2008 Brisbane Broncos season

The 2008 Brisbane Broncos season was the 21st in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2008 Telstra Premiership, the centenary season of rugby league football in Australia. The Broncos finished the regular season 5th (out of 16) but were knocked out of the finals by eventual grand finalists Melbourne Storm for the second consecutive year.

Season summary

The Broncos started the season winning their first three games. 48–12 against the Penrith Panthers in round 1, 20–14 against the Sydney Roosters in round 2 and 36-2 against the North Queensland Cowboys in round 3. Round 3 gave way to an attendance of 50,612 people, biggest crowd at Suncorp Stadium. The Broncos suffered their first loss of the 2008 season with a 28–8 loss to reigning premiers the Melbourne Storm in round 4.

Round 5 saw the Broncos have a 34–22 win over the Newcastle Knights at Energy Australia Stadium. Justin Hodges starred with a two try effort with Michael Ennis also scoring two tries, while always looking dangerous. Round 6 was a disappointing 26–24 loss for the Broncos to the red hot Gold Coast Titans.The Titans burst out of the blocks with a 16–0 lead after 20 mins. However the Broncos fought back strongly,with a missed goal from the sideline from Michael Ennis late in the second half the difference. In round 9, the Broncos lost their first match of the season while leading at halftime when they led 12–6 at halftime to lose 30–12 against the Manly Sea Eagles, it was also Broncos first loss for the season at Suncorp Stadium. In round 10, the Broncos lost their first back-to-back losses for the season when they lost to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 13-6 at Toyota Park. The Broncos returned to the winners list with a very thrilling 30–26 win against the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium in round 12. Also Denan Kemp equalled the record for the most tries in a match for the Broncos with 4 tries against the Eels in round 12. Karmichael Hunt kicked his first ever field goal when he won the game for the Broncos 19-18 against the Wests Tigers in round 15. Also Nick Kenny scored his first ever try in first grade against the Tigers. The Broncos played out their first draw since round 25, 2004 and the first draw of the season with a hard fought 12–12 draw with the Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium in round 16. In round 20, the Broncos won their first back to back wins since round 8 with a hard fort 18–12 win over the Cronulla Sharks at Suncorp Stadium. Joel Clinton has scored his first try for the Broncos in the Broncos 25–21 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium in round 24. In round 25, the Broncos secured another finals campaign with a 36–22 win over the Canterbury Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium. The Broncos will compete in their 17th straight finals series. The Broncos took on the Sydney Roosters in the Qualifying Final and the Broncos turned an 8-point halftime deficit into an 8-point win coming from 16–8 down to win 24–16 at the SFS. The Broncos season came to an end when Greg Inglis crossed the line with 1 minute to play as the Broncos led the Melbourne Storm 14-12 in the semi-final at Suncorp Stadium. They lost 16–14.

After the NRL season, Brisbane's Darius Boyd was selected to make his international debut for Australia in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.

Results

Round	Opponent	Result	Bris.	Opp.	Date	Venue	Crowd	Position
Trial	Central Comets	Win	30	12	9 February	Theodore, Queensland
Trial	North Queensland Cowboys	Win	20	10	16 February	Brown Park, Rockhampton
Trial	Canberra Raiders	Loss	16	32	23 February	Wade Park, Orange	8,500
Trial	Redcliffe Dolphins	Win	24	22	1 March	Dolphin Oval, Redcliffe	8,000
1	Penrith Panthers	Win	48	12	16 March	Suncorp Stadium	31,250	1/16
2	Sydney Roosters	Win	20	14	21 March	Sydney Football Stadium	18,724	1/16
3	North Queensland Cowboys	Win	36	2	28 March	Suncorp Stadium	50,612	1/16
4	Melbourne Storm	Loss	8	28	4 April	Olympic Park Stadium	13,831	1/16
5	Newcastle Knights	Win	34	22	13 April	EnergyAustralia Stadium	21,614	1/16
6	Gold Coast Titans	Loss	24	26	18 April	Skilled Park	27,176	2/16
7	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Win	32	18	25 April	Suncorp Stadium	34,112	2/16
8	Wests Tigers	Win	34	22	3 May	ANZ Stadium	11,177	1/16
9	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Loss	12	30	11 May	Suncorp Stadium	27,469	3/16
10	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Loss	6	13	17 May	Toyota Park	13,431	6/16
11	Bye							5/16
12	Parramatta Eels	Win	30	26	30 May	Suncorp Stadium	25,564	4/16
13	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Loss	10	28	6 June	WIN Stadium	11,432	6/16
14	Canberra Raiders	Loss	16	34	15 June	Canberra Stadium	11,157	7/16
15	Wests Tigers	Win	19	18	20 June	Suncorp Stadium	27,862	7/16
16	Penrith Panthers	Draw	12	12	27 June	CUA Stadium	9,967	7/16
17	Bye							7/16
18	Bulldogs	Loss	18	26	13 July	Suncorp Stadium	37,687	7/16
19	North Queensland Cowboys	Win	32	18	18 July	Dairy Farmers Stadium	22,048	5/16
20	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Win	18	12	25 July	Suncorp Stadium	27,905	5/16
21	Canberra Raiders	Win	34	6	3 August	Suncorp Stadium	28,103	5/16
22	New Zealand Warriors	Loss	12	16	9 August	Mt. Smart	13,007	5/16
23	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Loss	20	24	15 August	Suncorp Stadium	33,237	5/16
24	Gold Coast Titans	Win	25	21	22 August	Suncorp Stadium	39,737	5/16
25	Bulldogs	Win	36	22	31 August	Stadium Australia	7,685	5/16
26	Newcastle Knights	Win	24	2	5 September	Suncorp Stadium	37,552	5/16
QF	Sydney Roosters	Win	24	16	12 September	Sydney Football Stadium	18,343
SF	Melbourne Storm	Loss	14	16	20 September	Suncorp Stadium	50,466

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne	24	17	0	7	2	584	282	+302	38
2	Manly-Warringah	24	17	0	7	2	645	355	+290	38
3	Cronulla	24	17	0	7	2	451	384	+67	38
4	Sydney Roosters	24	15	0	9	2	511	446	+65	34
5	Brisbane	24	14	1	9	2	560	452	+108	33
6	Canberra	24	13	0	11	2	640	527	+113	30
7	St. George Illawarra	24	13	0	11	2	489	378	+111	30
8	New Zealand	24	13	0	11	2	502	567	-65	30
9	Newcastle	24	12	0	12	2	516	486	+30	28
10	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	528	560	-32	26
11	Parramatta	24	11	0	13	2	501	547	-46	26
12	Penrith	24	10	1	13	2	504	611	-107	25
13	Gold Coast	24	10	0	14	2	476	586	-110	24
14	South Sydney	24	8	0	16	2	453	666	-213	20
15	North Queensland	24	5	0	19	2	474	638	-164	14
16	Bulldogs	24	5	0	19	2	433	782	-349	14

Scorers

Honours

League

• Nil

Club

• Player of the year: Sam Thaiday^[1]
• Rookie of the year: Denan Kemp
• Back of the year: Karmichael Hunt
• Forward of the year: Sam Thaiday
• Club man of the year: Matt Middleton

Casualties

Suspended

Justin Hodges

Squad

Bold Players have played International or State any year

Full Backs

• Australian Karmichael Hunt
• Australian Rodney Davies
• Australian Denan Kemp
• Australian Josh Hoffman

Wingers

• Australian Darius Boyd
• Australian Reece Robinson
• Australian Steve Michaels
• Australian Craig Frawley
• Australian Tom Hewitt
• Australian Kaine Manihera

Centres

• Australian Justin Hodges
• Australian Nick Emmett
• Australian Joel Moon

Halves

• Australian Darren Lockyer (c)
• Scotland Peter Wallace
• Australian Shane Perry

Hookers

• Australian Michael Ennis
• Australian Michael Roberts
• Australian PJ Marsh
• Australian Andrew McCullough

Props

• Australian Ben Hannant
• Australian Nick Kenny
• Australian Sam Thaiday
• Australian Dave Taylor
• Australian Joel Clinton

Second Rowers

• Australian David Stagg
• Australian Corey Parker
• Fiji Ashton Sims
• Australian Derrick Watkins

Locks

• Australian Tonie Carroll
• New Zealander Greg Eastwood

Player movements

Toyota Cup results

Round	Opponent	Result	Bris.	Opp.	Date	Venue
1	Penrith Panthers	Loss	24	28	16 March	Suncorp Stadium
2	Sydney Roosters	Loss	16	40	21 March	Sydney Football Stadium
3	North Queensland Cowboys	Win	32	10	28 March	Suncorp Stadium
4	Melbourne Storm	Win	28	24	4 April	Olympic Park
5	Newcastle Knights	Win	26	20	13 April	EnergyAustralia Stadium
6	Gold Coast Titans	Loss	20	30	18 April	Skilled Park
7	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Loss	16	28	25 April	Suncorp Stadium
8	Wests Tigers	Loss	18	31	3 May	ANZ Stadium
9	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Win	42	12	11 May	Suncorp Stadium
10	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Win	40	8	17 May	Toyota Park
11	Bye
12	Parramatta Eels	Win	32	6	30 May	Suncorp Stadium
13	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Draw	22	22	6 June	WIN Stadium
14	Canberra Raiders	Loss	8	48	15 June	Canberra Stadium
15	Wests Tigers	Win	48	0	20 June	Suncorp Stadium
16	Penrith Panthers	Win	38	24	27 June	CUA Stadium
17	Bye
18	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	16	33	13 July	Suncorp Stadium
19	North Queensland Cowboys	Win	34	16	18 July	Dairy Farmers Stadium
20	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Win	40	4	25 July	Suncorp Stadium
21	Canberra Raiders	Loss	24	28	3 August	Suncorp Stadium
22	New Zealand Warriors	Win	32	12	9 August	Mt. Smart
23	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Win	30	22	15 August	Suncorp Stadium
24	Gold Coast Titans	Win	40	12	22 August	Suncorp Stadium
25	Canterbury Bulldogs	Win	40	12	31 August	Stadium Australia
26	Newcastle Knights	Win	18	6	5 September	Suncorp Stadium
QF	Canterbury Bulldogs	Win	28	22	12 September	Aussie Stadium
PF	New Zealand Warriors	Win	28	26	20 September	Aussie Stadium
GF	Canberra Raiders	Loss	24	28	28 September	ANZ Stadium

QF Sydney Roosters vs Brisbane Broncos venue SFS

SF Melbourne Storm vs Brisbane Broncos venue Suncorp Stadium

See also

• NRL season 2008
• History of the Brisbane Broncos

Footnotes

External links

• Brisbane Broncos official site

Coordinates: 27°27′53″S 153°0′34″E / 27.46472°S 153.00944°E / -27.46472; 153.00944 (Suncorp Stadium)