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.
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 2 Penrith Panthers Win 20 18 12 Mar Lang Park 13,621 3 Western Suburbs Magpies Win 38 4 20 Mar Campbelltown 10,112 4 North Sydney Bears Win 24 12 27 Mar North Sydney 9,329 5 Parramatta Eels Win 24 18 3 Apr Lang Park 23,202 PC Penrith Panthers Loss 10 24 6 Apr Parramatta Stadium 6 Newcastle Knights Win 24 10 10 Apr Newcastle ISC 30,220 7 Balmain Tigers Loss 18 26 16 Apr Lang Park 18,434 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 Gold Coast-Tweed Giants Loss 22 25 8 May Seagulls 13,432 11* Canberra Raiders Loss 16 36 22 May Lang Park 15,909 12* Illawarra Steelers Win 32 10 5 Jun Wollongong 9,738 13 St. George Dragons Win 26 22 13 Jun Lang Park 19,954 14 South Sydney Rabbitohs Loss 4 16 17 Jun SFS 10,871 15* Canterbury Bulldogs Loss 10 25 26 Jun Lang Park 15,371 16 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Win 28 10 3 Jul Brookvale Oval 17,193 17 Penrith Panthers Win 8 6 10 Jul Penrith Park 17,106 18 Western Suburbs Magpies Win 32 6 16 Jul Lang Park 11,419 19 North Sydney Bears Win 24 6 23 Jul Lang Park 11,452 20 Parramatta Eels Loss 14 22 31 Jul Parramatta 13,190 21 Newcastle Knights Win 24 8 6 Aug Lang Park 13,919 22 Balmain Tigers Loss 10 20 13 Aug Leichhardt Oval 13,015 Game following a State of Origin match
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Cronulla-Sutherland221624507330+177342 Canterbury-Bankstown221606412268+144323 Canberra221507596346+250304 Manly-Warringah221507538347+191305 Penrith221507394258+136306 Balmain221507402341+61307 Brisbane Broncos221408474368+106288 South Sydney221228425383+42249 North Sydney229211366424-582010 St. George229013352493-1411811 Parramatta228014359412-531612 Eastern Suburbs226313387443-561513 Illawarra226115353510-1571314 Newcastle Knights225116270460-1901115 Gold Coast-Tweed Giants224216238484-2461016 Western Suburbs224117287493-2069
Squad
Awards
League nil
Club Player of the year: Allan Langer 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
References
External links Rugby League Tables and Statistics