2007 Brisbane Broncos season

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.

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 RLFC in the 2007 World Club Challenge. St Helens took the match 18–14 in the last minutes.

23 February 2007 20:00 UTC+0

St Helens	18–14	Brisbane Broncos
Tries: Gardner (2) Sculthorpe Goals: Sculthorpe (3)	Report	Tries: Parker Boyd Goals: Parker (3)

Reebok Stadium, Bolton, United Kingdom Attendance: 23,207 Referee/s: Steve Clark

Telstra Premiership

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne	24	21	0	3	1	627	277	+350	44
2	Manly-Warringah	24	18	0	6	1	597	377	+220	38
3	North Queensland	24	15	0	9	1	547	618	−71	32
4	Warriors	24	13	1	10	1	593	434	+159	29
5	Parramatta	24	13	0	11	1	573	481	+92	28
6	Bulldogs	24	12	0	12	1	575	528	+47	26
7	South Sydney	24	12	0	12	1	408	399	+9	26
8	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	0	13	1	511	476	+35	24
9	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	1	541	561	−20	24
10	Sydney	24	10	1	13	1	445	610	−165	23
11	Cronulla-Sutherland	24	10	0	14	1	463	403	+60	22
12	Gold Coast	24	10	0	14	1	409	559	−150	22
13	St George Illawarra	24	9	0	15	1	431	509	−78	20
14	Canberra	24	9	0	15	1	522	650	−128	20
15	Newcastle	24	9	0	15	1	418	708	−290	20
16	Penrith	24	8	0	16	1	539	607	−68	18

Scorers (After Round 25)

For NRL first-grade matches only.

Player	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Points
Corey Parker	4	45/54	0	106
Darren Lockyer	2	23/33	3	57
Justin Hodges	12	0	0	48
Steve Michaels	10	0	0	40
Karmichael Hunt	8	0	0	32
Tonie Carroll	7	0	0	28
Darius Boyd	6	0	0	24
Brent Tate	5	0	0	20
Greg Eastwood	5	0	0	20
Michael Ennis	1	7/8	0	18
Shaun Berrigan	4	0	0	16
Dane Carlaw	3	0	0	12
Dave Taylor	3	0	0	12
David Stagg	2	0	0	8
Petero Civoniceva	2	0	0	8
Ben Hannant	2	0	0	8
Craig Frawley	2	0	0	8
Joel Moon	2	0/1	0	8
Shane Perry	2	0	0	8
Brad Thorn	2	0	0	8
Sam Thaiday	1	1/2	0	6
Denan Kemp	1	0	0	4
Nick Emmett	1	0	0	4
TOTAL	89	77/99	3	511

2007 match results

^ 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
BOCC	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	Aussie 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	27,433	12/16
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	25,126	5/16
19	Parramatta Eels	Loss	16	20	23 Jul	Suncorp Stadium	25,702	5/16
20	Cronulla Sharks	Win	30	16	29 Jul	Suncorp Stadium	24,563	5/16
21	Manly Sea Eagles	Loss	8	21	5 Aug	Suncorp Stadium	35,784	6/16
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	8/16
QF	Melbourne Storm	Loss	0	40	9 Sep	Olympic Park	15,552

Honours

League

• Nil

Club

• Player of the year: Petero Civoniceva^[3]
• 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

Players

Bold Players have played International or State any year

Full Backs

• Australian Karmichael Hunt
• Australian Denan Kemp

Wingers

• New Zealander Tame Tupou (released by the club after Round 7 without playing this season)
• Australian Darius Boyd
• Australian Stephen Michaels
• Australian Craig Frawley

Centres

• Australian Shaun Berrigan
• Australian Justin Hodges
• Australian Brent Tate
• Australian Nick Emmett

Halves

• Australian Darren Lockyer (c)
• Australian Shane Perry
• Australian Brent McConnell
• Australian Joel Moon

Hookers

• Australian Michael Ennis
• Australian Ian Lacey
• New Zealander John Te Reo
• Australian Michael Roberts

Props

• Australian Petero Civoniceva (vc)
• Australian Ben Hannant
• Australian Nick Kenny
• Australian Corey Parker
• Australian Sam Thaiday
• Australian Dave Taylor

Second Rowers

• Australian Dane Carlaw
• Australian David Stagg
• Australian Brad Thorn
• Australian Clifford Manua

Locks

• Australian Tonie Carroll
• New Zealander Greg Eastwood

Player movements

Gains

Name	From club	Contract Details
Peter Wallace	Penrith Panthers	Contract until the end of 2009, will come in 2008.
Joel Clinton	Penrith Panthers	Contract until the end of 2010, will come in 2008.
Ashton Sims	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Contract until the end of 2010, will come in 2008.
Tom Hewitt	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Contract until the end of unknown, will come in 2008.
PJ Marsh	Parramatta Eels	Contract until the end of 2010, will come in 2008.

Losses

Name	To club	Contract Details
Tame Tupou	Bradford Bulls	Contract until end of 2008, will go there mid-2007.
Brent Tate	New Zealand Warriors	Contract until end of 2010, will go there in 2008.
Shaun Berrigan	Hull	Contract until end of 2011, will go there in 2008.
Petero Civoniceva	Penrith Panthers	Contract until end of 2009, will go there in 2008.
Dane Carlaw	Catalans Dragons	Contract until end of 2010, will go there in 2008.
Brad Thorn	Canterbury Crusaders	Contract until end of 2008, will go there in 2008.

Re-signings

Name	Contract Details
Sam Thaiday	Contract until end of 2009.
Joel Moon	Contract until end of 2009.
Stephen Michaels	Contract until end of 2009.
Darius Boyd	Contract until end of 2009.
Denan Kemp	Contract until end of 2008.
Greg Eastwood	Contract until end of 2009.
Michael Ennis	Contract until end of 2010.
Justin Hodges	Contract until end of 2011.

Off Contract at end of 2007

Name	Contract Details	Other
Shane Perry	Contract Ends 2007	Likely to move back into Queensland Cup

References

1. Clark, Laine (5 February 2008). "Statistics don't do Bennett justice". foxsport.com.au (Australia: AAP). Retrieved 7 January 2010.
2. "Brisbane axes Lacey and Te Reo". Retrieved 9 October 2007.
3. "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Retrieved 22 December 2013.

Coordinates: 27°27′53″S 153°0′34″E / 27.46472°S 153.00944°E