Brisbane Broncos 1989

[Big Pete]

Round 14
CANTERBURY 22; BRISBANE 8 at Belmore Sports Ground
Canterbury showed there was fight in the old dog yet with a devastating display against equal second-placed Brisbane.

With 11 of the 1988 grand final winning side back together, it was a performance reminiscent of the Bulldogs of old with a crushing forward display and plenty of backline dash.

Second-rower David Gillespie scored some smashing hits, and the support of the rest of the pack was central to the victory.

Brisbane were weakened by the loss of five-eighth Wally Lewis on top of Allan Langer’s injury but they still possessed trump cards in Hancock, Jackson, Currie, Walters, Miles and Backo.

It was an uncharacteristic performance by the Broncos, as much a turn around for them as it was for the previously lacklustre Canterbury.

Fullback Jason Alchin was a deserved man of the match. His trysaving defence and scrambling play at the rear was a highlight of the match.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 22 (Nissen 2, Alchin, Folkes tries; Lamb 3 goals) defeated Brisbane Broncos 8 (Le Man try, Matterson 2 goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Shane Duffy, Michael Hancock, Chris Johns, Steve Renouf, Rohan Teevan
Peter Jackson, Gary French
Greg Dowling, Kerrod Walters, James Donnelly, Brett Le Man, Gene Miles, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Sam Backo, Brook Kennedy, Greg Conescu, Grant Rix

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Jason Alchin, Robin Thorne, Andrew Farrar, James Corcoran, Glen Nissen
Terry Lamb, Mark Watson
Peter Tunks, Joe Thomas, Paul Dunn, David Gillespie, Steve Folkes, Paul Langmack
Reserves: Darren McCarthy, Glen Haggath, Geordi Peats

 

[Big Pete]

AUSTRALIA 50; President’s XIII 18 at Palmerston North

Australia began their short tour of the Shaky Isles with a thumping 50-18 win over a President’s XIII, a team containing players regarded as some of the best resident players in New Zealand.

The tourists dented plenty of reputations in a nine-try assault headed by Gary Belcher and Greg Alexander who both collected hat-tricks.

There was little resistance from the locals who trailed 22-4 at halftime and never threatened the Australians as the touring side set about establishing combinations and acclimatising themselves before the first Test.

Players in the President’s XIII side were all trialing for a place in the Kiwi team to tour England and France in October but few did their chances any good in the lacklustre performance.

Michael O’Connor contributed 18 of the Australians points with a try and seven goals.

Australia 50 (Belcher 3, Alexander 3, Backo, Hasler, O’Connor tries; O’Connor 7 goals) defeated President’s XIII 18 (Shelford, Mann, Watson tries; Bancroft 3 goals)

 

[Big Pete]

First Test
AUSTRALIA 26; NEW ZEALAND 6 at Christchurch

Discipline in the face of intense provocation won the first Test for Australia at Christchurch’s Commonwealth Games venue, QEII Stadium.

Faced with a barrage of high tackles and cheap shots, the Australians turned the other cheek and overpowered the Kiwis with football class to storm home 26-6.

New Zealand lock Brendon Tuuta was involved in the rough stuff early on and earned instant infamy in the eyes of the Australians with his heavy handed tactics.

The match undoubtedly would have exploded had the Australians allowed themselves to be intimidated, but they remained cool in trying circumstances.

The normally irascible Steve Roach showed his maturity by leading the up-front charge, taking on the defence on the sixth tackle and offloading to Greg Alexander who linked with Tony Currie for the first try and an 8-2 lead.

Then it was skipper Wally Lewis’ turn to score after centre Tony Currie had significantly stepped through a Tuuta tackle and when Kerrod Walters sprinted 30 metres for a try on the stroke of halftime, the Australians had the Test well in the grasp at 20-2.

The second half was a more settled, grafting period, with both sides, exhibiting skills to an appreciative crowd of around 17,000.

Aussie second-rower Paul Sironen was rewarded for a fine display when he crashed over for a second half try, while the Kiwis’ only joy came via a Mark Elia intercept after 51 minutes.

Roach and Sam Backo paved the way for victory with their barging forays up centre-field and the massive frame of Sironen proved almost unstoppable on the fringes of the rucks.

Debutants Greg Alexander, Michael Hancock, Kerrod Walters and Bradley Clyde faired well, with Clyde picking up the official man of the match award.

Alexander showed some hesitancy outside Wally Lewis and appeared reluctant to take the initiative, but was at other times brilliant.

The duel between centres Mal Meninga and Kevin Iro was one of the game’s few genuine contests.

But Meninga showed his young lookalike who was boss with a crashing tackle midway through the first half.

Kiwi fullback Darrell Williams prevented a landslide with some bruising front-on defence in the last line, while Sam Stewart and Brent Toddd were tireless workers.

Australia 26 (Currie, Lewis, Kerrod Walters, Sironen tries; Meninga 5 goals) defeated New Zealand 6 (Elia try, Iro goal)

Australia
Gary Belcher, Dale Shearer, Mal Meninga, Tony Currie, Michael Hancock
Wally Lewis, Greg Alexander
Sam Backo, Kerrod Walters, Steve Roach, Paul Sironen, Bradley Clyde, Paul Vautin
Reserves: Michael O’Connor, Bruce McGuire

New Zealand
Darrell Williams, Tony Iro, Kevin Iro, Tony Kemp, Mark Elia
Shayne Cooper, Clayton Friend
Brent Todd, Barry Harvey, James Goulding, Hugh McGahan, Sam Stewart, Brendon Tuuta
Reserves: Gary Freeman

 

[Big Pete]

AUCKLAND 26; AUSTRALIA 24 at Auckland

Auckland scored their first victory over Australia in 12 years when they shocked the tourists 26-24 at Carlaw Park.

Not since Auckland defeated Australian World Series side of 1977 had the locals even come close to upsetting Australians.

But a committed performance and a heavy second half penalty tally in their favour allowed them to come from behind to snatch a two-point victory.

Australia’s fitness looked set to steer them to a comfortable win after they scored three tries in 10 minutes at one stage of the second half, but a 70[SUP]th[/SUP] minute try to second-rower Francis Leota and the conversion by five-eighth Kelly Shelford equalised the scores.

Then the Aucklanders received four consecutive penalties from referee Bill Shrimpton within kicking range, the last of which was successfully goaled by Shelford.


Best for the Australians was fullback-for-the-night Dale Shearer, while he was well supported by forwards David Trewhella, Danny Stains and Bradley Clyde.

Auckland 26 (Patton, Watson, Leota, Hansen tries; Shelford 5 goals) defeated Australia 24 (Shearer 2, Currie, Hancock, Alexander tries; O’Connor 2 goals)

 

[Big Pete]

Second Test
AUSTRALIA 8; NEW ZEALAND 0 at Rotorua
Australia secured the Trans-Tasman trophy in dour fashion at Rotorua on a carnival atmosphere in its first taste of Test match football.

The city of geysers and boiling mud pools was abuzz with Rugby League for days leading up to the Test match at Rotorua’s International Showground, but sections of the crowd of around 26,000 who turned up to watch their first international league match must have left disappointed.

The match was ruined by the diabolical ball-handling and questionable refereeing decisions.

Some blamed the footballs used in the match, others blamed referee Ray Tennant, whose failure to keep an eye on the play-the-ball area allowed much spoiling in the rucks.

It turned out to be the low scoring Test match in the history of Australia-New Zealand Tests.

One try won it for Australia. A simple effort produced by Des Hasler, a halftime replacement for halfback Greg Alexander who cut through the Kiwi defence, passed to centre Tony Currie, and he found winger Michael Hancock in support to score the try.

Ironically the break came from a mistake by New Zealand fullback Darrell Williams, the Kiwis’ best player for the second week running.

Williams’ defence was punishing and cut off many dangerous moves by the Australians. In attack he powered onto the ball and kicked with great effect on all but one tragic occasion.

Paul Sironen won Australia’s man of the match award. He continued to time his runs off the big forwards magnificently and defied his critics who claimed he couldn’t put two good performances back to back.

His combination with Steve Roach was again one of the most significant features of Australia’s win.

Roach constantly broke the advantage line, drawing two and three defenders each time, leaving Sironen to cause havoc on the fringes of the rucks.

Mal Meninga won the Australian players’ player award for some awesome defence and typical barging runs.

Australia 8 (Hancock try, Meninga 2 goals) defeated New Zealand 0

Australia
Gary Belcher, Dale Shearer, Mal Meninga, Tony Currie, Michael Hancock
Wally Lewis, Greg Alexander
Sam Backo, Kerrod Walters, Steve Roach, Paul Sironen, Bradley Clyde, Paul Vautin
Reserves: Des Hasler

New Zealand
Darrell Williams, Tony Iro, Kevin Iro, Tony Kemp, Gary Mercer
Shayne Cooper, Gary Freeman
Brent Todd, Duane Mann, James Goulding, Hugh McGahan, Sam Stewart, Brendon Tuuta
Reserves: Phil Bancroft, Mark Horo

 

[Big Pete]

Round 15
SOUTHS 20, BRISBANE 8 at Lang Park
Souths extended their lead in the Winfield Cup to four points when they outplayed the Broncos 20-6 in front of a vocal Lang Park crowd.

The Rabbitohs, unencumbered by having no players involved in the Australian tour of New Zealand, were too classy and experienced for the Broncos, who were without 10 regulars.

Five-eighth Phil Blake, elevated to captain after halfback Craig Coleman was disciplined for missing training had one of his finest games, scoring two brilliant individual tries.

But it was the kicking game of Blake and Coleman that destroyed the Broncos. The pair used the swirling wind to great advantage and pressured Brisbane into error.

The Rabbitohs’ strength up front, with hooker Jim Sedaris and the experienced Les Davidson and David Boyle prominent, provided the groundwork for victory.

Best for Brisbane were workhorse prop Greg Dowling, five-eighth Gary French, lock Terry Matterson and centre Chris Johns.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 (Blake 2, O’Neil tries; Ellison 4 goals) defeated Brisbane Broncos 8 (Conescu try; Matterson 2 goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Rohan Teevan, Ken Gittens, Steve Renouf, Chris Johns, Joe Kilroy
Gary French, Grant Rix
Greg Dowling, Greg Conescu, Scott Tronc, James Donnelly, Brett Plowman, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Grant Graving, Mark Hohn

South Sydney Rabbitohs
Bronko Djura, Steve Mavin, Paul Roberts, Darryl Neville, Ross Harrington
Phil Blake, Craig Coleman
Mark Lyons, Jim Sedaris, David Boyle, Les Davidson, Wayne Chisholm, Michael Andrews
Reserves: Mark Ellison, Adam O’Neill, Rick Stone, Darren Maroon

 

[Big Pete]

Round 16
PENRITH 18, BRISBANE 8 at Penrith Park

Brisbane slumped to their third successive defeat against a Penrith side hard pressed to assert their authority.

The 18-8 scoreline flattered the Panthers who were up against a Broncos outfit minus 11 regular first graders.

The situation was beginning to look critical for Brisbane, who clung desperately to the top five.

Penrith winger Alan McIndoe, overlooked by Australian selectors for the New Zealand tour, did some important work, leaving his wing a couple of times to bring off crunching tackles and he also scored a try midway through the first half to extend Penrith’s lead to 10-2.

Injuries took a severe toll on the Panthers in this match. A serious groin tear to Peter Kelly and injuries to Mark Geyer, Chris Mortimer and John Cartwright were a big worry for coach Ron Willey.

Brisbane battled gamely for a virtual reserve grade lineup with front row trio James Donnelly, Greg Conescu and Scott Tronc showing the way.

Penrith Panthers 18 (Mortimer, McIndoe, McNeill, Carter tries; Baker goal) defeated Brisbane Broncos 8 (Johns try; Matterson 2 goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Grant Graving, Ken Gittens, Steve Renouf, Chris Johns, Grant Thorogood
Gary French, Grant Rix
James Donnelly, Greg Conescu, Scott Tronc, Brett Le Man, Brett Plowman, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Andrew Gee

Penrith Panthers
Neil Baker, Alan McIndoe, Graeme Bradley, Col Bentley, Andrew Simons
Chris Mortimer, Steve Carter
Peter Kelly, Royce Simmons, Geoff Gerard, Mark Geyer, John Cartwright, Colin Van Der Voort
Reserves: Rod McNeil, Craig Connor

 

[Big Pete]

AUSTRALIA 28; WELLINGTON 10 at Wellington

Standing in for Australian skipper Wally Lewis, Paul Vautin turned in a magical performance in the unlikely position of five-eighth in Australia’s fourth tour win, a 28-10 result against Wellington.

Vautin, playing his first game out of the scrum in many seasons, showed great skills setting up a try for Manly team-mate Dale Shearer off a neatly timed grubber kick and later laid on Shearer’s second try with a fine pass to second-rower Bruce McGuire early in the second half.

A team reshuffle was necessary was necessary after the withdrawel of Broncos’ centre Tony Currie through injury and coach Bob Fulton opted to switch Vautin to five-eighth.

The Wellington outfit were never within striking distance of the Australians, who scored two tries in first half and three in the second.

The try of the match, though, was scored by the locals. It was a tryline to tryline effort started by powerful centre Charlie McAlister and finished by fullback Morvin Edwards one play-the-ball and 100 metres later.

Australia 28 (Shearer 2, Hancock, Alexander, O’Connor tries; O’Connor 4 goals) defeated Wellington 10 (Edwards try; Lajpold 3 goals)

 

[Big Pete]

THIRD TEST
AUSTRALIA 22; NEW ZEALAND 14 at Auckland

Australia made it a series cleansweep at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium with a 22-14 win in a torrid third Test.

Big Mal Meninga delivered the coup de grace eight minutes from fulltime with a brilliant round the body pass to player of the series Bradley Clyde who scored the match-clinching try under the posts.

Meninga was a late selection as second-rower after Paul Sironen failed to pass a fitness test on an ankle he injured in the provincial game against Wellington four days earlier.

Meninga, a reluctant forward, took the ball up 20 times and completed 21 tackles in a brilliant transition from the centres.

The performance of Meninga, as well as Clyde, Steve Roach (again) and halfback Des Hasler were highlights of the match but the Test will be long remembered for something else.

That something else was a thunderus tackle by Aussie captain Wally Lewis three minutes before halftime on fullback Darrell Williams.

Williams powered onto the ball in typical fashion, but Lewis was ready for him. He sized him up and hit him with full fury chest to chest.

Williams crashed head first to the turf. Amazingly, he slowly regained his feet and played the ball.

Few expected him to return after halftime, but Williams, New Zealand’s best in the three Test series, came back and showed no ill-effects from one of the tackles of the decade.

After the match coach Bob Fulton declared Australia would have scored six more tries during the course of the game had it not been for Williams’ defence.

The win gave Australia first blood in the new World Cup campaign. It was Australia’s first Test series cleansweep of New Zealand in New Zealand.

Australia
Gary Belcher, Michael O’Connor, Dale Shearer, Tony Currie, Michael Hancock
Wally Lewis, Des Hasler
Sam Backo, Kerrod Walters, Steve Roach, Mal Meninga, Paul Vautin, Bradley Clyde
Reserves: Bruce McGuire

New Zealand
Darrell Williams, Gary Mercer, Kevin Iro, Tony Kemp, Mark Elia
Kelly Shelford, Gary Freeman
Brent Todd, Duane Mann, James Goulding, Mark Horo, Sam Stewart, Hugh McGahan
[FONT=&quot]Reserves: Brendon Tuuta, Kurt Sherlock[/FONT]

 

[Big Pete]

Round 17
MANLY 16; BRISBANE 8 at Lang Park
Inconsistent Manly turned on the class at Lang Park to inflict their first defeat of the Brisbane Broncos.

Minus eight internationals, Brisbane played their worst game in two seasons, slumping to their sixth defeat in seven matches.

Manly, on the other hand, played with great purpose and commitment, providing some solace for outgoing coach Alan Thompson and genuine hope for new coach Graham Lowe, who was watching from the stands.

Cliff Lyons was at his scheming best for Manly, weaving his magic and mesmerising the Broncos with his intelligent use of the ball.

The support of second-rower Glenn Bourne, hooker Mal Cochrane and halfback Geoff Toovey was outstanding.

A magnificent solo try by winger Sean Townsend gave Manly the lead in the 52[SUP]nd[/SUP] minute and from that point they asserted the authority they had threatened all match.

Manly Sea Eagles 16 (Ronson, Townsend, Waddell tries; Cochrane 2 goals) defeated Brisbane Broncos 8 (Johns try; Matterson 2 goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Shane Duffy, Brett Plowman, Steve Renouf, Chris Johns, Joe Kilroy
Gary French, Grant Rix
Greg Dowling, Greg Conescu, Scott Tronc, Brett Le Man, James Donnelly, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Andrew Gee, Bryan Niebling

Manly Sea Eagles
Greg Gibson, Sean Townsend, David Ronson, Matt Burke, Craig Hancock
Cliff Lyons, Geoff Toovey
Phil Daley, Mal Cochrane, Hugh Waddell, Glenn Bourne, Peter Cullum, Owen Cunningham
Reserves: Mark Pocock, Ian Gately

 

[Big Pete]

Round 18
BALMAIN 24;BRISBANE 6 at Leichardt Oval

Balmain put together their finest display of the season to crush Brisbane 24-6 in a crunch match at Leichardt Oval.

The Tigers’ awesome forward pack, featuring five internationals and brilliant young prop Steve Edmed dominated the Brisbane six.

Second-rower Bruce McGuire led the way with his frequent breaks, but Steve Roach, Paul Sironen and Edmed were equally menacing.

Brisbane’s hopes of victory took a nosedive when first replacement forward Brett Le Man was sin-binned then prop Greg Dowling was sent off on a kneeing charge after Tigers’ halfback Gary Freeman lost a tooth and had another broken.

Talented English centre Andy Currier picked up two of Balmain’s four tries, the first a fine individual effort when he stepped through the front defensive line and sprinted 55 metres to score under the posts.

Schoolboy centre Tim Brasher made a fine fist of replacing injured fullback Garry Jack, sending Currier away for his second try with a skilful pass.

Brisbane captain Wally Lewis, by his own admission, played one of the poorest games of his career, at a time when he was expected to take a much more dominant role.

Balmain Tigers 24 (Currier 2, Grant, Edmed tries; Currier 3 goals; Elias 2 field goal) defeated Brisbane Broncos 6 (B. Plowman try, Matterson goal)

Brisbane Broncos
Peter Jackson, Michael Hancock, Tony Currie, Chris Johns, Brett Plowman
Wally Lewis, Gary French
Greg Dowling, Kerrod Walters, Sam Backo, Andrew Gee, Scott Tronc, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Brett Le Man, Grant Rix

Balmain Tigers
Tim Brasher, James Grant, Andy Currier, Michael Pobjie, Steve O’Brien
Michael Neil, Gary Freeman
Steve Roach, Ben Elias, Steve Edmed, Bruce McGuire, Paul Sironen, Wayne Pearce
Reserves: John Elias, Steve Benkic, Tony Chalmers

 

[Big Pete]

Round 19
BRISBANE 20; WESTS 8 at Lang Park

Brisbane broke an alarming drought to score only their second win in nine matches to beat Wests 20-8 at Lang Park.

It was a do or die mission for the Broncos, who would have slipped from semi-final calculations with another loss.

Although the scoreline may have suggested it, there was nothing convincing about the Broncos’ effort.

But encouraging for Brisbane was the form of youngsters Brett Plowman and Andrew Gee, and the greater involvement of skipper Wally Lewis.

Wests were their own worst enemies, squandering possession inside their own quarter on numerous occasions. Their discipline and error rate was as poor as any stage of the season.

Skipper Ellery Hanley was far less involved than coach John Bailey would have liked although he did appear more willing in the second half.

The Magpies didn’t manage to score a try until the final minutes of play, even though they had fought their way over the line twice previously. Best for Brisbane were Plowman, Gee, Grant Rix and Scott Tronc.

Brisbane Broncos 20 (B. Plowman 2, Hancock, Le Man tries; French 2 goals) defeated Wests Magpies 8 (Tuuta try, O’Doherty 2 goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Grant Rix, Michael Hancock, Tony Currie, Chris Johns, Brett Plowman
Peter Jackson, Gary French
Scott Tronc, Kerrod Walters, Sam Backo, Andrew Gee, Brett Le Man, Wally Lewis
Reserves: Bryan Niebling, Rohan Teevan

Western Suburbs Magpies
Danny Peacock, Graham Mackay, Jason Lidden, Jason Stafford, Wayne Simonds
Brendon Tuuta, Richard Smith
Pat O’Doherty, Shane Flanagan, Dave Woods, Dave Gallagher, Cameron Blair, Ellery Hanley
Reserves: Gary Bukowski, Trevor Cogger

 

[Big Pete]

Round 20
BRISBANE 20; NEWCASTLE 16 at Newcastle

Before one of Newcastle’s biggest and most vocal ome crowds, the visiting Broncos snuck home 20-16 in a controversial match and stayed alive in the 1989 premiership.

Newcastle looked poised to bring off a stunning upset when they led 10-0 after just seven minutes, following tries to halfback Steve Walters and fullback Gary Wurth.

But Brisbane courageously fought their way back into the match and after half an hour they drew level at 10-all.

A try by the classy Michael Hagan before halftime edged the Knights ahead again but in the second half Brisbane, forced to call on all their class and experience, scored two tries to claim victory.

But conjecture surrounded by a no-try decision after Knights’ winger Glenn Frendo appeared to touch down before collecting the corner post, and afterwards Newcastle officials expressed veiled criticism of referee Michael Stone’s performance.

But in the final washup the Broncos had scored four tries to three and made more of their chances than the Knights.

A tragic blow for the Broncos occurred early in the match when Test hooker Kerrod Walters badly dislocated his wrist.

Brisbane Broncos 20 (Jackson, Currie, Matterson, Plowman tries; French, Matterson goals) defeated Newcastle Knights 16 (Walters, Wurth, Hagan tries; Doyle 2 goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Grant Rix, Michael Hancock, Tony Currie, Chris Johns, Brett Plowman
Peter Jackson, Gary French
Scott Tronc, Kerrod Walters, Sam Backo, Andrew Gee, Brett Le Man, Wally Lewis
Reserves: Greg Conescu, Terry Matterson

Newcastle Knights
Gary Wurth, John Allanson, Tony Kemp, Jeff Doyle, Glenn Frendo
Michael Hagan, Steve Walters
Mark Sargent, Scott Carter, David Thorne, Sam Stewart, Paul Harragon, David Boyd
Reserves: Tony Butterfield. James Goulding

 

[Big Pete]

Round 21
BRISBANE 16; PARRAMATTA 8 at Lang Park

Brisbane overcame magnificent performances from Eels’ veterans Brett Kenny and Peter Wynn to remain on line for the semi-finals before a record crowd at Lang Park.

The gates were closed half an hour before kickoff as 33, 245 packed inside.

The crowd was the highest for a premiership match outside the Moore Park area in the history of the NSWRL.

Test prop Sam Backo and young Scott Tronc, who had finally shaken off his injury woes, were the leaders for the Broncos.

Both made a huge impact with their constant rampages and deft ball skills which created many breaks for supports.

Brisbane raced to an early 8-0 lead but Kenny, in sparkling touch, raced 30 metres to evade Gene Miles, then beat Tony Currie on the way to the tryline after 20 minutes.

Although it was Parramatta’s only try, they were always a threat to the Broncos. Brisbane finished with three tries (Hancock two and Plowman) but their fans didn’t breathe easy until the final siren had sounded.

Brisbane Broncos 16 (Hancock 2, B. Plowman tries; Matterson 2 goals) defeated Parramatta Eels 8 (Kenny try; Leeds 2 goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Tony Currie, Michael Hancock, Peter Jackson, Chris Johns, Brett Plowman
Wally Lewis, Gary French
Scott Tronc, Greg Conescu, Sam Backo, Gene Miles, Brett Le Man, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Andrew Gee, James Donnelly, Rohan Teevan

Parramatta Eels
Andrew Leeds, Mark Erickson, Brett Kenny, Dave Woods, David Liddiard
Mark Barnes, Mark Laurie
Greg Drake, Mark Budgen, Peter Wynn, Peter Johnston, Craig Izzard, Peter Martin
Reserves: Jason Bell, Brett Atkins

 

[Big Pete]

Round 22
BRISBANE 30; NORTHS 0 at Lang Park

Norths, forced to endure a 14 hour bus trip to Brisbane due to the long-running airline dispute, were behind the eight ball long before their match against the Broncos.

And if the long journey wasn’t hard enough they ran headlong into a Brisbane outfit hungry to stay in the finals race.

On the bench for the Broncos was Allan Langer, fit for a comeback after 14 weeks on the sideline. Out in the centres, Gene Miles was running into form in his second match back and up front Sam Backo and Greg Conescu were in devastating touch.

The Broncos scored five tries in a wonderful display on the eve of the semi-finals.

Conescu, standing in for injured Test rake Kerrod Walters, made long busts to set up the first try in both halves.

From fullback Tony Currie to prop Backo, the Broncos were on fire.

Brisbane Broncos 30 (Jackson, Lewis, Kilroy, Backo, Currie tries; Matterson 3, French 2 goals) defeated North Sydney Bears 0

Brisbane Broncos
Tony Currie, Michael Hancock, Peter Jackson, Chris Johns, Brett Plowman
Wally Lewis, Gary French
Scott Tronc, Greg Conescu, Sam Backo, Gene Miles, Brett Le Man, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Andrew Gee, Joe Kilroy, Allan Langer

North Sydney Bears
John McArthur, Andrew Foord, Kelly Egan, Brett French, Les Kiss
Greg Florimo, Clayton Friend
Martin Bella, Tony Rea, Steve Hanson, Gary Larson, Peter McPhail, Paul Beaven
Reserves: David Farleigh, David Alexander, Kevin Marr, Kevin Thompson

 

[Big Pete]

Play Off For Fifth
CRONULLA 38, BRISBANE 14 at Parramatta Stadium

Cronulla produced close to the perfect game of football to send Wally Lewis’ Broncos crashing from the semi-finals in a play-off for fifth position at Parramatta Stadium.

Wins by Brisbane over Norths and Cronulla over Illawarra cast the Sharks and the Broncos headling in a duel for a semi-final position. In a stunning exhibition of attacking football, Cronulla sent shockwaves through the league world with their seven tries to two assault.

The match hung in the balance at 14-all shortly after halftime but the power and precision of Cronulla’s onslaught left the Broncos in a rabble.

Fullback Jonathan Docking, playing the finest game of his career, was simply unstoppable, slicing through Brisbane’s defence almost each time he retrieved a kick.

And when award-winning second-rower Gavin Miller took control of the game, his ball play and individual skills were mesmerising.

Miller scored one try, his first for the season, and threw the vital pass for most of the other five tries.

Cronulla’s was a rare exhibition of teamwork and commitment. Brisbane, on the other hand were a shadow of the team that helped set the pace over the early rounds on the Winfield Cup.

Cronulla Sharks 38 (Wilson, Miller, Speechley, Ettingshausen, Hatch, Davidson tries; Wilson 7 goals) defeated Brisbane Broncos 14 (Hancock, Lewis tries; Matterson 2, French goals)

Brisbane Broncos
Tony Currie, Michael Hancock, Peter Jackson, Chris Johns, Brett Plowman
Wally Lewis, Gary French
Scott Tronc, Greg Conescu, Sam Backo, Gene Miles, Brett Le Man, Terry Matterson
Reserves: Andrew Gee, Joe Kilroy, Allan Langer, Shane Duffy

Cronulla Sharks
Jonathan Docking, Alan Wilson, Andrew Ettingshausen, Mark McGaw, John Davidson
Michael Speechley, Paul Bishop
Guy Picken, Michael Porter, Danny Lee, Dan Stains, Gavin Miller, David Hatch
Reserves: Glenn Coleman, Arthur Pappas, Chris Quinn, David Harris

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos 1989 Season Summary

For the second year in a row the Brisbane Broncos’ hopes for a premiership faltered dramatically at representative time.

Just as in 1988, the Broncos were premiership frontrunners for the early part of the season, but slumped alarmingly during the period of heaviest commitment in June and July.

In that time in 1989 the Broncos lost seven matches out of eight. For three weeks they were without skipper Wally Lewis, Peter Jackson, Tony Currie, Michael Hancock, Sam Backo and Kerrod Walters who all toured New Zealand with the Australian team and lost Allan Langer and Gene Miles, injured while playing for Queensland.

As their desperate semi-final drive hotted up Walters damaged a wrist and workhorse prop Greg Dowling was suspended for eight matches, adding insult to injury.

In the end the disruptions became insurmountable, and they missed the final five cut-off.

But it was a near thing. The Broncos qualified for a play-off for fifth place only to strike a red-hot Cronulla team at Parramatta Stadium.

On the positive side Brisbane won their first title when they downed Illawarra 22-20 in a magnificent Panasonic Cup final struggle and eight Broncos tasted success in the Queensland Origin side.

Centre Chris Johns and lock Terry Matterson became the first Queensland-based players to represent New South Wales in State of Origin.

Hancock and Walters carried their excellent club form into the Queensland Origin side, from where they were both called up to the Australian team for the first time.

The loss of Langer for half the season was a shattering blow to the Broncos. His dazzling individual skills and his alertness had been relied upon heavily and his absence created a vacuum that was never quite filled.

The Brisbane forwards were the target of some criticism, particularly after heavy losses to Canberra and Balmain late in the season.

There were some fine individual players in the pack, however. Miles played some memorable hands, while Walters was the Broncos’ outstanding overall performer for 1989.

His speed around the rucks, high workrate and quick thinking make him a player destined to stay at the top for a long time.

Crowd support for the Broncos grew in 1989, a record 30,000 crowd watched Parramatta and Brisbane at Lang Park in August, 16,000 watched those teams in a Panasonic Cup match in Townsville and overall attendances were up on 1988.

The ’89 season will be remembered as another year that outside “distraction” cost the Broncos a semi-final berth.

With the pre-season knockout replacing the mid-week Panasonic Cup in 1990, the Broncos will be at least have one fewer diversion.

 

[Big Pete]

TOP 5 Player
KERROD WALTERS (Brisbane)

Australian hookers being the unique breed that they are have one slowly and grudgingly handed over to their successors over the years. Almost always the heir apparent has been waiting in the wings for quite some time before the Test jumper in finally passed on.

Down the line of Schubert, Kearney, Kelly, Walsh, Walters, Peponis, Krilich, Conescu, Simmons and Elias, and some others, that situation has almost always been the case.

In 1989, along came Kerrod Walters from the Brisbane Broncos and threw the tradition right out the window. At the start of the year Walters, one of the five league player brothers, was second in line at the Broncos, although ready to challenge the incumbent Greg Conescu.

Well, Walters not only nudged past Conescu and into Brisbane Firsts, but he then went right on with it, won Queensland State of Origin selection and then leapfrogged straight over Simmons, Elias, Fenech and co and straight into the Australian team!

By the time a broken wrist had knocked him out of the game late in the season Walters had firmly established himself as Australia’s No. 1 hooker – in a position in which the quality is very high indeed.

After easing into first grade in 1988 (5 games, 6 as a replacement) Walters played 17 matches with the Broncos in ’89. His State of Origin form was outstandingly good, and he picked up tries in both the second and third games, and then carried that form to New Zealand where he scored his first Test try – in the opening international at QEII Stadium, Christchurch.

Walters put his own unique stamp on the job he had won. A strong scrummager and great competitor he is distinctive most of all for his style in the loose – for his scampers from dummy half, his head held high. He was certainly a star of 89.