Shane Webcke
Encyclopedia
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. Webcke represented Queensland in the State of Origin
on twenty-one separate occasions and has also captained the side. He also made eighteen test appearances for the Australian national side. Alongside Glenn Lazarus
and Arthur Beetson
, Webcke is considered by many to have been one of the finest post-war front-rowers to play the game.
and having played for Toowoomba, Webcke was scouted by Wayne Bennett, whom he acknowledges as the greatest influence on his career, after seeing him play as a schoolboy in 1993. The following year Webcke's father was killed in a work accident when he was still 19 years of age.
Webcke made his first appearance for the Queensland Maroons in the first game of the 1998 State of Origin series and was named man-of-the-match in the third and deciding game that year. From his debut until his retirement from representative football following Game III in 2004, no other player wore the number 8 for Queensland.
He played at prop forward for the Brisbane Broncos
in their win at the 1998 NRL grand final
.
. Webcke was also awarded the Australian Sports Medal
for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
Following Australia's World Cup victory, Webcke and teammate Gorden Tallis
wrote an open letter to players appealing for an end to scandalous behaviour amongst footballers which had been tarnishing the sport.
Webcke won the Broncos' best player award for the 2001 season. Post-season he refused to tour with the Kangaroos in the wake of the 11 September attacks. At the end of the 2003 NRL season, he went on the 2003 Kangaroo tour
.
Webcke again won the Paul Morgan Medal for the Broncos' best and fairest player for the 2005 Brisbane Broncos season.
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Having won premierships with the Brisbane Broncos club in 1997, 1998 and 2000, Webcke announced on 26 April 2006, that he would retire at the end of the 2006 NRL season. Webcke's final game was the Broncos' victory in the 2006 NRL Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm
, days after his 32nd birthday.
in Australia. Webcke's pub at Leyburn, Queensland
– the Royal Hotel – is the longest, continuously licensed premises in Queenslandhttp://www.broncos.com.au/index.cfm?TopMenuID=266&MenuID=277&CompetitorID=39.
Webcke was set to become the first player to give the annual Tom Brock Lecture
when he was invited to do so in 2007, but this did not eventuate.
In 2007 at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Webcke.
In February 2008, Webcke was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL
and ARL
to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.
A few months later the Brisbane Broncos appointed Shane Webcke, along with Allan Langer
as full-time assistant coaches to work alongside new head coach Ivan Henjak
from the 2009 season
. However shortly after the start of the season Webcke quit his post in the wake of controversy surrounding the release of his new book in which he was openly critical of the Broncos administration not standing down star players Darius Boyd
, Sam Thaiday
and Karmichael Hunt
when police were investigating sexual assault allegations against them in September 2008. He went on to state that he was 'filthy' about the state of affairs at the Broncos. He also wrote that Andrew Johns
should never have been included in the Australian rugby league team of the century after his confessions of illicit drug use during his career.
Webcke was also hired by Channel Seven
to provide perspectives on Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans feature matches. He also occasionally fills-in as a Sports Presenter on the Brisbane edition of Seven News
. He worked on-screen with Matthew Johns
in the first season of The Matty Johns Show
.
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer, who spent his entire top-grade career playing for the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
. His position of choice was at prop forward and at his peak he was renowned as the best front rower in the world. Webcke represented Queensland in the 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...
on twenty-one separate occasions and has also captained the side. He also made eighteen test appearances for the Australian national side. Alongside Glenn Lazarus
Glenn Lazarus
Glenn Patrick Lazarus is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s who has been named amongst the nation's finest of the 20th century. He primarily played at prop forward, representing Australia internationally and New South Wales in State of Origin...
and Arthur Beetson
Arthur Beetson
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson, OAM , was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia and Queensland from 1964 to 1981. His position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain his country in any sport. and is frequently cited as the best...
, Webcke is considered by many to have been one of the finest post-war front-rowers to play the game.
Biography
Originally from Clifton, QueenslandClifton, Queensland
Clifton is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The lands around the town was first settled by Europeans in 1840. At the 2006 census, Clifton had a population of 1,067....
and having played for Toowoomba, Webcke was scouted by Wayne Bennett, whom he acknowledges as the greatest influence on his career, after seeing him play as a schoolboy in 1993. The following year Webcke's father was killed in a work accident when he was still 19 years of age.
1990s
Webcke made his debut for the Broncos in the 1995 ARL season. Within two seasons he had his first premiership ring, when he helped Brisbane to victory over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the 1997 Super League season's grand final.Webcke made his first appearance for the Queensland Maroons in the first game of the 1998 State of Origin series and was named man-of-the-match in the third and deciding game that year. From his debut until his retirement from representative football following Game III in 2004, no other player wore the number 8 for Queensland.
He played at prop forward for the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
in their win at the 1998 NRL grand final
1998 NRL grand final
The 1998 NRL grand final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1998 NRL season. It was the first grand final since the National Rugby League's formation and featured minor premiers and the previous year's Super League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos against the Canterbury Bulldogs,...
.
2000s
In 2000 Webcke broke his arm during the finals series that season but went on to appear in the Broncos' grand final victory. Post-season he was a member of the Australian world champion team that won the 2000 Rugby League World Cup2000 Rugby League World Cup
The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was held during October and November of that year in Great Britain, Ireland and France...
. Webcke was also awarded the Australian Sports Medal
Australian Sports Medal
The Australian Sports Medal was an award given during 2000 to recognise achievements in Australian sport.Recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, office holders, and people who maintained sporting facilities and services. Over 18,000 Medals were...
for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
Following Australia's World Cup victory, Webcke and teammate 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...
wrote an open letter to players appealing for an end to scandalous behaviour amongst footballers which had been tarnishing the sport.
Webcke won the Broncos' best player award for the 2001 season. Post-season he refused to tour with the Kangaroos in the wake of the 11 September attacks. At the end of the 2003 NRL season, he went on the 2003 Kangaroo tour
2003 Kangaroo Tour
The 2003 Kangaroo Tour was a six-match tour by the Australia national rugby league team of France, Wales and England. The last three matches were all Tests against Great Britain...
.
Webcke again won the Paul Morgan Medal for the Broncos' best and fairest player for the 2005 Brisbane Broncos season.
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....
, days after his 32nd birthday.
Post-playing
Post-football, Webcke went on to release his successful auto-biography, Warhorse and also ventured into media with the Seven NetworkSeven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
in Australia. Webcke's pub at Leyburn, Queensland
Leyburn, Queensland
Leyburn is a town in the Southern Downs region of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Leyburn and the surrounding area had a population of 348.-History:...
– the Royal Hotel – is the longest, continuously licensed premises in Queenslandhttp://www.broncos.com.au/index.cfm?TopMenuID=266&MenuID=277&CompetitorID=39.
Webcke was set to become the first player to give the annual Tom Brock Lecture
Tom Brock Lecture
The Tom Brock Lecture is an annual scholarly lecture organised by the Australian Society for Sports History under the bequest of Australian sports historian Tom Brock. The topic of the lecture is the history of rugby league football...
when he was invited to do so in 2007, but this did not eventuate.
In 2007 at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Webcke.
In February 2008, Webcke was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL
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...
and ARL
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.
A few months later the Brisbane Broncos appointed Shane Webcke, along with 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...
as full-time assistant coaches to work alongside new head 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...
from the 2009 season
Brisbane Broncos 2009
The 2009 Brisbane Broncos season was the 22nd in the club's history and their first without foundation coach Wayne Bennett. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and by the 12th round were leading the competition, but then suffered one of their worst post-State of Origin form slumps...
. However shortly after the start of the season Webcke quit his post in the wake of controversy surrounding the release of his new book in which he was openly critical of the Broncos administration not standing down star players Darius Boyd
Darius Boyd
Darius Boyd is an Australian professional rugby league footballer currently playing for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL. Boyd plays at fullback, however he is also very capable as a three-quarter back, as proven by his selection for Australia and Queensland as a winger...
, 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...
and 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 ....
when police were investigating sexual assault allegations against them in September 2008. He went on to state that he was 'filthy' about the state of affairs at the Broncos. He also wrote that Andrew Johns
Andrew Johns
Andrew Gary "Joey" Johns is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s who is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time. He was heralded as the world's best halfback for a number of years...
should never have been included in the Australian rugby league team of the century after his confessions of illicit drug use during his career.
Webcke was also hired by Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
to provide perspectives on Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans feature matches. He also occasionally fills-in as a Sports Presenter on the Brisbane edition of Seven News
Seven News
Seven News is the television news service of the Seven Network in Australia.National bulletins are presented from Seven's high-definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are produced in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The network also produces Seven...
. He worked on-screen with Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former professional player...
in the first season of The Matty Johns Show
The Matty Johns Show
The Matty Johns Show is an Australian variety television show largely focused on the National Rugby League competition, starring former rugby league player Matthew "Matty" Johns. It first aired in 2010 on Thursdays at 7.30pm in New South Wales and Queensland, on the Seven Network. The show usually...
.
Playing career highlights
- Junior Club: Clifton Wattles
- First Grade Debut: Round 10, Brisbane v. Norths at North Sydney, 19 May 1995 won
- First Grade Premierships: 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2006 with Brisbane Broncos (played 2000 Grand Final with broken arm)
- Career Stats: 254 career appearances with 18 tries
- State of Origin: 21 games for Queensland between 1998 and 2004
- International: 18 tests for Australia