The 1993 Brisbane Broncos season was the sixth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Allan Langer, they competed in the NSWRL's 1993 Winfield Cup premiership, finishing the regular season 5th (out of 16) before going on to play in a re-match of the previous year's grand final against the St George Dragons and again win, claiming consecutive premierships. In doing so they also became the first team in history to win the premiership from fifth position.
Season summary After years of dispute with the Lang Park Trust over brewery advertising, Fourex had pouring rights for Lang Park while Powers Brewing was major sponsor of the Broncos. For the 1993 season the Broncos moved to the Council-owned ANZ Stadium, in suburban Nathan.
Signs of a hangover existed with the club losing two of its first three matches, including their debut at the new home ground against the struggling Parramatta Eels before over 51,000 fans. But the Broncos bounced back, beating the Balmain Tigers 50-0, (the highest winning margin for the club at the time) to establish themselves solidly in the upper echelons of the competition. A last round lapse against St George relegated the Broncos to fifth spot, meaning they had to win four straight elimination games to defend their title. This match also set the club's highest home ground attendance figure with over 58,000 at ANZ Stadium.
In the finals, Brisbane went on to demolish the Manly Sea Eagles' defence in a 36-10 romp. Canberra dropped dead with the loss of Ricky Stuart and the Broncos ran roughshod over them with a 30-12 win. Against the Canterbury Bulldogs in the preliminary final, Brisbane were trailing 16-10 at half time, but Allan Langer scored immediately in the second half to level, then potted a field goal to break the dead lock late in the game with Allan Cann sealing the win scoring under the posts winning the match for the Broncos 23-16.
In the grand final, again against the Dragons, the Broncos were victorious once more, this time 14-6. This win was significant because it was the only time a team which had finished 5th in the minor premiership had gone on to win the competition. It was Glenn Lazarus' fifth consecutive grand final appearance, having already played in the previous year's for Brisbane and the three years' before that for Canberra.
Match results Round Opponent Result Bro. Opp. Date Venue Crowd Position 1 Cronulla Sharks Win 19 10 14 Mar Endeavour Field8,200 5/16 2 Canterbury Bulldogs Loss 10 20 19 Mar Carlaw Park 16,2369/16 3 Parramatta Eels Loss 8 12 28 Mar ANZ Stadium51,51710/16 4 Canberra Raiders Win 12 8 4 Apr ANZ Stadium46,0019/16 5 Balmain Tigers Win 12 6 10 Apr Leichhardt Oval 7,522 8/16 6 Penrith Panthers Win 34 8 18 Apr ANZ Stadium35,904 6/16 7 St George Dragons Win 20 14 25 Apr Kogarah Oval 17,025 6/16 8* Illawarra Steelers Win 24 22 9 MayANZ Stadium28,126 4/16 9* North Sydney Bears Loss 20 40 23 May North Sydney Oval 20,378 5/16 10* Wests Magpies Win 36 16 6 JuneANZ Stadium40,733 5/16 11 Easts Roosters Win 26 22 12 JunSydney Football Stadium10,450 5/16 12 Gold Coast Seagulls Win 14 6 18 JunANZ Stadium57,212 4/16 13 Manly Sea Eagles Loss 8 24 26 JunBrookvale Oval12,203 5/16 14 South Sydney Rabbitohs Win 54 8 2 JulANZ Stadium31,8965/16 15 Newcastle Knights Win 31 2 11 JulNewcastle ISC 12,6044/16 16 Cronulla Sharks Win 38 34 18 Jul ANZ Stadium31,270 4/16 17 Canterbury Bulldogs Win 38 18 25 Jul ANZ Stadium54,7514/16 18 Parramatta Eels Win 15 8 30 Jul Parramatta Stadium10,0472/16 19 Canberra Raiders Loss 4 20 6 Aug Bruce Stadium24,801 4/16 20 Balmain Tigers Win 50 0 13 AugANZ Stadium39,1933/16 21 Penrith Panthers Win 34 14 21 AugPenrith Football Stadium16,8102/16 22 St George Dragons Loss 10 16 27 AugANZ Stadium58,5935/16 Prelim. Semi Final Manly Sea EaglesWin36105 SepSydney Football Stadium38,432 Semi Final Canberra Raiders Win 30 12 11 SepSydney Football Stadium 33,893 Prelim. Final Canterbury Bulldogs Win 23 16 19 SepSydney Football Stadium34,821 GRAND FINALSt George Dragons Win 14 6 26 SepSydney Football Stadium42,329 *Game following a State of Origin match
Scorers Player Tries Goals FG Points Terry Matterson 7 58/89 0 144 Julian O'Neill 9 28/41 3 95 Willie Carne 17 0 0 68 Steve Renouf 16 0 0 64 Michael Hancock 12 0 0 48 Allan Langer 11 0 1 45 Chris Johns 9 0 0 36 Alan Cann 6 0 0 24 Kevin Walters 6 0 0 24 Glenn Lazarus 3 0 0 12 John Plath 3 0 0 12 Wendell Sailor 3 0 0 12 Kerrod Walters 3 0 0 12 Peter Ryan 2 0 0 8 Trevor Gillmeister 1 0 0 4 Mark Hohn 1 0 0 4 Keiren Meyer 1 0 0 4 Brett Plowman 1 0 0 4
Grand final
Honours
League Winfield Cup Premiership
Club Player of the year: Allan Langer Rookie of the year: Wendell Sailor Back of the year: Willie Carne Forward of the year: Kerrod Walters Club man of the year: Chris Johns
References