1988 Brisbane Broncos season explained

Year:1988
Team Colour:
  1. aa0000
Font Colour:
  1. ffcc33
League:NSWRL
League Rank:7th
League Wins:10
League Draws:0
League Losses:8
Points For:474
Points Against:368
Playoff Result:Did not qualify
Ceo Title:CEO
Coach Title:Coach
Avg Attendance:15,071
Top Tries:Wally Lewis
Top Points:Terry Matterson
List:yes
List Link:Brisbane Broncos#Season summaries

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.

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 Win 44 10 6 Mar 17,451 [1] [2]
2 Win 20 18 12 Mar Lang Park 13,621 [3]
3 Win 38 4 20 Mar Campbelltown 10,112 [4]
4 Win 24 12 27 Mar North Sydney 9,329 [5]
5 Win 24 18 3 Apr Lang Park 23,202 [6]
PC Penrith Panthers Loss 10 24 6 Apr Parramatta Stadium [7]
6 Win 24 10 10 Apr Newcastle ISC 30,220 [8]
7 Loss 18 26 16 Apr Lang Park 18,434 [9]
8 Loss 8 38 23 Apr Endeavour 10,115
9 Win 24 20 1 May Lang Park 16,489 [10]
10 Loss 22 25 8 May Seagulls 13,432 [11]
11* Loss 16 36 22 May Lang Park 15,909 [12]
12* Win 32 10 5 Jun Wollongong 9,738 [13]
13 Win 26 22 13 Jun Lang Park 19,954 [14]
14 Loss 4 16 17 Jun 10,871 [15]
15* Loss 10 25 26 Jun Lang Park 15,371 [16]
16 Win 28 10 3 Jul 17,193 [17]
17 Win 8 6 10 Jul 17,106 [18]
18 Win 32 6 16 Jul Lang Park 11,419 [19]
19 Win 24 6 23 Jul Lang Park 11,452 [20]
20 Loss 14 22 31 Jul Parramatta 13,190 [21]
21 Win 24 8 6 Aug Lang Park 13,919 [22]
22 Loss 10 20 13 Aug 13,015 [23]

Ladder

width=20 abbr="Position×" width=175 Teamwidth=20 abbr="Played" Pldwidth=20 abbr="Won" Wwidth=20 abbr="Drawn" Dwidth=20 abbr="Lost" Lwidth=20 abbr="Points for" PFwidth=20 abbr="Points against" PAwidth=20 abbr="Points difference" PDwidth=20 abbr="Points" Pts
1 Cronulla-Sutherland221624507330+17734
2 Canterbury-Bankstown221606412268+14432
3 Canberra221507596346+25030
4 Manly-Warringah221507538347+19130
5 Penrith221507394258+13630
6 Balmain221507402341+6130
7 Brisbane Broncos221408474368+10628
8 South Sydney221228425383+4224
9 North Sydney229211366424-5820
10 St. George229013352493-14118
11 Parramatta228014359412-5316
12 Eastern Suburbs226313387443-5615
13 Illawarra226115353510-15713
14 Newcastle Knights225116270460-19011
15 Gold Coast-Tweed Giants224216238484-24610
16 Western Suburbs224117287493-2069

Awards

League

nil

Club

External links

-27.4647°N 153.0094°W

Notes and References

  1. News: Wallypower starts a new era in Rugby League. Adrian McGregor. 7 March 1988. 61. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. News: Two-try Lewis is still the king. Alan Clarkson. 7 March 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 61.
  3. News: Last-gasp try saves Broncos. Brett Thomas. 13 March 1988. 86. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. News: Lewis and Broncos toy with Wests. Ian Heads. 21 March 1988. 64. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  5. News: Lewis steers the Broncos home. Paul Tait. 28 March 1988. 61. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  6. News: Ward earns good report for 'ruling it as I saw it'. Brad Forrest. 5 April 1988. 43. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. News: Alexander ends Broncos' charge. Paul Tait. 7 April 1988. 47. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. News: King Wally staves off the bold Knights. MacDonald. John. 11 April 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 63.
  9. News: Tigers turn the screws on tail poppies. Alan Clarkson. 17 April 1988. 75. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  10. News: Bennett's blast brings on Bronco revival. Brad Forrest. 2 May 1988. 60. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. News: Gibbs and Gold Coast batter the Broncos. Brad Forrest. 9 May 1988. 56. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  12. News: Last Post sounds for Brisbane's baldful Old Veterans. Roy. Masters. Paul. Tait. 23 May 1988. 65. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  13. News: Backrow pair seal win for Broncos. Weidler. Danny. 6 June 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 60.
  14. News: Possession helps beat St. George. Forrest. Brad. 14 June 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 47.
  15. News: Souths still in top-five race. MacDonald. John. 18 June 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 68.
  16. News: Super sub Turvey's picnic in the park. Heads. Ian. The Sydney Morning Herald. 56.
  17. News: Dowling stands up where no Eagles dare. MacDonald. John. The Sydney Morning Herald. 59.
  18. News: Bloodied Broncos survive an epic. MacDonald. John. The Sydney Morning Herald. 52.
  19. News: Broncos run riot – but only in patches. 17 July 1988. 70. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  20. News: Broncos drop Bears and ball in semis quest. Alan Clarkson. 24 July 1988. 63. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  21. News: Brave win eases the dispair for Eels. Tait. Paul. 1 August 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 59.
  22. News: A Bronco breakout. Clarkson. Alan. 7 August 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 64.
  23. News: Tigers on the hunt. Clarkson. Alan. 14 August 1988. The Sydney Morning Herald. 71.
  24. Web site: Honour Board . broncos.com.au . . 22 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140126143426/http://www.broncos.com.au/honour-board . 26 January 2014 . dmy .