2003 Brisbane Broncos season

The 2003 Brisbane Broncos season was the sixteenth in the history of the Brisbane Broncos. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Gorden Tallis, they competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 8th (out of 15) and making the finals for the 12th consecutive year. The Broncos were then knocked out in the first match against eventual premiers, the Penrith Panthers.

Season summary

In the pre-season Bruno Cullen replaced Shane Edwards as Broncos Chief Executive Officer. The Brisbane Broncos had a strong start to the 2003 season, winning 11 of their first 14 games, but later breaking the club's longest losing streak record by losing their last 8 games straight. Brisbane still made it to the finals, finishing the regular season in 8th position, but lost the Qualifying Final to the Penrith Panthers 28-18. The 2003 season was the first in the Broncos' history in which they lost more games than they won. In the first half of the 2003 season, whilst still at ANZ Stadium, the Broncos were only beaten once (by the New Zealand Warriors in round five). However, upon returning to Suncorp Stadium in round 12, the Broncos only won a home match once (defeating the Sydney Roosters in round 16).

A total of twelve Broncos players were selected to play in the mid-season 2003 State of Origin series, making them the most heavily represented club. Also in 2003 the Rugby Union World Cup was played in Australia. As a testament to the quality of the athletes produced at the Broncos, three of the club's former players would feature in two of the top three finishing teams of the rugby union world's peak competition, all of them having played together in the Broncos' 2000 premiership-winning side: Lote Tuquri with Wendell Sailor for The Wallabies and Brad Thorn for The All Blacks.

The Broncos were once again in the upper echelons of the ladder before losing their last eight games and falling to eighth place, nearly missing the finals for the first time since 1991.

Fullback Darren Lockyer was named the Broncos' player of the season.

Match results

Round Opponent Result Bro. Opp. Date Venue Crowd Position
1 Penrith Panthers Win 24 20 16 Mar Penrith Football Stadium 6/15
2 South Sydney Rabbitohs Win 22 20 23 Mar Aussie Stadium 4/15
3 Cronulla Sharks Win 30 4 30 Mar ANZ Stadium 2/15
4 North Queensland Cowboys Win 32 24 5 Apr Dairy Farmers Stadium 2/15
5 New Zealand Warriors Loss 12 32 13 Apr ANZ Stadium 4/15
6 Sydney Roosters Loss 20 27 18 Apr Aussie Stadium 6/15
7 Parramatta Eels Win 20 14 25 Apr Parramatta Stadium 5/15
8 Wests Tigers Win 38 6 4 May Leichhardt Oval 3/15
9 North Queensland Cowboys Win 38 12 11 May ANZ Stadium 2/15
10 Melbourne Storm Win 36 16 18 May ANZ Stadium 1/15
11 Canterbury Bulldogs Win 24 0 23 May Telstra Stadium 1/15
12 Newcastle Knights Loss 22 32 1 Jun Suncorp Stadium 3/15
13 Bye 2/15
14* Canberra Raiders Win 24 20 15 Jun Canberra Stadium 1/15
15 Bye 1/15
16* Sydney Roosters Win 10 8 27 Jun Suncorp Stadium 1/15
17 St George Illawarra Dragons Loss 16 32 4 Jul WIN Stadium 1/15
18 Canterbury Bulldogs Loss 4 40 11 Jul Suncorp Stadium 3/15
19* Melbourne Storm Win 26 22 20 Jul Olympic Park 3/15
20 Manly Sea Eagles Loss 20 26 26 Jul Suncorp Stadium 4/15
21 Cronulla Sharks Loss 10 20 2 Aug Toyota Park 5/15
22 Penrith Panthers Loss 6 13 8 Aug Suncorp Stadium 5/15
23 Wests Tigers Loss 10 12 16 Aug Suncorp Stadium 5/15
24 New Zealand Warriors Loss 14 22 24 Aug Ericsson Stadium 7/15
25 Parramatta Eels Loss 14 16 30 Aug Suncorp Stadium 8/15
26 St George Illawarra Dragons Loss 25 26 5 Sep Suncorp Stadium 8/15
Qualif. Final Penrith Panthers Loss 18 28 14 Sep Penrith Football Stadium 
*Game following a State of Origin match

Ladder

Team Pld W D L B F A P/D Pts
1 Penrith Panthers 24 18 0 6 2 659 527 132 40
2 Sydney Roosters 24 17 0 7 2 680 445 235 38
3 Canterbury Bulldogs 24 16 0 8 2 702 419 283 36
4 Canberra Raiders 24 16 0 8 2 620 463 157 36
5 Melbourne Storm 24 15 0 9 2 564 486 78 34
6 New Zealand Warriors 24 15 0 9 2 545 510 35 34
7 Newcastle Knights 24 14 0 10 2 632 635 -3 32
8 Brisbane Broncos 24 12 0 12 2 497 464 33 28
9 Parramatta Eels 24 11 0 13 2 570 582 -12 26
10 St George Illawarra Dragons 24 11 0 13 2 548 593 -45 26
11 North Queensland Cowboys 24 10 0 14 2 606 629 -23 24
12 Cronulla Sharks 24 8 0 16 2 497 704 -207 20
13 Wests Tigers 24 7 0 17 2 470 598 -128 18
14 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 7 0 17 2 470 791 -234 18
15 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 3 0 21 2 457 758 -301 10

Scorers

Player Tries Goals FG Points
Michael De Vere 12 69/97 0 186
Darren Lockyer 9 2/3 1 41
Shaun Berrigan 10 0 0 40
Brent Tate 9 0 0 36
Stuart Kelly 8 0 0 32
Casey McGuire 8 0 0 32
Tonie Carroll 6 0 0 24
Dane Carlaw 5 0 0 20
Scott Minto 5 0 0 20
Ben Ikin 4 0 0 16
Gorden Tallis 4 0 0 16
Petero Civoniceva 3 0 0 12
Craig Frawley 3 0 0 12
Corey Parker 3 0 0 12
Richard Swain 0 2/3 0 4
Neale Wyatt 1 0 0 4
Shane Webcke 1 0 0 4
Carl Webb 1 0 0 4
Scott Prince* 0 0/1 0 0

(*Did not technically score any points.)

Honours

League

Club

References

  1. ↑ "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Retrieved 22 December 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 27°27′53″S 153°0′34″E / 27.46472°S 153.00944°E / -27.46472; 153.00944 (Suncorp Stadium)

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