The 2009 Brisbane Broncos season was the 22nd in the club's history and their first without foundation coach Wayne Bennett. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and by the 12th round were leading the competition, but then suffered one of their worst post-State of Origin form slumps ever and spent rounds 16 to 22 outside the top eight. The team managed to finish the regular season 6th (out of 16), qualifying for the finals for the 18th consecutive year. The Broncos then came within one match of the grand final but were knocked out for the 3rd season in a row by eventual premiers the Melbourne Storm (who months later were found to have been cheating the salary cap over the previous four seasons and had all honours achieved during the period nullified by the NRL). Season summary Early season (Round 1—11) In March 2009, the Broncos' post-Bennett era got off to a thrilling start in Round 1 when they defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 19–18 at Suncorp Stadium, in the first game with new coach Ivan Henjak in charge. Star signing Israel Folau scored his first try in Broncos colours and the first try of the season for the club in the 6th minute, followed by NRL debutantes Antonio Winterstein and Jharal Yow Yeh who also scored. Halfback Peter Wallace kicked the match winning field goal. In Round 2, the Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm for the first time since the 2006 NRL Grand Final. Israel Folau went up against his old club for the first time and scored a try in the 11th minute, his second for the season. In Round 3, the Broncos travelled to Auckland to take on the Warriors and for the second year in a row, the Broncos won the opening three rounds of the season, defeating the New Zealand Warriors 26–10 at Mt Smart Stadium. In the following days Shane Webcke, who had been appointed assistant coach for Brisbane at the start of the season quit his post in the wake of controversy surrounding the release of his new book in which he was critical of some Broncos personnel.
In April 2009, Wayne Bennett coached against the Broncos for the first time, with the premiership-winning mentor returning to Suncorp Stadium in Round 4 with his St. George Illawarra Dragons, along with former Broncos players Darius Boyd, Neville Costigan and Wendell Sailor. The Broncos conceded their first loss of the season with the Dragons defeating the Broncos 25—12, with Sailor scoring a try. This was the Dragons' 8th straight win against the Broncos. In Round 5, the Broncos defeated the Sydney Roosters 24—28 at the Sydney Football Stadium, continuing their 7-year winning streak in the Good Friday match against the Roosters, In round 7, Darren Lockyer answered his critics as he helped the Broncos to a 40–8 win over the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium. Lockyer had a hand in most of the Broncos seven tries with Karmichael Hunt scoring three of the seven tries himself.
In May 2009, Darren Lockyer's 300th game did not go as planned when they faced the Newcastle Knights in Round 8. The match was played in torrential rain at EnergyAustralia Stadium, with the Broncos losing 28—12, the match punctuated by a 35-minute half-time break. In round 10, Israel Folau equalled the club record for most tries in a match when he scored 4 tries against the Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium. In Round 11, the Broncos beat a strong Wests Tigers side who were playing their 10th anniversary match, in a 20–18 win at Campbelltown Stadium.
Mid season slump (Round 13—21) In June 2009, the Broncos suffered one of their worst defeats in the club's history when they lost 48–4 against the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park in Round 13. The loss is also equalled second in the Broncos worst defeats. In the lead-up to the Round 14 fixture against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, both the Broncos and Bulldogs were affected by the swine flu, with the Broncos almost boycotting the match due to quarantine orders. The Broncos gave up a 18—16 half-time lead to lose 22—44. Round 15 against the Sharks, the Broncos were without the availability of their 2011 Origin players, and debuts were handed to Dale Copley and Ben Hunt at Toyota Stadium. The Broncos lost 12—46. In Round 16, the Broncos lost to the Parramatta Eels 21—14.
In July 2009, boosted by the return of Tonie Carroll coming out of retirement, the Broncos snapped their 5-game losing streak, with a 28–14 win over the Warriors at Suncorp in Round 17. In Round 19, the Broncos again were defeated by a big margin at Suncorp, this time by the South Sydney Rabbitohs, losing 12—44. The Broncos had only won 1 game out of their last 6 games, and by the end of the round had found themselves outside the top eight for the first time during the season, leaving their finals hopes in danger. Karmichael Hunt made the announcement that he would be departing at seasons end and switching codes with the Gold Coast Suns.
In August 2009, days after the announcement of Karmichael Hunt's defection to AFL, the Broncos suffered one of their worst losses in their history, losing 56–0 to the Canberra Raiders 56–0 at Canberra Stadium in Round 21.
Late season charge (Round 22—Preliminary Final) After losing 7 of their last 8 matches, the Broncos bounced back with a 30–10 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in Round 22 at Suncorp, keeping their finals hopes alive. In Round 23, the Broncos demolished the Penrith Panthers 58—24 at Suncorp, putting themselves back inside the top eight for the first time since Round 18. In Round 24, the Broncos again took on Wayne Bennett and his Dragons, this time at WIN Stadium. The Broncos winning a hard fought 12—2 contest, their first win against the Dragons since Round 6 2006. In Round 25, the Broncos secured their 18th straight finals appearance when they beat Queensland rivals North Queensland Cowboys 16—10 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
In September 2009, the Broncos made it 5 straight wins, defeating the Raiders 22—10 at Suncorp in Round 26. The Broncos finishing the regular season in 6th position, with 14 wins and 10 losses. The Broncos were the first opponent for the Gold Coast Titans competing in their first ever finals series. The Broncos survived a late comeback from the Titans holding on to a 40–32 win at Skilled Stadium. The Broncos made it consecutive wins over the Dragons for the first time since 2004 and their first win against the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium since 2004 with a 24–10 win against the Dragons in the semi-final at Suncorp Stadium. Source: Their chances against Melbourne in the grand final qualifier suffered a major blow when in form halfback Peter Wallace broke his ankle toward the end of that win against the Dragons. The Broncos 2009 season came to an end in the Preliminary Final going down 40–10 to eventual premiers, the Melbourne Storm at Etihad Stadium. Squad information
Cap. Nat. Player Position First Broncos game Previous First Grade RL club 76 Darren Lockyer (c) 1995 79 Tonie Carroll 1996 100 Justin Hodges 2000 106 Corey Parker 2001 128 Sam Thaiday 2003 130 Karmichael Hunt 2004 138 Steve Michaels 2005 139 Nick Kenny 2005 148 Dave Taylor 2006 158 Peter Wallace 2008 Penrith Panthers 159 Joel Clinton 2008 Penrith Panthers 160 Ashton Sims 2008 St. George Illawarra Dragons 161 PJ Marsh 2008 Parramatta Eels 163 Andrew McCullough 2008 164 Isaak Ah Mau 2008 165 Josh Hoffman 2008 167 Antonio Winterstein 2009 168 Israel Folau 2009 Melbourne Storm 169 Jharal Yow Yeh 2009 170 Aaron Gorrell 2009 Catalans Dragons 171 Ben Te'o 2009 Wests Tigers 172 Alex Glenn 2009 173 Lagi Setu 2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons 174 Josh McGuire 2009 175 Palmer Wapau 2009 176 Gerard Beale 2009 177 Dale Copley 2009 178 Ben Hunt 2009 179 Guy Williams 2009 180 David Hala 2009 — Tom Hewitt Yet to debut St. George Illawarra Dragons — Michael Spence Yet to debut — Aaron Sweeney Yet to debut — Will Tupou Yet to debut Squad changes
Transfers in Date Position Player From Year/s Ref. 30 March 2008 Israel Folau Melbourne Storm 2 Years 15 July 2008 Ben Te'o Wests Tigers 1 Year 26 July 2008 Lagi Setu St. George Illawarra Dragons 1 Year 27 September 2008 Aaron Gorrell Catalans Dragons 1 Year 2008 Antonio Winterstein Easts Tigers — — 2008 Aaron Sweeney Ipswich Jets 1 Year — 30 June 2009 Tonie Carroll Retirement End of season Transfers out Date Position Player To Year/s Ref. 11 January 2008 Tonie Carroll Retirement 27 May 2008 Ben Hannant Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 3 Years 28 May 2008 Denan Kemp New Zealand Warriors 2 Years 2 June 2008 Michael Ennis Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 3 Years 21 June 2008 Joel Moon New Zealand Warriors 3 Years 20 August 2008 Darius Boyd St. George Illawarra Dragons 3 Years 14 August 2008 Greg Eastwood Leeds Rhinos 3 Years 27 September 2008 Shane Perry Catalans Dragons 1 Year 2008 Nick Emmett St. George Illawarra Dragons 2 Years 22 December 2008 David Stagg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2 Years
Coaching staff Name Role Ivan Henjak Head coach Paul Green Assistant Coach Allan Langer Skills Coach Peter Ryan Defensive Coach Dean Benton Physical Performance Director Andrew Croll Athletic Performance Coach Dan Baker Strength Coach Tim Gabbett Sports Scientist Anthony Griffin Under-20s Coach Shane Webcke was an Assistant Coach up until 6 April 2009, when he resigned from his role due to the controversy surrounding his auto-biography "Hard Road". In addition, international cricketer and long-time Broncos fan Andrew Symonds was adopted by the club in an unpaid role assisting the coaching staff following his exile from cricket.
Staff changes
Transfers in Date Role Person From Year/s Ref. 19 April 2008 Head coach Ivan Henjak Assistant coach 2 Years 1 May 2008 Performance Director Dean Benton Leicester Tigers —
Transfers out Date Role Person To Year/s Ref. 5 February 2008 Director of Coaching Wayne Bennett St. George Illawarra Dragons 3 Years 1 May 2008 Performance Director Jeremy Hickmans St. George Illawarra Dragons —
Matches