1988 Brisbane Broncos season

The 1988 Brisbane Broncos season was the first in the club's history. The new venture team was added, along with the Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast-Tweed Giants to the New South Wales Rugby League's 1988 Winfield Cup premiership, coached by previous season grand final co-coach Wayne Bennett and captained by Australian national skipper Wally Lewis. Despite a strong start to the season, Brisbane failed to make the finals. During the season the Broncos also competed in the 1988 Panasonic Cup.

1988 Brisbane Broncos season
NSWRL Rank	7th
Play-off result	Did not qualify
1988 record	Wins: 10; draws: 0; losses: 8
Points scored	For: 474; against: 368
Team information
CEO	John Ribot
Coach	Wayne Bennett
Captain	Wally Lewis
Stadium	Lang Park
Avg. attendance	15,071
Top scorers
Tries	Wally Lewis
Goals	Terry Matterson
Points	Terry Matterson
List of seasons 1989 →

Season summary

The same year Brisbane hosted World Expo 88, the Brisbane Broncos joined the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, making their debut on 6 March at Lang Park in Brisbane. The brand-new club which featured many Queensland-based international and state representatives, defeated the 1987 Winfield Cup Premiers Manly-Warringah 44-10 in their first premiership game. Brett Le Man scored the Broncos' first ever try from the scraps of a Craig Grauf bomb.

Although the Broncos won their first six games in their inaugural season, a midseason slump cost the club a debut finals appearance, finishing the season in seventh position. The Broncos also competed in the mid-week knockout competition, the 1988 Panasonic Cup, losing in the first round while they were still yet to lose a Winfield Cup match.

Match results

Round	Opponent	Result	Bro.	Opp.	Date	Venue	Crowd	Ref
Trial	Canberra Raiders	Win	22	16		Lang Park	10,000+
Trial	New Zealand President's XIII	Win	38	6	27 Feb		8,324
1	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Win	44	10	6 Mar	Lang Park	17,451	[1][2]
2	Penrith Panthers	Win	20	18	12 Mar	Lang Park	13,621	[3]
3	Western Suburbs Magpies	Win	38	4	20 Mar	Campbelltown	10,112	[4]
4	North Sydney Bears	Win	24	12	27 Mar	North Sydney	9,329	[5]
5	Parramatta Eels	Win	24	18	3 Apr	Lang Park	23,202	[6]
PC	Penrith Panthers	Loss	10	24	6 Apr	Parramatta Stadium		[7]
6	Newcastle Knights	Win	24	10	10 Apr	Newcastle ISC	30,220	[8]
7	Balmain Tigers	Loss	18	26	16 Apr	Lang Park	18,434	[9]
8	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Loss	8	38	23 Apr	Endeavour	10,115
9	Sydney Roosters	Win	24	20	1 May	Lang Park	16,489	[10]
10	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants	Loss	22	25	8 May	Seagulls	13,432	[11]
11*	Canberra Raiders	Loss	16	36	22 May	Lang Park	15,909	[12]
12*	Illawarra Steelers	Win	32	10	5 Jun	Wollongong	9,738	[13]
13	St. George Dragons	Win	26	22	13 Jun	Lang Park	19,954	[14]
14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Loss	4	16	17 Jun	SFS	10,871	[15]
15*	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	10	25	26 Jun	Lang Park	15,371	[16]
16	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Win	28	10	3 Jul	Brookvale Oval	17,193	[17]
17	Penrith Panthers	Win	8	6	10 Jul	Penrith Park	17,106	[18]
18	Western Suburbs Magpies	Win	32	6	16 Jul	Lang Park	11,419	[19]
19	North Sydney Bears	Win	24	6	23 Jul	Lang Park	11,452	[20]
20	Parramatta Eels	Loss	14	22	31 Jul	Parramatta	13,190	[21]
21	Newcastle Knights	Win	24	8	6 Aug	Lang Park	13,919	[22]
22	Balmain Tigers	Loss	10	20	13 Aug	Leichhardt Oval	13,015	[23]

• Game following a State of Origin match

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	16	2	4	507	330	+177	34
2	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	16	0	6	412	268	+144	32
3	Canberra	22	15	0	7	596	346	+250	30
4	Manly-Warringah	22	15	0	7	538	347	+191	30
5	Penrith	22	15	0	7	394	258	+136	30
6	Balmain	22	15	0	7	402	341	+61	30
7	Brisbane Broncos	22	14	0	8	474	368	+106	28
8	South Sydney	22	12	2	8	425	383	+42	24
9	North Sydney	22	9	2	11	366	424	-58	20
10	St. George	22	9	0	13	352	493	-141	18
11	Parramatta	22	8	0	14	359	412	-53	16
12	Eastern Suburbs	22	6	3	13	387	443	-56	15
13	Illawarra	22	6	1	15	353	510	-157	13
14	Newcastle Knights	22	5	1	16	270	460	-190	11
15	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants	22	4	2	16	238	484	-246	10
16	Western Suburbs	22	4	1	17	287	493	-206	9

Squad

Brisbane Broncos 1988 Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
Peter Benson – WG David Bourke – FB Greg Conescu – HK Greg Dowling – PR Shane Duffy – FB Gary French – FE Keith Gee – SR Craig Grauf – HB Michael Hancock – WG Ray Herring – HK Mark Hohn – PR		Chris Johns – CE Brook Kennedy – LK Joe Kilroy – WG Allan Langer – HB Brett Le Man – SR Wally Lewis (c) – FE Terry Matterson – LK Mark Meskell – WG Gene Miles – SR Bryan Niebling – PR		Billy Noke – SR Brett Plowman – CE Grant Rix – CE Colin Scott – FB Peter Sinclair Craig Teevan – CE Rohan Teevan – CE Andrew Tessmann – PR Brad Tessmann – PR Kerrod Walters – HK				Head coach Wayne Bennett Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s)

Awards

League

nil

Club

• Player of the year: Allan Langer^[24]
• Rookie of the year: Shane Duffy / Kerrod Walters
• Forward of the year: Terry Matterson
• Back of the year: Wally Lewis
• Clubman of the year: Greg Conescu