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]
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.
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 |
| Player | Tries | Goals | FG | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 58/89 | 0 | 144 | ||
| 9 | 28/41 | 3 | 95 | ||
| 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 | ||
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 64 | ||
| 12 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| 11 | 0 | 1 | 45 | ||
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Brisbane Broncos vs. St George Dragons
| Brisbane | Position | St George | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fullback | Mick Potter (C) | ||
| Wing | Ricky Walford | ||
| Centre | Mark Coyne | ||
| Centre | Graeme Bradley | ||
| Wing | Ian Herron | ||
| Five-eighth | Tony Smith | ||
| Allan Langer (C) | Halfback | Noel Goldthorpe | |
| Prop | Tony Priddle | ||
| Hooker | Wayne Collins | ||
| Prop | Jason Stevens | ||
| Second Row | Scott Gourley | ||
| Second Row | David Barnhill | ||
| Lock | Brad Mackay | ||
| Interchange | Jeff Hardy | ||
| Interchange | Phil Blake | ||
| Interchange | Gorden Tallis | ||
| Interchange | Nathan Brown | ||
| Wayne Bennett | COACH | Brian Smith |
Brisbane 14 (TRIES: Johns, Matterson, Carne; GOALS: O'Neill 1/3)
defeated
St George 6 (GOALS: Herron 3/3)
Halftime: Brisbane 10-2
Referee: Greg McCallum
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Crowd: 42,329
Brad Mackay (St George)