The 1988 Brisbane Broncos season was the first in the club's history. The new venture team was added, along with the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

and Gold Coast-Tweed Giants to the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

1988 Winfield Cup The 1988 NSWRL season was the 81st season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and saw the first expansion of the New South Wales Rugby League Premiership outside the borders of New South Wales, and another expansion outside of Sy ...

premiership, coached by previous season grand final co-coach Wayne Bennett and captained by Australian national skipper

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

. Despite a strong start to the season, Brisbane failed to make the finals. During the season the Broncos also competed in the 1988 Panasonic Cup.

Season summary

The same year Brisbane hosted

World Expo 88 World Expo 88, also known as Expo 88, was a specialised Expo held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988, inclusive. The theme of the Expo wa ...

, the Brisbane Broncos joined the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

, making their debut on 6 March at

Lang Park Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

in Brisbane. The brand-new club which featured many Queensland-based international and state representatives, defeated the

1987 Winfield Cup The 1987 NSWRL season was the 80th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in ...

Premiers

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

44-10 in their first premiership game. Brett Le Man scored the Broncos' first ever try from the scraps of a Craig Grauf

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

. Although the Broncos won their first six games in their inaugural season, a midseason slump cost the club a debut finals appearance, finishing the season in seventh position. The Broncos also competed in the mid-week knockout competition, the 1988 Panasonic Cup, losing in the first round while they were still yet to lose a Winfield Cup match.

Match results

* Game following a

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

match

Ladder

Awards

League

nil

Club

* Player of the year:

Allan Langer Allan Jeffrey "Alfie" Langer AM (born 30 July 1966) is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national team, the Queensland ...

* Rookie of the year:

Shane Duffy Shane Patrick Michael Duffy (born 1 January 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national team. Duffy came through the youth academy at Everton, where he completed hi ...

Kerrod Walters Kerrod Walters (born 20 October 1967) is an Australian former rugby league footballer. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , he played most of his club football with the Brisbane Broncos, with whom he won the ...

* Forward of the year:

Terry Matterson Terry Matterson (born 4 March 1967) is an Australian rugby league coach and former player. Matterson played in Australia's premiership for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters and the Brisbane Broncos, and was also selected to play in the State of Orig ...

* Back of the year:

* Clubman of the year:

Greg Conescu Greg Conescu (born 24 May 1960) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. An Australia national and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played all of his club football in Queensland with Norths Devils (with whom he ...

References

External links

Rugby League Tables and Statistics
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