The 1998 Brisbane Broncos season was the eleventh in the history of Brisbane's National Rugby League premiership team, the Brisbane Broncos. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Allan Langer, they participated in the newly formed National Rugby League's 1998 premiership and posted their three biggest ever wins in rounds 5, 7 and 15 before finishing the regular season as minor premiers. The Broncos then won the 1998 NRL Grand Final, capturing their fourth premiership in seven seasons.

Season summary For the 1998 season the Broncos were joined by future Melbourne Storm coach, Craig Bellamy who would work under head coach Wayne Bennett as performance co-ordinator and assistant coach.

As could be expected by their finish to the 1997 season, Brisbane were solid in their first five matches of 1998, snatching five victories. In rounds five and seven, the Broncos won by a margin of 54 points, which was the club's record at the time. This was followed by shock losses to the Sydney City Roosters and Cronulla, but Langer led them to a big win over Canterbury only to see two more club losses. But the Broncos recovered to post huge wins over Penrith and the Western Suburbs Magpies. The Broncos finished the remainder of the regular season undefeated finishing with 10 wins and 1 draw in their last 11 games. The top try-scorer from the NRL season was Brisbane's Darren Smith.

After a week off granted by winning the minor premiership, the Broncos were smothered out of the game by Parramatta 15–10 in their opening finals match. But they lifted and provided some miracle spark against the Melbourne Storm 30-6 a week later, resurrecting their premiership hopes. A huge win over Sydney City 46–18 in the preliminary final installed them at near unbackable odds against Canterbury in the first NRL Grand Final. The Broncos came back from a 12-10 half time deficit to again win consecutive premierships for the second time, and their fourth in seven seasons with a 38-12 Grand Final victory.

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

The Broncos' consistent dominance over other teams at this period of time contributed to the National Rugby League's plans to cut the number of teams down to 14 in order to ensure competitiveness and the long-term financial success of the game. Despite the rationalization of the league, the club has continued to dominate in the modern era of the league, winning two more premierships in 2000 and 2006, as well as reaching another two Grand Finals in 2015 and 2023.

The Broncos' 1998 premiership win came in a year in which their Australian Football League neighbours, the Brisbane Lions, won the wooden spoon.

Match results Round Opponent Result Bro. Opp. Date Venue Crowd Position 1 Manly Sea EaglesWin22613 MarANZ Stadium39,1094/20 2 Canterbury BulldogsWin201222 MarBelmore Oval10,9623/20 3 Penrith PanthersWin261828 MarANZ Stadium18,5703/20 4 Gold Coast ChargersWin40185 AprCarrara Stadium13,1262/20 5 North Queensland CowboysWin58412 AprANZ Stadium20,9041/20 6 Manly Sea EaglesLoss42817 AprBrookvale Oval13,1941/20 7 North Sydney BearsWin60626 AprANZ Stadium18,7911/20 8 Newcastle KnightsWin2661 MayNewcastle ISC27,1191/20 9 Sydney City RoostersLoss122610 MayANZ Stadium19,3461/20 10 Cronulla SharksLoss102016 MayEndeavour Field10,5825/20 11^ Canterbury BulldogsWin401224 MayANZ Stadium15,4074/20 12 Canberra RaidersLoss182431 MayBruce Stadium14,7285/20 13^ Parramatta EelsLoss16207 JunANZ Stadium18,1636/20 14 Penrith PanthersWin44413 JunPenrith Football Stadium11,6376/20 15^ Western Suburbs MagpiesWin56421 JunANZ Stadium12,4155/20 16 St George DragonsWin301826 JunKogarah Oval16,2584/20 17 Melbourne StormWin34163 JulANZ Stadium35,1193/20 18 Illawarra SteelersWin181212 JulWIN Stadium12,0183/20 19 Gold Coast ChargersWin441019 JulANZ Stadium12,7402/20 20 Balmain TigersDraw101025 JulLeichhardt Oval7,1592/20 21 Adelaide RamsWin46121 AugANZ Stadium13,8581/20 22 North Queensland CowboysWin22108 AugStockland Stadium30,2501/20 23 Auckland WarriorsWin16416 AugANZ Stadium16,4561/20 24 South Sydney RabbitohsWin161023 AugSydney Football Stadium7,2621/20Qualif. FinalParramatta EelsLoss10156 SepANZ Stadium21,172Semi FinalMelbourne StormWin30613 SepSydney Football Stadium20,354Prelim. FinalSydney City RoostersWin461819 SepANZ Stadium28,374GRAND FINALCanterbury BulldogsWin381227 SepSydney Football Stadium40,857 ^Game following a State of Origin match

Brisbane Broncos NRL average home attendance in 1998: 20,073

Ladder

Grand final

Brisbane Broncos vs. Canterbury Bulldogs PlayerPosition PlayerDarren LockyerFullbackRod SilvaMichael De VereWingGavin LesterSteve RenoufCentreShane MarteeneDarren SmithCentreWillie TalauWendell SailorWingDaryl HalliganKevin WaltersFive-eighthCraig Polla-MounterAllan Langer (C)HalfbackCorey HughesShane WebckePropDarren Britt (C)Phillip LeeHookerJason HetheringtonAndrew GeePropSteve PriceGorden TallisSecond RowTony GrimaldiBrad ThornSecond RowRobert RelfTonie CarrollLockTravis NortonMichael HancockInterchangeSteve ReardonJohn PlathInterchangeTroy StoneKevin CampionInterchangeGlen HughesPetero CivonicevaInterchangeDavid ThompsonWayne BennettCoachSteve Folkes

Scorers Player Tries Goals FG Points Darren Lockyer 19 98/144 0 272 Darren Smith 23 0 0 92 Steve Renouf 20 0 0 80 Wendell Sailor 18 0 0 72 Michael De Vere 8 9/13 0 50 Michael Hancock 10 0 0 40 Allan Langer 10 0 0 40 Gorden Tallis 8 0 0 32 Kevin Campion 6 0 0 24 Phillip Lee 6 0 0 24 Ben Walker 4 1/2 0 18 Tonie Carroll 4 0 0 16 Andrew Gee 4 0 0 16 Kevin Walters 4 0 0 16 Petero Civoniceva 1 0 0 4 John Plath 1 0 0 4 Peter Ryan 1 0 0 4 Brad Thorn 1 0 0 4 Shane Webcke 1 0 0 4

Honours

League Premiership Minor premiership

Club Player of the year: Andrew Gee Rookie of the year: Petero Civoniceva Back of the year: Kevin Walters Forward of the year: Shane Webcke Club man of the year: Brett Green

Notes

References

External links 1998 - Broncos Take Inaugural NRL Competition - rl1908.com