1994 Brisbane Broncos season

The 1994 Brisbane Broncos season was the seventh in the club's history. As defending Premiers the Broncos competed in the NSWRL's 1994 Winfield Cup competition, finishing the regular season 5th (out of 16). They then progressed as far as he Semi-finals where a one-point loss to the North Sydney Bears saw them knocked out.

Contents

Season summary

In the English spring of 1994 it was announced that the Brisbane Broncos club was buying the London Crusaders, who would be renamed 'London Broncos'.[1]

New South Wales Rugby League season 1994 started in fine fashion for Brisbane. They cruised through to the final of the Toohey's Challenge for the fifth time, but amazingly were pipped by the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the decider. That started a shocking opening to the premiership that saw them win just one game in the first month of the competition and leave them languishing near oblivion. They were flat out winning two games in a row for much of the season.

Behind the scenes, Broncos chief executive John Ribot sent his first report on the Super League concept to News Ltd chief executive Ken Cowley.

On-field Brisbane continued to struggle, with frustration reaching boiling point against the Newcastle Knights. Referee Greg McCallum sinbinned Allan Langer for dissent as the Knights beat the Broncos for the first time. More disappointment came when Wigan avenged their 1992 loss by winning the 1994 World Club Challenge at ANZ Stadium mid-season.

A late season revival catapulted the Broncos into fifth spot, narrowly beating out the Illawarra Steelers for a spot in the finals. A tight contest against Manly-Warringah which resulted in 16-4 victory revived some hope of a 'three-peat'.[2] The following week they played against the North Sydney Bears, and after trailing 14-4 the Broncos staged a comeback to level at 14-14. In the end, a Jason Taylor field goal won the game for North Sydney 15-14 shortly before fulltime.

Match results

Round Opponent Result Bro. Opp. Date Venue Crowd Position
1 Parramatta Eels Draw 18 18 12 Mar ANZ Stadium 31,701 7/16
2 Gold Coast Seagulls Loss 12 25 18 Mar Carrara Stadium 22,688 14/16
3 St George Dragons Loss 18 22 25 Mar ANZ Stadium 37,749 14/16
4 Eastern Suburbs Win 44 12 1 Apr Sydney Football Stadium 20,216 11/16
5 Penrith Panthers Win 37 6 10 Apr ANZ Stadium 44,511 6/16
6 North Sydney Bears Loss 10 11 16 Apr ANZ Stadium 35,917 8/16
7 Balmain Tigers Win 36 14 23 Apr Princes Park 14,672 7/16
8 Cronulla Sharks Win 34 2 1 May ANZ Stadium 34,060 5/16
9 Manly Sea Eagles Loss 11 21 8 May Brookvale Oval 18,309 8/16
10 Western Suburbs Magpies Win 40 10 15 May ANZ Stadium 30,762 7/16
11* Illawarra Steelers Loss 4 26 27 May Wollongong 14,020 8/16
WCC Wigan Warriors Loss 14 20 1 Jun ANZ Stadium 54,220 8/16
12* Canterbury Bulldogs Win 12 10 10 Jun ANZ Stadium 38,302 8/16
13* Canberra Raiders Loss 10 29 26 Jun Bruce Stadium 23,775 9/16
14 South Sydney Rabbitohs Win 40 10 1 Jul ANZ Stadium 36,549 8/16
15 Newcastle Knights Loss 10 24 10 Jul Newcastle ISC 26,743 9/16
16 Parramatta Eels Win 36 6 17 Jul Parramatta Stadium 11,358 9/16
17 Gold Coast Seagulls Win 48 12 24 Jul ANZ Stadium 36,510 5/16
18 St George Dragons Win 28 16 30 Jul Kogarah Oval 9,106 5/16
19 Eastern Suburbs Win 34 16 7 Aug ANZ Stadium 41,211 5/16
20 Penrith Panthers Loss 6 22 14 Aug Penrith 10,944 5/16
21 North Sydney Bears Win 17 0 19 Aug North Sydney Oval 20,838 5/16
22 Balmain Tigers Win 41 6 28 Aug ANZ Stadium 47,486 5/16
Qualif. Final Manly Sea Eagles Win 16 4 4 Sep Sydney Football Stadium 34,891
Semi Final North Sydney Bears Loss 14 15 10 Sep Sydney Football Stadium 36,011 
*Game following a State of Origin match

Season Ladder

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Canterbury-Bankstown 22 18 0 4 537 340 +197 36
2 North Sydney 22 17 1 4 517 291 +226 35
3 Canberra 22 17 0 5 677 298 +379 34
4 Manly-Warringah 22 16 1 5 605 311 +294 33
5 Brisbane Broncos 22 13 1 8 544 316 +228 27
6 Illawarra 22 11 3 8 484 387 +97 25
7 Cronulla-Sutherland 22 12 0 10 432 401 +31 24
8 Penrith 22 10 2 10 404 448 -44 22
9 South Sydney 22 9 1 12 401 569 -168 19
10 Newcastle Knights 22 9 0 13 427 458 -31 18
11 St. George 22 9 0 13 386 497 -111 18
12 Parramatta 22 7 1 14 350 474 -124 15
13 Western Suburbs 22 6 2 14 439 650 -211 14
14 Eastern Suburbs 22 6 1 15 344 513 -169 13
15 Gold Coast Seagulls 22 5 1 16 363 618 -255 11
16 Balmain 22 4 0 18 303 642 -339 8

Scorers

Player Tries Goals FG Points
Julian O'Neill 8 47/78 3 129
Steve Renouf 23 0 0 92
Wendell Sailor 14 0 0 56
Allan Langer 11 2/2 1 49
Terry Matterson 3 18/35 0 48
Michael Hancock 11 0 0 44
Willie Carne 8 0 0 32
John Plath 6 0 0 24
Kevin Walters 5 0 0 20
Chris McKenna 4 0 0 16
Alan Cann 3 0 0 12
Brett Galea 2 0 0 8
Andrew Gee 2 0 0 8
Peter Ryan 2 0 0 8
John Driscoll 1 0 0 4
Mark Hohn 1 0 0 4
Paul Hauff 1 0 0 4
Chris Johns 1 0 0 4
Paul Morris 1 0 0 4
Brad Thorn 1 0 0 4
Kerrod Walters 1 0 0 4

References

  1. ^ Hadfield, Dave (8 June 1994). "Rugby League: Brisbane's capital investment in London: Broncos to spend big bucks on crusade to develop barren British territory". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby-league-brisbanes-capital-investment-in-london-broncos-to-spend-big-bucks-on-crusade-to-develop-barren-british-territory-dave-hadfield-reports-1421256.html. Retrieved 20 April 2010. 
  2. ^ Harms, John (2005). The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. pp. 161. ISBN 0702235369, 9780702235368. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OFE2EZ7JyEkC&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 

See also