Brisbane Broncos
Encyclopedia
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, the capital of the state of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 (NRL) premiership. They have won six premierships and two World Club Challenge
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...

s. The Broncos have achieved four minor premiership
Minor premiership
A minor premiership is the name of the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the playoffs....

s during their 22 years in competition, making them the League's most successful club over the past two decades. Brisbane have never been defeated in a grand final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...

, and between 1991 and 2009, never failed to qualify for the finals. In 2010, Brisbane finished 10th in the NRL premiership, failing to make the semi finals for the first time in 19 years. The club has the largest fan base in the NRL in Australia and has the highest average attendance of any rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 club in the world; 36,336 in the 2010 NRL season
2010 NRL season
The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 October at ANZ Stadium...

.. They are also the most successful club in the history of Rugby League, having won 63% of their games since their induction in 1988.

The club records the highest annual revenue of all NRL clubs and has been named one of Australia's most popular and most watched football team. The club was founded in 1988 as part of the Winfield Cup
Winfield Cup
The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and to the winner of the Australian Rugby League Grand Final in 1995...

's national expansion, becoming, along with the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants, one of Queensland's first two participants in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership
New South Wales Rugby League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...

. The Broncos later became a dominant force in the competition before playing a significant role in the Super League War
Super League war
The Super League war is the common name given to the corporate dispute that was fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s between the Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-backed Super League and the Kerry Packer and Optus Vision-backed Australian Rugby League organisations over broadcasting...

 of the mid-1990s, then continuing to compete successfully in the reunified National Rugby League competition. The Broncos are based in the Brisbane suburb of Red Hill
Red Hill, Queensland
Red Hill is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia, located 3 km north-west of the Brisbane CBD. The suburb is very hilly and mainly residential, with shops and small businesses located on Musgrave and Waterworks Roads...

 where their training ground and Leagues club are located, but they play their home games at Milton
Milton, Queensland
Milton is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia, located approximately west of Brisbane's central business district. The suburb is a mixture of light industry, warehouses, commercial offices, retail and single and multiple occupancy residences...

's Suncorp Stadium
Suncorp Stadium
Lang Park is the original name of the site located in the Brisbane suburb of Milton, Queensland, Australia, now occupied by the major sports facility known by its sponsorship name, Suncorp Stadium...

. They are the only publicly listed sporting club on the Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....

, trading as Brisbane Broncos Limited .

History

Queensland’s success in the 1980s' State of Origin
Rugby League State of Origin
State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...

, the representative fixture between Queensland and New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, in addition to the inclusion of a Combined Brisbane team in the mid-week competition
Amco Cup
The Amco Cup was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982...

, 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
Queensland Rugby League
The Queensland Rugby Football League is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....

 chose the bid of former Brisbane Rugby League (BRL) players, Barry Maranta
Barry Maranta
Barry Maranta is an Australian businessman and co-founder of the Brisbane Broncos rugby league team. As well as being a founder of the Broncos he is currently a Sky Shades president....

 and Paul "Porky" Morgan
Paul Morgan (rugby league)
Paul "Porky" Morgan was an Australian rugby league player and businessman. He is remembered for being co-founder of the Brisbane Broncos club...

.

The Broncos secured the services of Australian Kangaroos captain and former Sunnybank State High Student (Many Kinds of Excselance) Wally Lewis
Wally Lewis
Walter James "Wally" Lewis AM is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. Currently a commentator of the sport, he is widely regarded as the greatest rugby league player of all time...

 and former BRL coach Wayne Bennett. The team made their debut in the NSWRL's 1988 Winfield Cup premiership against reigning premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...

, and defeated them 44–10. However after this promising start they failed to make the finals. In their second season they won the mid-week knockout competition, the 1989 Panasonic Cup. The club first tasted premiership success in 1992, and again in 1993, defeating the St. George Dragons
St. George Dragons
The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...

 in both years.

In 1995
Brisbane Broncos 1995
The 1995 Brisbane Broncos season was the eighth in the club's history. They competed in the Australian Rugby League's 1995 Winfield Cup premiership, finishing in the regular season 3rd and making it to the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual premiers, the Canterbury-Bankstown...

, the Super League War
Super League war
The Super League war is the common name given to the corporate dispute that was fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s between the Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-backed Super League and the Kerry Packer and Optus Vision-backed Australian Rugby League organisations over broadcasting...

 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
John Ribot
John Ribot is an Australian sports administrator and former rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 80s. Once a Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative winger, Ribot was the 1980 NSWRFL season's top try-scorer...

 moved to take over the running of the rebel Super League
Super League (Australia)
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...

, leading to a perception that the conflict was orchestrated by the club. Brisbane won the only Super League premiership
Super League (Australia) season 1997
The 1997 Super League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the first and only to be run by the News Limited-controlled Super League organisation...

 in 1997
Brisbane Broncos 1997
The 1997 Brisbane Broncos season was the tenth in the club's history. This season was unique in that they participated in the Australian Super League's 1997 Telstra Cup premiership and 1997 World Club Championship, winning both competitions.-Season summary:...

, before winning the first National Rugby League trophy in the re-unified 1998
Brisbane Broncos 1998
The 1998 Brisbane Broncos season was the eleventh in the club's history. They participated in the newly formed National Rugby League's 1998 premiership and posted their three biggest ever wins in rounds 5, 7 and 15 before capturing their fourth premiership in seven seasons.Broncos trio Allan...

 competition.

1999
Brisbane Broncos 1999
The 1999 Brisbane Broncos season was the twelfth in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 1999 premiership, reaching the finals but losing their first play-off match.-Season summary:...

 was disappointing for the club with a terrible early-season form hindering their attempt at a third consecutive premiership losing 8 of their first 10 matches. Club legend Allan Langer
Allan Langer
Allan "Alfie" Langer AM is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s who works as an assistant coach for the Australian national team and Brisbane Broncos...

 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
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...

 in the first week of the finals. However, the Broncos' rebounded in 2000 with their fifth premiership, defeating the Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...

. The game marked the retirement of veterans Kevin Walters
Kevin Walters
Kevin David Walters is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently the assistant coach for NRL club Melbourne Storm. He joined them from French club Catalans Dragons of Europe's Super League as their head coach. Before that he was head coach of the...

 and Michael Hancock
Michael Hancock (rugby league)
Michael John "Mick" Hancock is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative winger, he played in the Brisbane Broncos' 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grand final victories...

.

Allan Langer returned to the club in 2002
Brisbane Broncos 2002
The 2002 Brisbane Broncos season was the fifteenth in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2002 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in third position before going on to again come within one match of the grand final for the second consecutive year.- Season summary :The...

 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, with 7 Broncos players on average included in the Queensland Origin team. This extra workload has caused a loss of form for the club immediately after the series, evidenced in 2003 when the ladder-leading Broncos lost 10 of their last 11 games. Despite faring better in 2004
Brisbane Broncos 2004
The 2004 Brisbane Broncos season was the seventeenth in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2004 Telstra Premiership, making it to the finals again, but were knocked out of contention by the North Queensland Cowboys, their first ever loss to the club....

 and 2005
Brisbane Broncos 2005
The 2005 Brisbane Broncos season was the eighteenth in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 3rd despite ending the year with another long losing streak which continued into the play-offs and saw them knocked out once again.-Season...

, the team still struggled in the latter stages of the season, losing all of their finals matches.

In 2006
Brisbane Broncos 2006
The 2006 Brisbane Broncos season was the nineteenth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Darren Lockyer, they won the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 3rd place before going on to win the 2006 NRL Grand Final against minor premiers the...

, 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
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....

 and keeping their perfect Grand Final record intact. 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. Ivan Henjak
Ivan Henjak
Ivan Henjak is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He was the former head coach for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League, having taken over from Wayne Bennett in 2009...

, a former rugby league player who had been assistant coach with the Broncos since the beginning of 2006, was named their second-ever coach, commencing as coach for the 2009 season. Their 2009 season included their worst-ever post-Origin slump, featuring three matches in a row where the opposing team scored more than 40 points, concluding with a 56–0 loss to Canberra on 1 August 2009. They rallied around and in their match against Penrith two rounds later, they won 58–24. This snapback (after Penrith, they won the rest of their games that season) got them into the finals for the 18th year running, but they fell against Melbourne in the 3rd preliminary final by 40–10.

Their 2010 season started moderately: a 30–24 win against North Queensland, a 14–22 loss to Canberra, and a 48–16 hammering by the Warriors on 28 March 2010. On Monday 29 March, former Broncos player and recruitment agent Allan Langer was caught drink-driving in Brisbane's northside.

Apart from a late season 10–6 win against eventual premiers St George Illawarra, the 2010 season was one to forget; with injuries and poor form seeing the Broncos out of the finals for the first time since 1991. The Broncos missing the finals now means that every club has missed the finals at least once since the 2002 season.

In February 2011, it was announced Ivan Henjak was leaving the club, and Anthony Griffin
Anthony Griffin (rugby league)
Anthony Griffin is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and current head coach for the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership during the 1980s before taking up coaching...

 would take over as coach for the 2011 Season.

2012 will mark the Broncos 25th season in the NRL competition.

Season summaries

P=Premiers, R=Runner-Ups, M=Minor Premierships, F=Finals Appearance, W=Wooden Spoons
(Brackets Represent Finals Games)
Competition Games
Played
Games
Won
Games
Drawn
Games
Lost
Ladder
Position
|R |F
Wayne Bennett
Wally Lewis
Wally Lewis
Walter James "Wally" Lewis AM is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. Currently a commentator of the sport, he is widely regarded as the greatest rugby league player of all time...

1988 Brisbane Broncos season
1989 NSWRL season
22 (1) 14 (0) 0 (0) 8 (1) 5 / 16
1989 Brisbane Broncos season
1990 NSWRL season
22 (3) 16 (1) 1 (0) 5 (2) 2 / 16
Gene Miles
Gene Miles
Gene Miles is a retired Australian rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative centre, he played his club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership before joining the Brisbane Broncos whom he captained.-BRL:A...

1990 Brisbane Broncos season
1991 NSWRL season
22 13 0 9 7 / 16
1991 Brisbane Broncos season
1992 NSWRL season
22 (2) 18 (2) 0 (0) 4 (0) 1 / 16
Allan Langer
Allan Langer
Allan "Alfie" Langer AM is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s who works as an assistant coach for the Australian national team and Brisbane Broncos...

1992 Brisbane Broncos season
1993 NSWRL season
22 (4) 16 (4) 0 (0) 6 (0) 5 / 16
1993 Brisbane Broncos season
1994 NSWRL season
22 (2) 13 (1) 1 (0) 8 (1) 5 / 16
1994 Brisbane Broncos season
1995 ARL season
22 (2) 17 (0) 0 (0) 5 (2) 3 / 20
1995 Brisbane Broncos season
1996 ARL season
21 (2) 17 (0) 0 (0) 4 (2) 2 / 20
1996 Brisbane Broncos season
1997 SL season
18 (2) 14 (2) 1 (0) 3 (0) 1 / 10
1997 Brisbane Broncos season
1998 NRL season
24 (4) 18 (3) 1 (0) 5 (1) 1 / 20
1998 Brisbane Broncos season
1999 NRL season
24 (1) 13 (0) 2 (0) 9 (1) 8 / 17
1999 Brisbane Broncos season
Kevin Walters
Kevin Walters
Kevin David Walters is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently the assistant coach for NRL club Melbourne Storm. He joined them from French club Catalans Dragons of Europe's Super League as their head coach. Before that he was head coach of the...

2000 NRL season
26 (3) 18 (3) 2 (0) 6 (0) 1 / 14
2000 Brisbane Broncos season
2001 NRL season
26 (3) 14 (1) 1 (0) 11 (2) 5 / 14
Gorden Tallis
Gorden Tallis
Gorden James Tallis is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played from 1992 to 2004. He captained Australia and Queensland as well as the Brisbane Broncos club, with whom he won three premierships and one Clive Churchill Medal...

2001 Brisbane Broncos season
2002 NRL season
24 (2) 16 (1) 1 (0) 7 (1) 3 / 15
2002 Brisbane Broncos season
2003 NRL season
24 (1) 12 (0) 0 (0) 12 (1) 8 / 15
2003 Brisbane Broncos season
2004 NRL season
24 (2) 16 (0) 1 (0) 7 (2) 3 / 15
2004 Brisbane Broncos season
2005 NRL season
24 (2) 15 (0) 0 (0) 9 (2) 3 / 15
Darren Lockyer
Darren Lockyer
Darren Lockyer is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He was the captain of the Australian national team, the Queensland State of Origin team and his National Rugby League club, the Brisbane Broncos. His professional career spanned between 1995 and 2011...

2005 Brisbane Broncos season
2006 NRL season
24 (4) 14 (3) 0 (0) 10 (1) 3 / 15
2006 Brisbane Broncos season
2007 NRL season
24 (1) 11 (0) 0 (0) 13 (1) 8 / 16
2007 Brisbane Broncos season
2008 NRL season
24 (2) 14 (1) 1 (0) 9 (1) 5 / 16
2008 Brisbane Broncos season
2009 NRL season
24 (3) 14 (2) 0 (0) 10 (1) 6 / 16
Ivan Henjak
Ivan Henjak
Ivan Henjak is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He was the former head coach for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League, having taken over from Wayne Bennett in 2009...


2009 Brisbane Broncos season
2010 NRL season
2010 NRL season
The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 October at ANZ Stadium...

24 11 0 13 10 / 16
2010 Brisbane Broncos season
2010 Brisbane Broncos season
The 2010 Brisbane Broncos season was the 23rd in the club's history, and they competed in the NRL's 2010 Telstra Premiership. Before the start of the season, Brisbane's test centre Justin Hodges damaged an achilles heel tendon at training, ruling him out for the entire year...

2011 NRL season
2011 NRL season
The 2011 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth run by the National Rugby League. The NRL's main championship, called the 2011 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, was contested by sixteen teams for the...

24 (3) 18 (2) 0 (0) 6 (1) 3 / 16
Anthony Griffin
Anthony Griffin (rugby league)
Anthony Griffin is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and current head coach for the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership during the 1980s before taking up coaching...


2011 Brisbane Broncos season
2011 Brisbane Broncos season
-Gains:-Losses:-Re-signings:-Pre-Season:-Regular Season:-Finals:-Statistics:Source: -Representative honours:The following players have played a representative match in 2011.Australian Kangaroos*Ben Hannant*Justin Hodges...

2012 NRL season
2012 NRL season
The 2012 NRL season will be the 106th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fifteenth run by the National Rugby League. The NRL will be contested by sixteen teams for the sixth consecutive year...

0 0 0 0 / 16
Sam Thaiday
Sam Thaiday
Samuel H. "Sam" Thaiday is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he has spent all of his career at the Broncos, with whom he won the 2006...

2012 Brisbane Broncos season

2012 Squad

Notable players

For a full list of Broncos representatives, see List of 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.

Honours

  • World Club Challenge: 2
1992
1992 World Club Challenge
The 1992 World Club Challenge match was contested by the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan and the 1992 NSWRL season's premiers, the Brisbane Broncos...

, 1997
  • Premiership: 6
1992, 1993, 1997
Super League (Australia) season 1997
The 1997 Super League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the first and only to be run by the News Limited-controlled Super League organisation...

, 1998, 2000, 2006
  • Minor Premiership: 4
1992, 1997, 1998, 2000
  • Panasonic Cup: 1
1989
  • Lotto Challenge Cup: 1
1991
  • Tooheys Challenge: 1
1995


The Paul Morgan Medal is awarded annually to the Brisbane Broncos' player of the year. it is named after one of the club's founders, Paul 'Porky' Morgan
Paul Morgan (rugby league)
Paul "Porky" Morgan was an Australian rugby league player and businessman. He is remembered for being co-founder of the Brisbane Broncos club...

.

Statistics and records

The Brisbane Broncos are the most successful club in terms of percentage of total games won, having won 65.80% of their games. This is more than 5% better than the second-placed club. 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
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...

 twice, and were the first club to do so on British soil. They also won the now defunct Panasonic Cup
Amco Cup
The Amco Cup was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982...

 in 1989.

Current team captain Darren Lockyer holds the record for the most First Grade games for both the club and National League. Lockyer also holds the record for the most points scored for the club, tallying 1,171 since his debut in 1995, and the club record of 272 points in a season, having achieved this in 1998. Steve Renouf
Steve Renouf
Stephen Renouf is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. Of Aboriginal and European descent, he was known as one of the sport's greatest centres. Renouf set numerous records for the Brisbane Broncos club and is considered one of the greatest...

 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
Northern Eagles
The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team, that competed in the National Rugby League between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by the merger of the North Sydney Bears and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in 2000...

 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
Michael De Vere
Michael De Vere is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. He represented Australia in four tests and New South Wales in five State of Origin matches...

 in 2001. Parker converted ten from ten goals in the Broncos 48–12 win over the Penrith Panthers
Penrith Panthers
The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...

 in which Parker scored 24 points placing him in equal second place on the most points in a match tally. Six players have scored four tries in a match for the Brisbane Broncos including Steve Renouf
Steve Renouf
Stephen Renouf is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. Of Aboriginal and European descent, he was known as one of the sport's greatest centres. Renouf set numerous records for the Brisbane Broncos club and is considered one of the greatest...

, Wendell Sailor
Wendell Sailor
Wendell Jermaine Sailor is an Australian former professional rugby football player who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international. He is an Australian Torres Strait Islander.Sailor's large frame and bullocking style changed the way wingers played rugby...

, Karmichael Hunt
Karmichael Hunt
Karmichael Neil Matthew Hunt is an Australian professional multi-code football player, currently playing Australian rules football for the newly formed Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League ....

, Justin Hodges
Justin Hodges
Justin Hodges is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League...

, Denan Kemp
Denan Kemp
Denan Kemp is an Australian professional rugby footballer who currently plays rugby league for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League . A speedy winger, he has previously played in the NRL for the Brisbane Broncos and the New Zealand Warriors before a brief stint in rugby...

 and Israel Folau
Israel Folau
Israel Folau is a professional Australian rules footballer currently listed with the Greater Western Sydney Football Club in the Australian Football League . He previously played Rugby league for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League from 2007 to 2008 where he broke the record for most...

. 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
Newcastle Knights
The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

. Their heaviest defeat is a 56–0 loss by the Canberra Raiders on the 1 August 2009.

Stadium

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
Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre
The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre , more commonly known by its former names ANZ Stadium or QE II, is a major sporting facility on the south side of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...

 in 1993. 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 and it was not until 2002 that the club again registered more than the 1996 average attendance of 23,712.
With the Queensland Government's $280,000,000 redevelopment of Lang Park, 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 larger crowds, with the 2006 average attendance of 31,208 being significantly higher than the Newcastle Knights
Newcastle Knights
The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

 with 21,848 and about double the regular season competition average of 15,601.

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 50,255 set in the semi-final match of the 2008 season, against the St. George Illawarra Dragons. Before kick-off at the Stadium an instrumental version of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

's "Kashmir
Kashmir (song)
"Kashmir" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their sixth album Physical Graffiti, released in 1975. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant over a period of three years, with the lyrics dating back to 1973.-Overview:The song centres around a signature chord progression...

" is routinely played.

Emblem and colours

It had originally been planned for the Brisbane Broncos to adopt a logo incorporating both a kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...

 and a stylised "Q" which had been featured in the logo for the Queensland Rugby League for many years. However, with the Australian national rugby league team
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...

 also known as the Kangaroos, this was deemed inappropriate and conflicting. The state flower the Cooktown Orchid
Cooktown orchid
The Cooktown Orchid , has been the floral emblem of Queensland since 19 November 1959. It was first described in 1880 as Dendrobium phalaenopsis, then included in Dendrobium bigibbum,...

 and the Poinsettia
Poinsettia
Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly known as Zack Wood or noche buena, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Mexico and Central America. The name "poinsettia" is after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the US in 1825...

 which had long been used by Brisbane representative teams in the Bulimba Cup
Bulimba Cup (rugby league competition)
The Bulimba Cup was a representative rugby league football competition held between Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was first contested in 1925 but was cancelled in 1972 due to waning public interest....

 and midweek knockout competitions was also ruled out, along with other Australian animals
Fauna of Australia
The fauna of Australia consists of a huge variety of animals; some 83% of mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians that inhabit the continent are endemic to Australia...

 such as the brumby
Brumby
A Brumby is a free-roaming feral horse in Australia. Although found in many areas around the country, the best-known brumbies are found in the Australian Alps region in south-eastern Australia. Today, most of them are found in the Northern Territory, with the second largest population in Queensland...

, possum
Possum
A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...

, galah
Galah
The Galah , Eolophus roseicapilla, also known as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo, Galah Cockatoo, Roseate Cockatoo or Pink and Grey, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos, and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.It is endemic on the mainland and was...

 and the kookaburra
Kookaburra
Kookaburras are terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. They are large to very large, with a total length of . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, and is onomatopoeic of its call...

, which was used on Brisbane's Kookaburra Queen paddleships
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

. Having wanted to continue with the use of alliteration
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...

 for local sporting teams such as the Brisbane Bullets
Brisbane Bullets
The Brisbane Bullets were, until 2008, a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League. The Bullets were one of only two teams that survived since the NBL's inception in 1979; the only surviving team is now the Wollongong Hawks. The team played in Midnight Navy...

 and Brisbane Bears
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...

, the club's directors eventually decided on the nickname Bronco
Bronco
Bronco, or bronc is a term used in the United States, northern Mexico and Canada to refer to an untrained horse or one that habitually bucks. It may refer to a feral horse that has lived in the wild its entire life, but is also used to refer to domestic horses not yet fully trained to saddle, and...

s.

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
John Singleton (Australian entrepreneur)
John Desmond Singleton AM is an Australian entrepreneur. He built his success and wealth in the advertising business in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s...

 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 Queensland along with gold, symbolising the Queensland sunshine, 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
Queensland State of Origin Team
The Queensland rugby league team have represented the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1908...

. 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
Rugby League World Sevens
The Rugby League World Sevens, usually referred to as the World Sevens and sometimes as the World Cup Sevens, were a pre-season rugby league sevens tournament made up over the years primarily of New South Wales Rugby League , Australian Rugby League and mostly recently National Rugby League ...

 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." 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
Penrith Panthers
The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...

, Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership and are the League's only team from outside Australia...

. 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.

Supporters

The Brisbane broncos have the largest fan base of any NRL club and they have been voted the most popular rugby league team in Australia for several years. A Broncos supporters group called "The Thoroughbreds" which is made up of prominent businessmen, made an unsuccessful bid to purchase News Ltd's controlling share of the club in 2007.

Notable fans

  • Allan Border
    Allan Border
    Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...

    , Australian cricket captain
  • Andrew Symonds
    Andrew Symonds
    Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

    , international cricketer
  • Karl Stefanovic
    Karl Stefanovic
    Karl Stefanovic is an Australian Gold Logie winning television presenter.Stefanovic is currently a co-host of the Nine Network's breakfast program, Today.-Early years:...

    , television presenter
  • Ken Talbot
    Ken Talbot
    Ken Talbot was the principal shareholder and former CEO of the Macarthur Coal Ltd mining company. He was the only child of Norman and Nita Talbot...

    , mining magnate
  • Pat Rafter, tennis player

  • Kevin Rudd
    Kevin Rudd
    Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

    , Former Australian Prime Minister

  • Sally Pearson, Olympic athlete
  • Steve Irwin
    Steve Irwin
    Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin , nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted...

    , TV personality and environmentalist
  • Terry Price
    Terry Price (golfer)
    Terry Price is an Australian professional golfer.Price was born in Rockhampton, Queensland. He turned professional in 1978 at age 17, joined the PGA Tour of Australasia in 1986, and won his first tournament in 1988. He has since won seven more titles on the tour, in addition to several more...

    , professional golfer
  • Sam Stosur, professional tennis player


Corporate

The Broncos are the only publicly listed NRL club. The parent company of the Brisbane Broncos is Nationwide News Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...

, which as of 30 June 2007, owns 68.87% of Broncos shares.

John Ribot
John Ribot
John Ribot is an Australian sports administrator and former rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 80s. Once a Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative winger, Ribot was the 1980 NSWRFL season's top try-scorer...

, 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
Super League (Australia)
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...

. (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.

NRMA Insurance
NRMA
NRMA refers to either of two historically related Australian companies:*The National Roads and Motorists' Association, known as NRMA Motoring and Services, is a member-owned mutual organisation offering , motoring advice and other services in New South Wales and the Australian Capital...

 are the major sponsors of the Broncos as of 2011, replacing WOW Sight & Sound
WOW Sight & Sound
WOW Sight & Sound is an electronics retailer which currently employs over 990 staff throughout Australia. The Company specialises in communication and commercial solutions for businesses.WOW Sight and Sound operates 15 stores across Australia...

. Nova 106.9
Nova 106.9
Nova 106.9 is a commercial radio station operating in Brisbane, Australia, owned by the DMG Radio Network. DMG Radio purchased the Brisbane FM licence for $80 million in April 2004 to complete their national network of Nova stations...

 are the main radio sponsors after taking over from rival station B105 FM
B105 FM
B105 is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting on 105.3 MHz in Brisbane, Australia. It is part of the Austereo Radio Network. B105's primary audience is 10 to 24 age group.-History:...

 in late 2006. Live broadcasts of all Broncos matches are provided by 612 ABC Brisbane
612 ABC Brisbane
612 ABC Brisbane is an ABC Local Radio station in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of the largest stations in the network, serving as a base for Queensland programming - many programs are broadcast across the ABC Local Radio network in regional and rural areas of Queensland when those stations are...

 except if they play on Monday night, in which case 4MMM
4MMM
4MMM is one of Brisbane, Australia's commercial FM Rock radio stations, primarily targeted at those in the 25-50 age group...

 do so. Channel Nine Queensland also sponsors the Broncos, although former player Shane Webcke
Shane Webcke
Shane Webcke is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who spent his entire top-grade career playing for the Brisbane Broncos. His position of choice was at prop forward and at his peak he was renowned as the best front rower in the world...

 is signed to rival Seven Queensland.

External links

Official Sites

Statistics & Information Sites
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