Winfield Cup. The Broncos later played a significant role in the Super League War of the mid-1990s before continuing to compete successfully in the reunified National Rugby League competition of today.

The Broncos are based in the Brisbane suburb of Red Hill where their training ground and Leagues club are located, but they play their home games at Milton's Suncorp Stadium. They are also the only publicly listed sporting club on the Australian Securities Exchange, trading as Brisbane Broncos Limited (asx|BBL).

History

Queensland’s success in the 1980s' State of Origin, in addition to the inclusion of a Combined Brisbane team in the mid-week competition, convinced the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) to invite a Queensland-based team into the competition. After tough competition between the various syndicates for the Brisbane license, the Queensland Rugby League chose the bid of former Brisbane Rugby League (BRL) players, Barry Maranta and Paul "Porky" Morgan.

The Broncos secured the services of Australian Kangaroos captain Wally Lewis and former BRL coach Wayne Bennett. The team made their first grade debut in 1988 against reigning NSWRL premiers Manly-Warringah, defeating them 44-10, but after this promising start they failed to make the finals. In 1989 they won the midweek knockout competition, the Panasonic Cup. The club first tasted premiership success in 1992, and again in 1993, defeating the St. George Dragons in both years.

In 1995, the Super League War broke out. After threats of expulsion from the NSWRL, the Broncos were one of the first clubs to sign with the new league and all players followed suit. Broncos CEO John Ribot moved to take over the running of the rebel Super League, leading to a perception that the conflict was orchestrated by the club.cite book | author=Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian | title= The History of Rugby League Clubs
publisher=New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd | year=2004| id=ISBN 1-74110-075-5] cite web | title=Brisbane Broncos History RL1908 |url=http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Brisbane-Broncos.htm | accessdate=2007-04-06 ] Brisbane won the only Super League premiership in 1997, before winning the first National Rugby League trophy in the re-unified 1998 competition.

1999 was disappointing for the club with terrible early-season form hindering their attempt at a third consecutive premiership. Club legend Allan Langer retired mid-season, perhaps as a result of the team's form. Despite the club's mid-season turnaround, which resulted in qualification for the finals after an 11-match winning streak, the team was eliminated by the Cronulla Sharks in the first week of the finals. However, the Broncos' rebounded in 2000 with their fifth premiership, defeating the Sydney Roosters. The game was the retirement of veterans Kevin Walters and Michael Hancock.

Allan Langer returned to the club in 2002 for one season before eventually retiring. 2002 was also the beginning of Brisbane's "post-Origin slump", which has haunted the club in the years since. Many players represent Queensland in the State of Origin series and the extra workload has caused a loss of form for the club immediately after the series. The Broncos average about 7 players out for every Origin game. [cite web | title=Brisbane Broncos - Representative Players|url=http://www.broncos.com.au/index.cfm?MenuID=330&TopMenuID=266| accessdate=2007-04-21 ] This was evidenced in 2003 when the ladder-leading Broncos lost 10 of their last 11 games. Despite faring better in 2004 and 2005, the team still struggled in the latter stages of the season, losing all of their finals matches.

In 2006, after a strong early and mid-season performance, the Broncos again entered the post-Origin slump, losing 5 consecutive games. However, they reversed this run of form, winning 6 of their last 7 games including the premiership decider against the Melbourne Storm and keeping their perfect Grand Final record intact.cite book | author=Pramberg, Bernie and Malone, Paul and Colman, Mike and Dick, Barry| title= Broncos: 20 Fabulous Years | publisher=Playright Publishing Pty Ltd | year=2007| id=ISBN 0-9775226-4-4] After a dismal 2007 season in which they only scraped into the finals, coach Wayne Bennett announced he would leave at the end of 2008 after twenty-one years as coach. [cite news|publisher=Fox Sports|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23162743-23214,00.html|title=Bennett tells players he's leaving|date=2008-02-05|accessdate=2008-02-05] Ivan Henjak, a former rugby league player who had been assistant coach with the Broncos since the beginning of 2006, was named their second ever coach for the 2009 season. [cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/19/2221586.htm|publisher="ABC News"|title=Henjak name Broncos coach|date=2008-04-19|accessdate=2008-04-19]

eason summaries

Brisbane Broncos lost a play-off for fifth in 1989, which is counted as a final game.

Emblem and colours

s.cite book | author=Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian | title= The History of Rugby League Clubs | publisher=New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd | year=2004 | id=ISBN 1-74110-075-5]

The original club logo was first featured in the Broncos' inaugural season in the premiership in 1988 and was used until 1999. It used a mostly gold colour scheme, in line with the predominant colour on the team jerseys. In 2000, the club adopted a new logo with a more maroon design, which was much closer to the traditional colour associated with Queensland rugby league and Queensland sport in general. This design continues to be used to date.

Traditionally, the colours of the Brisbane Broncos have been maroon, white and gold, which have all long been linked to the history of rugby league in Queensland. Initially, the founders of the club favoured the official blue and gold colours of Brisbane City Council. However, Sydney advertiser John Singleton advised the board that "Queenslanders had been booing players wearing blue for more than three-quarters of a century." As a result, the traditional maroon and white colours of Brisbane Bullimba Cup sides along with gold, symbolising the Queensland sunshine,cite book | author=Gallaway, Jack | title=The Brisbane Broncos: The Team To Beat | publisher=University of Queensland Press | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-7022-3275-0] were adopted as the club's colours.

In the inaugural 1988 season, the club's jersey design featured the top third being gold, the middle being alternating hoops of maroon and white and the bottom third being maroon. Although this design featured gold strongly, it did not please everyone as the jersey had to differentiate from the maroon and white of Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the maroon of the Queensland State of Origin team. [cite web | title=Rugby League History - RL1908.com - Brisbane Broncos | url=http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Brisbane-Broncos.htm | accessdate=2007-04-27] Following a number of design changes in the 1990s including a predominantly white jersey from 1997 to 1998, blue was added to the jersey in 2001 as a minor colour to show the aforementioned historical link with the colours of Brisbane. However, this was later dropped from the design in favour of a mainly maroon jersey with gold trim.

At the 1995 Rugby League World Sevens tournament, the club introduced a new combination of jersey colours - mauve, aqua and white. Brisbane Broncos Marketing Manager Shane Edwards stated that it "will become our Sevens strip... but we will never change the Broncos' colours." [ Bronco! Magazine Issue 1, 1995 ] In 2001, following the release of the club's predominantly white with navy-blue and maroon away jersey, the National Rugby League ordered the club to produce a third jersey since the new away jersey clashed with the home jerseys of the Penrith Panthers, Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors. An aqua strip using the same design as the jerseys used from 1999 to 2001 was worn, which was much derided by the local media. Following two years of public pressure the club dropped the jersey in favour of the design worn against Newcastle in 2003.

tadium

In their first five seasons, the Broncos played their matches at Lang Park, the ground considered to be the home of rugby league in Queensland. However, following ongoing conflict with the Queensland Rugby League and Lang Park Trust, the team relocated to ANZ Stadium in 1993.cite web | title=Brisbane Broncos History RL1908 |url=http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Brisbane-Broncos.htm | accessdate=2007-04-06] The club's home match attendance, which had averaged 19,637 at Lang Park, increased to 43,200 at the new ground in the first season following the club's premiership title in the previous season. However, despite the team's second premiership in 1993, crowds gradually declined, with the club failing, until 2002, to register more than the 1996 average of 23,712.

With the Queensland Government's $280,000,000 redevelopment of Lang Park, [cite web | title=Suncopr Stadium Land Park Redevelopment |url=http://www.arup.com/australasia/project.cfm?pageid=1354 | accessdate=2007-04-22] the team moved back to the refurbished and renamed Suncorp Stadium upon its completion in mid-2003. The more centrally-located stadium has begun to attract increasingly higher crowds, with the 2006 average attendance of 31,208 being significantly higher than the Newcastle Knights with 21,848 and about double the regular season competition average of 15,601.cite web | title=Rugby League Tables / Attendances Brisbane |url=http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/brisbane.html | accessdate=2007-04-06]

The club record attendance for a regular season match is 58,593, set against the St. George Dragons in the final round of the 1993 season. The record attendance for a match at Suncorp Stadium is 50,612, set in the third round of the 2008 season against the North Queensland Cowboys.cite web | title=Rugby League Tables / Attendances Brisbane |url=http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/brisbane.html | accessdate=2008-06-09]

tatistics and records

The Brisbane Broncos are the most successful club in the history of the competition in terms of percentage of total games won, having won 65.80% of their games since their inception. This is more than 5% better than the second-placed club. [cite web | title=Rugby League Tables / Win-Loss Records / All Teams | url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/all/overall_wl.html | accessdate=2007-04-22] In their twenty completed seasons, the club has made a total of six Grand Finals, winning each time, and have made the finals for the past sixteen seasons. They are one of only two clubs to have won the World Club Challenge twice, and were the first club to do so on British soil. They also won the now defunct Panasonic Cup in 1989.

Current team captain Darren Lockyer holds the record for the most First Grade games for the club.

Darren Lockyer holds the record for the most points scored for the club, tallying 1,138 since his debut in 1995. He also holds the club record of 272 points in a season, having achieved this in 1998. Steve Renouf holds the record for the most career tries for the club with 142. Renouf also shares the club record for the most number of tries in a season with Darren Smith at 23. Lote Tuqiri's tally of 26 points from three tries and seven goals in a single match against the Northern Eagles remains the club record for most individual points in a game. Corey Parker holds the record for most goals in a game kicking ten in a round one clash of 2008 breaking the previous mark of nine kicked by Lockyer in 1998 and matched by Michael De Vere in 2001. Parker converted ten from ten goals in the Broncos 48-12 win over the Penrith Panthers in which Parker scored 24 points placing him in equal second place on the most points in a match tally. [cite news|url=http://news.smh.com.au/lockyer-gets-rousing-welcome-from-fans/20080316-1zqx.html|title=Lockyer gets rousing welcome from fans|date=2008-03-16|accessdate=2008-03-16] Five players have scored four tries in a match for the Brisbane Broncos including Steve Renouf, Wendell Sailor, Karmichael Hunt, Justin Hodges and Denan Kemp.2006 Official Rugby League Annual. Edited by David Middleton, Published by News Magazines, Surrey Hills, Sydney] Renouf achieved this feat five times from 1991 to 1998.

The club's biggest winning margin is 65 points, achieved in 2007 in a 71-6 victory over the Newcastle Knights. [cite news | title=Broncos run riot against Newcastle 71-6 | publisher=NRL | date=2007-05-27 | accessdate=2007-05-27 ] Their heaviest defeat was a 50–4 loss to the Melbourne Storm in 2005, a record which was equalled when they lost to the Parramatta Eels 68-22 in 2007. [cite web | title=Rugby League Tables / Game Records / Brisbane | url=http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/brisbane/brisbane_gr.html | accessdate=2007-09-02]

2008 Squads

The Brisbane Broncos have 25 main signed players for the 2008 season. [cite web|publisher=Brisbane Broncos|url=http://www.broncos.com.au/index.cfm?MenuID=277|title=NRL Profiles|accessdate=2008-03-28] The Brisbane Broncos also field a team in the Under 20's National Youth Competition. [cite web|url=http://broncos.com.au/index.cfm?MenuID=561|title=NYC Profiles|accessdate=2008-03-28|publisher=Brisbane Broncos]

Notable players

:"For a full list of Broncos representatives, see Brisbane Broncos Representatives"The representative playing list of the Brisbane Broncos has traditionally been extensive due to the club's premiership success and being the dominant Queensland team in the competition for the majority of its participation. Consequently, there have been a large number of Queensland Maroons in the team. In 2007, a 20 man legends team was announced to celebrate the club's 20 year anniversary. [ citeweb | title=Broncos Name Legends Team | url=http://www.nrl.com/News/Latest/NewsArticle/tabid/76/NewsId/5007/Default.aspx | accessdate=2007-05-09 ]

Honours

*sport honours|World Club Challenge|2| 1992, 1997
*sport honours|Premiership|6|1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2006
*sport honours|Minor Premiership|4| 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000
*sport honours|Panasonic Cup|1| 1989
*sport honours|Lotto Challenge Cup|1| 1991
*sport honours|Tooheys Challenge|1| 1995

Brisbane Broncos U/20 Toyota Cup

*Brisbane Broncos Toyota Cup 2008 Season
*Brisbane Broncos Toyota Cup Records
*Brisbane Broncos Toyota Cup Honours

Corporate

Expand-section|date=April 2008The parent company of the Brisbane Broncos is Nationwide News Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of News Limited, which as of 30 June 2007, owns 68.87% of Broncos shares. [cite web | title=Brisbane Broncos 2007 Half-Yearly Financial Results (Page 17)|url=http://www.broncos.com.au/Content/Attachment/June%202007%20ASX%20Announcement1.pdf| accessdate=2008-03-10 ]
John Ribot, a former first grade rugby league player in Queensland and New South Wales, was the club’s original chief executive officer (CEO). Ribot left when he signed to become the CEO of the rebel Australian rugby league competition Super League. (p.24,112) Shane Edwards, the Broncos Marketing Manager at the time, was promoted to CEO and later resigned. Bruno Cullen, who had been with the Broncos' off-field staff since 1989, became the club's third CEO in 2003.

WOW Sight and Sound are the major sponsors of the Broncos. Nova 106.9 are the main radio sponsors after taking over from rival station B105 FM in late 2006. Live broadcasts of all Broncos matches are provided by 612 ABC Brisbane except if they play on Monday night, in which case 4MMM do so. Channel Nine Queensland also fully sponsors the Broncos, this is despite the fact former club legend Shane Webcke is signed to rival Seven Queensland.

Famous fans, amongst others, include Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, treasurer Wayne Swan, musicians Bernard Fanning, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes, media personality Rod Young and former tennis champion Pat Rafter

Footnotes

External links

Official Sites
* [http://www.broncos.com.au/ Broncos Official Web Page]
* [http://www.broncosleagues.com.au/ Broncos Leagues Club] Statistics & Information Sites
* [http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/brisbane/brisbane_idx.html Rugby League Tables]
* [http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Brisbane-Broncos.htm RL1908 Broncos History]