The 1990 Brisbane Broncos season was the third in the club's history. They competed in the NSWRL's 1990 Winfield Cup premiership and again improved on their previous year, finishing the regular season in second position before going on to come within one match of the grand final, but losing to eventual premiers, the Canberra Raiders.
Broncos players Chris Johns and Kevin Walters were selected to make their international débuts for the Australia national rugby league team in 1990.
Season summary The Broncos had some new faces for 1990 season, including Kevin Walters who was lured home from Canberra. In order to increase the Broncos' success in the Winfield Cup, Wayne Bennett controversially sacked Wally Lewis as club captain and gave the role to centre Gene Miles. Miles had retired from representative football, and Bennett hoped he could remove the team's reliance on Lewis.
The Balmian Tigers were the last team unbeaten by the Broncos until their victory in Round 18 of the 1990 season. Brisbane finished the regular season in second position, qualifying for their first finals campaign. In the Preliminary Final against the Canberra Raiders the Broncos were knocked out 30-2 so finished the 1990 season in third place. Canberra then went on to win the competition. At the end of the season, Wally Lewis parted company with the Broncos, moving to the Gold Coast Seagulls.
Match results Round Opponent Result Bro. Opp. Date Venue Crowd Position 1 Western Suburbs MagpiesDraw121218 MarCampbelltown Sports Ground9,6708/16 2 Parramatta EelsWin28823 MarLang Park22,0034/16 3 Balmain TigersLoss16181 AprLeichhardt Oval13,0629/16 4 Manly Sea EaglesWin14128 AprLang Park21,8074/16 5 Penrith PanthersLoss182614 AprLang Park22,8428/16 6 Newcastle KnightsWin28422 AprNewcastle ISC23,1957/16 7 North Sydney BearsLoss121427 AprLang Park20,8019/16 8* Eastern Suburbs RoostersWin361213 MaySydney Football Stadium5,7946/16 9 Cronulla SharksWin20818 MayLang Park21,3935/16 10* Gold Coast-Tweed GiantsWin30143 JunLang Park17,6804/16 11 South Sydney RabbitohsWin34610 JunSydney Football Stadium10,0592/16 12* Illawarra SteelersWin36617 JunLang Park18,7892/16 13 St George DragonsWin181423 JunKogarah Oval8,1872/16 14 Canberra RaidersWin22201 JulLang Park32,1241/16 15 Canterbury BulldogsWin2686 JulBelmore Oval7,2021/16 16 Western Suburbs MagpiesWin301013 JulLang Park15,9061/16 17 Parramatta EelsWin242222 JulParramatta Stadium20,1381/16 18 Balmain TigersWin301629 JulLang Park32,1681/16 19 Manly Sea EaglesLoss4185 AugBrookvale Oval16,6561/16 20 Penrith PanthersLoss21812 AugPenrith Football Stadium15,0002/16 21 Newcastle KnightsWin24417 AugLang Park24,2822/16 22 North Sydney BearsWin14825 AugNorth Sydney Oval24,2822/16 Qualif. Final Penrith PanthersLoss16262 SepSydney Football Stadium24,409 Semi Final Manly Sea EaglesWin1248 SepSydney Football Stadium31,424 Prelim. Final Canberra RaidersLoss43216 SepSydney Football Stadium31,628 Game following a State of Origin match
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Canberra Raiders221615532245+287332 Brisbane Broncos221615478278+200333 Penrith221516415286+129314 Manly-Warringah221507395255+125305 Balmain221408432284+148286 Newcastle Knights221327344305+39287 Canterbury-Bankstown221219354291+65258 Parramatta221219387347+40259 Illawarra2211110366361+52310 Cronulla-Sutherland2211011370359+112211 North Sydney2210012322298+242012 St. George228014371399-281613 Western Suburbs226115323433-1101314 Eastern Suburbs226115283547-2641315 Gold Coast Seagulls224018233567-334816 South Sydney222020302652-3504
Scorers Player Tries Goals FG Points Dale Shearer 10 46/83 0 132 Willie Carne 15 3/4 0 66 Terry Matterson 3 23/38 0 58 Paul Hauff 11 0 0 44 Chris Johns 8 0 0 32 Allan Langer 6 0 0 24 Michael Hancock 5 0 0 20 Gene Miles 5 0 0 20 Kevin Walters 5 0 0 20 Brett Plowman 4 0 0 16 Kerrod Walters 4 0 0 16 Tony Currie 3 0 0 12 Peter Jackson 3 0 0 12 Greg Dowling 2 0 0 8 Steve Renouf 2 0 0 8 Craig Teevan 2 0 0 8 Wally Lewis 1 1/1 0 6 Bob Conway 1 0 0 4 Grant Rix 1 0 0 4
Honours Nil
League Player of the year: Kevin Walters Rookie of the year: Paul Hauff / Willie Carne Best back: Kevin Walters Best forward: Gene Miles Clubman of the year: Ray Herring
References