The 2007 Brisbane Broncos season was the twentieth in the club's history and they competed in the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Darren Lockyer, the Broncos made the finals by just scraping into the top 8, but were knocked out in the first week by eventual premiers, Melbourne Storm. Two and a half years later the Storm would be found to have been cheating the salary cap over the previous four seasons and their 2007 premiership was stripped.

Season Summary The World Club Challenge loss was followed by a poor start to the 2007 NRL season by the Broncos, who lost their captain and five-eighth Darren Lockyer to an ankle injury after the first match against the North Queensland Cowboys. Lockyer returned to the field in Round 3 against the Penrith Panthers, but Brisbane had lost their first three games in a row for the first time since 1999. They racked up their first win against the Sydney Roosters in the traditional Good Friday match played by the two clubs. Another loss followed by a win in the Andrew Johns farewell against Newcastle in Round 6.

When, in the Round 7 replay of last year's grand-final, Brisbane were unable to defeat Melbourne, they had managed to win just 2 of their first seven games, compared to their strong starts in 2006 and 2005. Having not yet played an NRL game in 2007, Tame Tupou, the Broncos' top try-scorer for the previous season, left the club in round 7 for England. In round 11 Brisbane were at the bottom of the ladder before racking up their biggest ever win, defeating an under-strength Newcastle Knights 71–6. It was also the Knights' biggest ever loss and the most points the Broncos had ever scored in a game. This was followed up with a loss to an understrength St George Illawarra Dragons.

As a result of the team's form, coach Wayne Bennett gave the players time off during the Broncos' bye. This strategy appeared to be successful, with the team winning five successive games. However, in their Round 18 win against the Cowboys, Lockyer tore his anterior cruciate ligament, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Lockyer's injury, combined with injuries to big-name players Karmichael Hunt, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate and Shaun Berrigan, played a role in Brisbane winning just two of their last eight games of the season.

In the last round of the 2007 regular season, the Broncos suffered an embarrassing 68–22 loss to Parramatta, equalling their worst ever defeat and most points conceded in a match. However, the club still finished eighth after the regular season, thus making the finals for the sixteenth straight year. Brisbane's efforts did not improve the following Sunday when they played their 500th game ever and their last of the season, being defeated soundly by eventual premiers the Melbourne Storm 40–0. Only one year after winning the premiership, 2007 saw the second time ever that the Broncos lost more games than they won in a season of football.

At the end of the season the Brisbane Broncos hed a gala ball at which coach Wayne Bennett was made a life member of the club. His refusal to make an acceptance speech at the club's presentation ball showed the strain in his relationship with the Broncos. On 9 October 2007, the club announced the termination of the contracts of squad members Ian Lacey and John Te Reo, after they were involved in the assault of a man after the ball.

Squad information

Cap. Nat. Player Position First Broncos game Previous First Grade RL club 68 Brad Thorn 1994 76 Darren Lockyer (c) 1995 79 Tonie Carroll 1996 87 Petero Civoniceva (vc) 1998 93 Shaun Berrigan 1999 94 Dane Carlaw 1999 100 Justin Hodges 2000 106 Corey Parker 2001 110 Brent Tate 2001 124 Craig Frawley 2003 Canberra Raiders 127 David Stagg 2003 128 Sam Thaiday 2003 130 Karmichael Hunt 2004 138 Steve Michaels 2005 139 Nick Kenny 2005 140 Greg Eastwood 2005 141 Darius Boyd 2006 142 Shane Perry 2006 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 143 Michael Ennis 2006 St. George Illawarra Dragons 144 Ben Hannant 2006 Sydney Roosters 145 Ian Lacey 2006 147 Joel Moon 2006 148 Dave Taylor 2006 149 Nick Emmett 2006 151 John Te Reo 2007 152 Andrew Lomu 2007 Canberra Raiders 153 Denan Kemp 2007 154 Mick Roberts 2007 155 Clifford Manua 2007 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 156 Alwyn Simpson 2007 — Brent McConnell Yet to debut North Queensland Cowboys

Squad changes

Transfers in Date Player From Year/s 25 July 2006 Brent McConnell North Queensland Cowboys —

Transfers out Date Player To Year/s Shane Webcke Retirement Casey McGuire Catalans Dragons Scott Minto North Queensland Cowboys Ben Vaeau North Queensland Cowboys Fraser Anderson Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Nick Parfitt Burleigh Bears Tame Tupou Bradford Bulls

Re-signings Date Player Year/s 16 April 2007 Sam Thaiday 2 Years 5 June 2007 Joel Moon 2 Years 20 June 2007 Greg Eastwood 2 Years 20 June 2007 Steve Michaels 2 Years 20 June 2007 Denan Kemp 1 Year 14 August 2007 Justin Hodges 4 Years

Coaching staff Name Role Ref. Wayne Bennett Director of Coaching Ivan Henjak Assistant Coach Peter Ryan Defence Co-ordinator Paul Green Kicking & Catching Co-ordinator Dean Benton Performance Director Paul Bunn Special Projects/Recruitment Manager Andrew Gee Football/Team Manager Dan Baker Strength Coach Rob Godbolt Physiotherapist & Rehab Co-ordinator Allan Langer Backs Co-ordinator Ben Ikin Team Welfare Officer Tony Spencer Trainer Ken Rach Trainer Scott Barker Video Analysis

Pre-season The Broncos' pre-season involved two matches in England and two more trial matches upon their return to Australia.

World Club Challenge

As reigning NRL premiers, on 23 February 2007 The Brisbane Broncos played against English Super League champions St Helens R.F.C. in the 2007 World Club Challenge. St Helens took the match 18–14 in the last minutes.

Telstra Premiership

Matches

+ ^ Not a Broncos Home Game * Game following a Test match ** Game following a State of Origin Match Round Opponent Result Brisbane Opponent Date Venue Crowd Position Trial Match Celtic Crusaders Win 32 6 15 Feb Brewery Field 2,000+ WCC St. Helens Loss 14 18 23 Feb Reebok Stadium 23,207 Trial Match Canberra Raiders Win 18 12 24 Feb Dolphin Oval Trial Match Melbourne Storm Loss 0 46 3 Mar Princes Park 8,273 1 North Queensland Cowboys Loss 16 23 16 Mar Suncorp Stadium 50,416 12/16 2 New Zealand Warriors Loss 14 24 25 Mar Mt Smart Stadium 16,738 12/16 3 Penrith Panthers Loss 28 29 30 Mar Suncorp Stadium 24,582 15/16 4 Sydney Roosters Win 32 10 6 Apr Sydney Football Stadium 11,476 12/16 5 ^Gold Coast Titans Loss 16 28 13 Apr Suncorp Stadium 47,686 13/16 6 * Newcastle Knights Win 20 16 22 Apr EnergyAustralia Stadium 25,524 11/16 7 Melbourne Storm Loss 18 28 27 Apr Suncorp Stadium 33,750 13/16 8 South Sydney Rabbitohs Win 8 4 4 May Suncorp Stadium 27,387 12/16 9 Cronulla Sharks Loss 8 16 11 May Toyota Park 12,262 13/16 10 Manly Sea Eagles Loss 6 18 21 May Brookvale Oval 13,493 14/16 11 ** Newcastle Knights Win 71 6 27 May Suncorp Stadium 27,43312/16 12 St George Illawarra Dragons Loss 4 11 1 Jun Oki Jubilee Stadium 10,302 15/16 13 BYE 12/16 14 ** Canterbury Bulldogs Win 19 12 15 Jun Telstra Stadium 10,121 10/16 15 Wests Tigers Win 48 18 25 Jun Suncorp Stadium 29,364 9/16 16 Penrith Panthers Win 24 16 30 Jun CUA Stadium 8,553 7/16 17 ** Gold Coast Titans Win 19 18 6 Jul Suncorp Stadium 48,621 6/16 18 North Queensland Cowboys Win 24 16 13 Jul Dairy Farmers Stadium 25,1265/16 19 Parramatta Eels Loss 16 20 23 Jul Suncorp Stadium 25,7025/16 20 Cronulla Sharks Win 30 16 29 Jul Suncorp Stadium 24,5635/16 21 Manly Sea Eagles Loss 8 21 5 Aug Suncorp Stadium 35,7846/16 22 Melbourne Storm Loss 6 14 12 Aug Olympic Park 7/16 23 Canterbury Bulldogs Loss 24 25 17 Aug Suncorp Stadium 35,199 9/16 24 Canberra Raiders Win 30 19 26 Aug Suncorp Stadium 31,614 8/16 25 Parramatta Eels Loss 22 68 2 Sep Parramatta Stadium 17,112 8/16QFMelbourne StormLoss0409 SepOlympic Park15,552

Ladder

Honours

League Nil

Club Player of the year: Petero Civoniceva Rookie of the year: David Taylor Back of the year: Karmichael Hunt Forward of the year: Brad Thorn Club man of the year: Petero Civoniceva/Brad Thorn

Statistics For NRL first-grade matches only.

PlayerTriesGoalsField goalsPointsCorey Parker445/540106Darren Lockyer223/33357Justin Hodges120048Steve Michaels100040Karmichael Hunt80032Tonie Carroll70028Darius Boyd60024Brent Tate50020Greg Eastwood50020Michael Ennis17/8018Shaun Berrigan40016Dane Carlaw30012Dave Taylor30012David Stagg2008Petero Civoniceva2008Ben Hannant2008Craig Frawley2008Joel Moon20/108Shane Perry2008Brad Thorn2008Sam Thaiday11/206Denan Kemp1004Nick Emmett1004TOTAL8977/993511

References