The 2011 Brisbane Broncos season was the 24th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2011 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 3rd (out of 16). The Broncos then came within one match of the grand final but were knocked out by eventual premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. It was the last season for Brisbane's captain, all-time top points scorer and most-capped player, Darren Lockyer. Lockyer was also named the Broncos player of the season.

2011 was the Broncos' first season under new CEO, Paul White who replaced Bruno Cullen in the first week of January. The following month, head coach Ivan Henjak was replaced by his assistant Anthony Griffin. NRMA replaced WOW Sight & Sound as the naming-rights sponsor of the Broncos after signing a three-year multimillion-dollar deal.

Season summary On 21 February Broncos CEO Paul White announced that Ivan Henjak would be replaced by his assistant Anthony Griffin as head coach of the club for the 2011 NRL season, less than three weeks out from its start. In round 1, The North Queensland Cowboys ended their 7-game losing streak against the Broncos with a hard-fought 16–14 win at Suncorp Stadium. It was only the 5th win the Cowboys have had over the Broncos in their 17-year history and it was only the Broncos' 4th loss in an opening round match in their 24-year history. In round 2, The Broncos had their first win in Canberra since 2005 with a 20–4 win over the Canberra Raiders. In round 3, Justin Hodges made an immediate impact for the Broncos playing his first game since 2009, scoring the match winning try with a 14–8 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park. In round 12, the Broncos played their first Golden Point game since 2008, defeating the Canberra Raiders 25–24 at Suncorp Stadium. In round 22, Darren Lockyer equalled the all-time record for most career games of all-time playing 349-games. The Broncos hosted the New Zealand Warriors, in a tense game, the Broncos ran out winners 21–20 at Suncorp Stadium. In round 24, Broncos secured 3rd spot for the finals with a 26–6 win over the Newcastle Knights at Ausgrid Stadium. It was also the Broncos first ever away win in a Monday Night game. Brisbane finished the regular season in 3rd place on the ladder.

Darren Lockyer kicked the winning field goal to knock defending premiers, Wayne Bennett's St. George Illawarra Dragons out of the 2011 competition and bring his team to within one match of the grand final. However, in the process Lockyer also took an accidental knee from a teammate in the face, fracturing his cheekbone over ten-minute's before the game's end. Therefore, without their captain, Brisbane needed to defeat second-placed Manly-Warringah for a chance to play in the grand final.

Milestones Round 1: Two players made their debuts for the club; Dane Gagai and Jack Reed. Both made their NRL debuts also. Round 1: Dane Gagai and Jack Reed scored their 1st career tries. Round 2: Alex Glenn played his 50th game for the club and his 50th career game. Round 8: Darren Lockyer scored his 121st career try which moved him into second on the all-time try scoring list for the Brisbane Broncos behind Steve Renouf. Round 12: Kurt Baptiste made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL. Round 13: Scott Anderson played his 50th career game. Round 14: Shea Moylan made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL. Round 15: David Hala scored his 1st career try. Round 16: Kurt Baptiste scored his 1st career try and Peter Wallace played his 100th career game. Round 22: Jharal Yow Yeh played his 50th game for the club and his 50th career game. Round 22: Darren Lockyer played his 349th career game, equalling the all-time record of club appearances. Round 23: Darren Lockyer played his 350th career game, broke the all-time record of club appearances. Round 25: Ben Te'o played his 50th game for the club.

Squad information

Cap. Nat. Player Position First Broncos game Previous First Grade RL club 76 Darren Lockyer (c) 1995 94 Dane Carlaw 1999 Catalans Dragons 100 Justin Hodges 2000 Sydney Roosters 106 Corey Parker (vc) 2001 128 Sam Thaiday 2003 139 Nick Kenny 2005 144 Ben Hannant 2006 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 151 John Te Reo 2007 158 Peter Wallace 2008 Penrith Panthers 163 Andrew McCullough 2008 165 Josh Hoffman 2008 169 Jharal Yow Yeh 2009 171 Ben Te'o 2009 Wests Tigers 172 Alex Glenn 2009 174 Josh McGuire 2009 176 Gerard Beale 2009 177 Dale Copley 2009 178 Ben Hunt 2009 180 David Hala 2009 181 Scott Anderson 2010 Melbourne Storm 182 Matt Gillett 2010 183 Mitchell Dodds 2010 184 Corey Norman 2010 186 Dunamis Lui 2010 189 Dane Gagai 2011 190 Jack Reed 2011 191 Kurt Baptiste 2011 192 Shea Moylan 2011 – Rohan Ahern Yet to debut Sydney Roosters – Matt Britt Yet to debut – Mitchell Frei Yet to debut – Justin Hunt Yet to debut – Jordan Kahu Yet to debut – Kurtis Lingwoodock Yet to debut – Daniel Ogden Yet to debut – Aaron Whitchurch Yet to debut

Squad Movement

Gains Date Position Player From Year/s Ref. 25 May 2010 Ben Hannant Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 4 Years 2 November 2010 John Te Reo Wynnum Manly Seagulls 1 Year 30 November 2010 Dane Carlaw Catalans Dragons 1 Year Feb-March 2011 Jack Reed Norths Devils 2 Years

Losses Date Position Player To Year/s Ref. 29 May 2010 Lagi Setu Mormon Mission 2012 1 June 2010 Israel Folau GWS Giants (AFL) 2014 14 June 2010 Antonio Winterstein North Queensland Cowboys 3 Years 3 August 2010 Ashton Sims North Queensland Cowboys 2 Years 3 August 2010 Tariq Sims North Queensland Cowboys 2 Years 14 April 2011 Denan Kemp Southern Districts Rugby ? 29 July 2011 Shane Tronc Retirement

Contract extensions Date Position Player Year/s Ref. 27 April 2011 Corey Parker 3 Years 11 May 2011 Justin Hodges 3 Years 12 May 2011 Dale Copley 2013 12 May 2011 Dunamis Lui 2013 24 June 2011 Kurt Baptiste 2013 28 June 2011 Scott Anderson 2013 9 August 2011 Sam Thaiday 2015 26 October 2011 Josh Hoffman 2015 26 October 2011 Josh McGuire 2015

Coaching staff Role Name Ref. Head coach Anthony Griffin Assistant Coach Allan Langer Strength Dan Barker High Performance Chief Tony Guilfoyle Performance Andrew Croll General Manager - Football Operations Andrew Gee NYC Head Coach Kurt Richards

Ladder

Fixtures

Pre-season Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals AttendanceSaturday, 12 FebruaryTrial 1 Gold Coast TitansKougari Oval42 – 18Copley (2), Norman, Lui, McGuire, Frei, Glenn, ReedHunt (5)3,500Saturday, 19 FebruaryTrial 2 North Queensland CowboysTraeger Park26 – 4Reed (2), Hoffman, Kahu, ParkerParker (2), Norman (1)5,500Saturday, 26 FebruaryTrial 3 Melbourne StormDolphin Oval26 – 6Te'o, Hunt, Lockyer, Yow Yeh, GagaiParker (3)8,000 Legend:

Regular season Result by round

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals AttendanceFriday, 11 MarchRound 1 North Queensland CowboysSuncorp Stadium14 – 16Reed, Yow Yeh, GagaiParker (1/3)45,119Friday, 18 MarchRound 2 Canberra RaidersCanberra Stadium4 – 20Hoffman, Gillett, Yow YehParker (4/4)16,146Friday, 25 MarchRound 3 Gold Coast TitansSkilled Park8 – 14Glenn, HodgesParker (3/3)20,226Friday, 1 AprilRound 4 Penrith PanthersSuncorp Stadium18 – 10Glenn, Beale, Yow YehParker (3/5)25,263Monday, 11 AprilRound 5 Newcastle KnightsSuncorp Stadium17 – 6Reed (2), Gillett, BealeParker (0/4), Lockyer (FG)24,522Saturday, 16 AprilRound 6 Sydney RoostersBluetongue Stadium6 – 24Copley (2), Yow Yeh, HannantParker (4/5)8,616Friday, 22 AprilRound 7 Wests TigersSydney Football Stadium18 – 31Yow Yeh, Glenn, Thaiday, Wallace, LockyerParker (5/5), Lockyer (FG)19,494Friday, 29 AprilRound 8 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsSuncorp Stadium20 – 12Lockyer, Copley, BealeParker (4/4)30,538Saturday, 7 MayRound 9 Melbourne StormSuncorp Stadium22 – 29Beale (2), Reed, GagaiParker (3/4)34,175Friday, 13 MayRound 10 Penrith PanthersCentrebet Stadium33 – 10Wallace, ParkerParker (1/2)11,336Round 11ByeFriday, 27 MayRound 12 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesSuncorp Stadium34 – 10Te'oParker (3/3)32,283Friday, 3 JuneRound 13 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksToyota Stadium16 – 34Glenn (2), Copley, Parker, Reed, BealeParker (5/7)14,436Sunday, 12 JuneRound 14 Canberra Raiders Suncorp Stadium25 – 24 (golden point) Glenn, Copley, Beale, HoffmanWallace (4/5) & (FG)21,378Friday, 17 JuneRound 15 St. George Illawarra DragonsSuncorp Stadium21 – 14Yow Yeh (2), Hala, ReedWallace (2/4), Lockyer (FG)34,185Friday, 24 JuneRound 16 South Sydney RabbitohsNIB Stadium16 – 12Reed, BaptisteParker (2/2)15,371Friday, 1 JulyRound 17 Parramatta EelsParramatta Stadium12 – 16Gagai (2), GillettWallace (2/3)11,079Round 18ByeFriday, 15 JulyRound 19 Gold Coast TitansSuncorp Stadium30 – 10Yow Yeh (2), Thaiday, Hodges, HoffmanParker (4/5), Wallace (1/1)31,035Friday, 22 JulyRound 20 Melbourne StormAAMI Park26 – 6Yow YehParker (1/1)22,912Friday, 29 JulyRound 21 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksSuncorp Stadium46 – 16Hodges (3), Hannant, Reed, Yow Yeh, Gillett, WallaceParker (6/7), Wallace (1/1)24,164Saturday, 6 AugustRound 22 New Zealand WarriorsSuncorp Stadium21 – 20Hodges, Beale, Reed, GillettParker (2/4), Wallace (FG)37,173Friday, 12 AugustRound 23 North Queensland CowboysDairy Farmers Stadium16 – 34Hoffman (3), Reed, CopleyParker (7/7)26,463Monday, 22 AugustRound 24 Newcastle KnightsAusgrid Stadium6 – 26Wallace, Hodges, Yow Yeh, Glenn, HuntParker (3/6)19,412Sunday, 28 AugustRound 25 South Sydney RabbitohsSuncorp Stadium22 – 10Glenn, Reed, Thaiday, Te'oParker (3/4)40,094Sunday, 4 SeptemberRound 26 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesSuncorp Stadium18 – 10McCullough, Yow Yeh, Gillett, BealeParker (1/4)50,859 Legend:

Finals

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals AttendanceSaturday, 10 SeptemberQualifying Final New Zealand Warriors Suncorp Stadium40 – 10Glenn, Reed, Lockyer, Parker, McCullough, Hodges, BealeParker (6/8)48,943Saturday, 17 SeptemberSemi-final St. George Illawarra Dragons Suncorp Stadium13 – 12Te'o, CopleyParker (2/4), Lockyer (FG)48,474Friday, 23 SeptemberPreliminary Final Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Sydney Football Stadium26 – 14Yow Yeh, Wallace, CopleyParker (1/3)31,894 Legend:

Statistics NameAppTGFGPts190000410042710004070000178003213000064001619600242790036151004202008178003216600241910049000022304166000026200818000010000900002437401602712004814300122130012400002751024223140056 Totals – 101 84 6 578 Source:

Representative honours This table lists all players who played a representative match in 2011. (c) = Captain Player All Stars Anzac Test State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 2011 Four Nations Gerard Beale – – New Zealand Alex Glenn – – New Zealand Ben Hannant NRL All Stars Australia Queensland Queensland Queensland – Justin Hodges – Australia – – Queensland – Darren Lockyer (c) NRL All Stars (c) Australia (c) Queensland (c) Queensland (c) Queensland (c) Australia (c) Corey Parker – – Queensland Queensland Queensland Australia Jack Reed – England Sam Thaiday – Australia Queensland Queensland Queensland Australia Jharal Yow Yeh Indigenous All Stars Australia Queensland Queensland Queensland Australia

Honours

League Nil

Club Player of the year: Darren Lockyer Rookie of the year: Jack Reed Back of the year: Darren Lockyer Forward of the year: Corey Parker Club man of the year: Kurt Richards

References