2006 Brisbane Broncos season

Darren Lockyer and Wayne Bennett with the NRL trophy after 2006 grand final.

The 2006 Brisbane Broncos season was the nineteenth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Darren Lockyer, they won the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 3rd place before going on to defeat the first-placed Melbourne Storm in the 2006 NRL Grand Final (their 6th).

Season summary

The Broncos did not start the 2006 season well, suffering a 36–4 defeat by the previous year's runners-up, the North Queensland Cowboys in the first round. This was the 8th consecutive loss for the club and equalled the record for longest losing streak set in 2003. Round 2 saw the Broncos get their first win for the season and their first win since Round 21, 2005, with a 16–12 victory over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (this was the third game in a row in which the Brisbane Broncos beat the Cronulla Sharks 16-12 at Toyota Park). The Broncos then went on to have a strong first half of the season, winning 11 of their first 17 games. Round 8 saw Brisbane produce their biggest comeback in the club's history when they came from 18–0 down at halftime to win 30–28 over the Canberra Raiders. But the year's biggest upset came when the team, missing key players through State of Origin, lost to the last-placed and previously winless South Sydney Rabbitohs 34-14 in Round 14.

After the 2006 State of Origin series finished, Brisbane once again suffered their "post-Origin Slump", losing five consecutive games from Round 18 to Round 23 inclusice. However, strong performances against the competition leaders Melbourne Storm (losing 18–12) and a resounding victory against the Canterbury Bulldogs 30-0 the following week saw a return to form. The Broncos then defeated the injury-struck Parramatta Eels 23-0 in Round 25 and then the New Zealand Warriors 36-12 in Round 26. It was the first time since 1999 that the Broncos conceded no points in consecutive rounds.

Brisbane was heading into the finals with momentum not seen since 2000, but lost to the St. George Illawarra Dragons 20-4 in what was the highest attended Broncos game ever played at Suncorp Stadium at the time. The following week Wayne Bennett agreed to terms to continue coaching the Broncos for a further two years.[1] The Broncos bounced back in the semi-final, defeating the Newcastle Knights by 50–6. Captain Darren Lockyer also became the Broncos' highest point-scorer with 1,077 (breaking Michael De Vere's record of 1,062 points). After trailing 20–6 at half-time against the Bulldogs in the grand final qualifier the team came back in the second half to earn a place in the 2006 NRL Grand Final with a 37–20 victory with Shaun Berrigan scoring a match-turning try in the second half.

It was the sixth time the Broncos made the Grand Final. Their opponents were the Melbourne Storm and the game was the first ever NRL Grand Final not to feature a New South Wales-based club. Despite heading into the game as underdogs, Brisbane won the match 15–8. This saw a fitting farewell to Broncos prop Shane Webcke who retired at the end of the season.[2] The win enabled the Broncos to maintain their perfect record in grand final matches and made Wayne Bennett the most successful coach in grand final history with 6 from 6 with the Broncos. In his first year of coaching he made the Grand Final with the Canberra Raiders but lost, making his record at this time 6 from 7. His current record is 7 from 8, having won a Grand Final with the St. George Illawarra Dragons in 2010.

The Broncos were also named "Queensland Sport Team of the Year" at the Queensland Sport Awards.[3]

Match results

Round Opponent Result Bro. Opp. Date Venue Crowd Position
Trial Match Canberra Raiders Win 28 20 18 Feb Port Macquarie Sports Stadium
Trial Match Melbourne Storm Loss 10 58 25 Feb Stadium Toowoomba
1 North Queensland Cowboys Loss 4 36 12 Mar Suncorp Stadium 46,22914/15
2 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Win 16 12 18 Mar Toyota Park 14,22112/15
3 Parramatta Eels Win 30 10 26 Mar Suncorp Stadium 25,5255/15
4 St George Illawarra Dragons Loss 12 26 2 Apr WIN Stadium 13,7089/15
5 South Sydney Rabbitohs Win 30 12 8 Apr Suncorp Stadium 20,8167/15
6 Sydney Roosters Win 24 6 14 Apr Aussie Stadium 21,2464/15
7 Penrith Panthers Win 30 6 23 Apr Suncorp Stadium 25,1333/15
8 Canberra Raiders Win 30 28 29 Apr Suncorp Stadium 23,5823/15
9 Newcastle Knights Loss 30 32 7 May EnergyAustralia Stadium 21,2525/15
10 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Win 32 10 13 May Suncorp Stadium 24,9914/15
11 Bye 4/15
12* Bulldogs RLFC Win 25 6 27 May Suncorp Stadium 30,5891/15
13 New Zealand Warriors Win 23 18 4 Jun Mt Smart Stadium 7,7461/15
14 South Sydney Rabbitohs Loss 14 34 10 Jun Telstra Stadium 6,5372/15
15* St George Illawarra Dragons Loss 16 18 16 Jun Suncorp Stadium 32,9142/15
16 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Win 16 10 25 Jun Brookvale Oval 16,0842/15
17 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Win 26 12 2 Jul Suncorp Stadium 25,8632/15
18* Melbourne Storm Loss 4 10 7 Jul Olympic Park 15,4793/15
19 Bye 3/15
20 North Queensland Cowboys Loss 10 26 22 Jul Dairy Farmers Stadium 24,6583/15
21 Wests Tigers Loss 6 20 30 Jul Suncorp Stadium 31,5003/15
22 Canberra Raiders Loss 18 30 6 Aug Canberra Stadium 13,1373/15
23 Melbourne Storm Loss 12 18 13 Aug Suncorp Stadium 40,1955/15
24 Bulldogs RLFC Win 30 0 18 Aug Telstra Stadium 26,1115/15
25 Parramatta Eels Win 23 0 27 Aug Parramatta Stadium 20,2534/15
26 New Zealand Warriors Win 36 12 3 Sep Suncorp Stadium 47,1933/15
Qualif. FinalSt George Illawarra DragonsLoss4209 SepSuncorp Stadium50,387
Semi-finalNewcastle KnightsWin50616 SepAussie Stadium20,081
Prelim. FinalBulldogs RLFCWin372022 SepAussie Stadium29,511
GRAND FINALMelbourne StormWin1581 OctTelstra Stadium79,609

Ladder

*Warriors deducted 4 points for salary cap breaches

Team Pld W D L B F A P/D Pts
1 Melbourne Storm 24 20 0 4 2 605 404 +201 44
2 Canterbury Bulldogs 24 16 0 8 2 608 468 +140 36
3 Brisbane Broncos 24 14 0 10 2 497 392 +105 32
4 Newcastle Knights 24 14 0 10 2 608 538 +70 32
5 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 14 0 10 2 534 493 +41 32
6 St George Illawarra Dragons 24 14 0 10 2 519 481 +38 32
7 Canberra Raiders 24 13 0 11 2 525 573 −48 30
8 Parramatta Eels 24 12 0 12 2 506 483 +23 28
9 North Queensland Cowboys 24 11 0 13 2 450 463 −13 26
10 New Zealand Warriors 24 12 0 12 2 552 463 +89 24*
11 Wests Tigers 24 10 0 14 2 490 565 −75 24
12 Penrith Panthers 24 10 0 14 2 510 587 −77 24
13 Cronulla Sharks 24 9 0 15 2 515 544 −29 22
14 Sydney Roosters 24 8 0 16 2 528 650 −122 20
15 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 3 0 21 2 429 772 −343 10

Crowds

The Brisbane Broncos had the biggest NRL season crowd average for 2006. The average crowd (including the Qualifying Final) for 2006 was 32,681

 *=includes finals matches played at home or away
Games Played Crowd Total Average
All Games 28 754,550 26,948
Home Games* 13 424,917 32,685
Away Games* 15 329,633 21,976
Finals 4 179,588 44,897

All Games*: Played:28 Total: 754,550 Average: 26,948
Home Games: Played: 13 Total: 424,917 Average: 32,685
Away Games: Played:15 Total: 329,633 Average: 21,976
Finals*: Played: 4 Total: 179,588 Average: 44,897

Grand final

Main article: 2006 NRL grand final
Brisbane Position Melbourne
Justin Hodges Fullback Billy Slater
Darius Boyd Wing Matt Geyer
Brent Tate Centre Matt King
David Stagg Centre Greg Inglis
Karmichael Hunt Wing Steve Turner
Darren Lockyer (C) Five-eighth Scott Hill
Shane Perry Halfback Cooper Cronk
Shane Webcke Prop Antonio Kaufusi
Shaun Berrigan Hooker Cameron Smith (C)
Petero Civoniceva Prop Brett White
Sam Thaiday Second Row David Kidwell
Brad Thorn Second Row Ryan Hoffman
Tonie Carroll Lock Dallas Johnson
Corey Parker Interchange Adam Blair
Dane Carlaw Interchange Jeremy Smith
Ben Hannant Interchange Ben Cross
Casey McGuire Interchange Nathan Friend
Wayne Bennett COACH Craig Bellamy

Brisbane played against minor premiers the Melbourne Storm in the Grand Final and came out 15–8 winners. It was a perfect farewell for retiring prop Shane Webcke. The Broncos maintained their 100% win record in Grand Finals (1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2006). The six Premierships make Wayne Bennett the most successful club coach in Australian club football history.

The 2006 NRL Grand Final

Brisbane 15 (TRIES: Hodges, Tate; GOALS: Lockyer 2/2, Parker 1/2; FIELD GOALS: Lockyer)

defeated

Melbourne 8 (TRIES: Turner, King; GOALS: Smith 0/1, Geyer 0/1)

Halftime: Brisbane 8-4

Referee: Paul Simpkins

Stadium: Telstra Stadium (Sydney)

Crowd: 79,609

Clive Churchill Medal: Shaun Berrigan (Brisbane)

When They Scored

10th Minute: Brisbane 2-0 (Darren Lockyer penalty goal)
14th Minute: Melbourne 4-2 (Steve Turner try)
19th Minute: Brisbane 8-4 (Justin Hodges try; Darren Lockyer goal)
48th Minute: 8-8 (Matt King try)
60th Minute: Brisbane 10-8 (Corey Parker penalty goal)
62nd Minute: Brisbane 14-8 (Brent Tate try)
73rd Minute: Brisbane 15-8 (Darren Lockyer field goal)

Honours

League

Club

Players

Three Broncos players, Karmichael Hunt, Justin Hodges and Sam Thaiday were selected to make their international representative debut for Australia in 2006.

Bold Players Reperesentive Players for International or State in any year.

Full Backs

Wingers

Centres

Halves

Hookers

Props

Second row

Locks

Scorers

Player Tries Goals FG Points
Corey Parker 4 63/89 0 142
Darren Lockyer 13 19/24 5 95
Tame Tupou 13 0 0 52
Darius Boyd 11 0 0 44
Justin Hodges 10 1/1 0 42
Shaun Berrigan 9 0 0 36
Karmichael Hunt 7 0 0 28
Greg Eastwood 6 0 0 24
Brent Tate 5 0 0 20
Shane Webcke 4 0 0 16
Brad Thorn 4 0 0 16
Brett Seymour 3 0/1 0 12
Michael Ennis 0 6/11 0 12
Petero Civoniceva 3 0 0 12
David Stagg 3 0 0 12
Sam Thaiday 2 0 0 8
Dane Carlaw 2 0 0 8
Frazer Anderson 1 0 0 4
Leon Bott 1 0 0 4
Casey McGuire 1 0 0 4
Tonie Carroll 1 0 0 4
Stephen Michaels 1 0 0 4
Shane Perry 1 0 0 4
TOTAL105895603

Gains

Player Notes
Brent McConnell from North Queensland Cowboys
Nathan Strudwick from John Paul College (Brisbane)
Thomas Bradford

Losses

Player Notes
Casey McGuire Contract with Catalans Dragons (European Super League)
Shane Webcke Retired at end of season
Leon Bott Contract with Cronulla Sharks
Neville Costigan Contract Terminated for player misconduct, contract with Canberra Raiders
Brett Seymour Contract Terminated for player misconduct, contract with Cronulla Sharks
Frazer Anderson Contract with Cronulla Sharks
Scott Minto Contract with North Queensland Cowboys
Ben Vaeau Contract with North Queensland Cowboys
Joe Clarke Contract with North Queensland Cowboys

Re-signings

Player Years signed Until the end of
Karmichael Hunt 3 Years 2009
Michael Ennis 1 Year 2007
Ben Hannant 2 Years 2008
David Stagg 3 Years 2009
Ian Lacey 2 Years 2008
Joel Moon 2 Years 2008

References

  1. ↑ Walter, Brad (2 October 2006). "Coach hails sweetest win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  2. ↑ Magnay, Jacquelin (2 October 2006). "Lockyer's heroes embrace their victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Queensland Sport Awards Winners 1995–2008" (PDF). qsport.org.au. QSport. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  4. ↑ "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Retrieved 22 December 2013.

External links

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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.