Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league team based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia, that participate in the National Rugby League. The first professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998; the Storm were a Super League initiative, created in 1997 during the Super League war, following the Super League collapse, the team became a part of the newly formed, united competition. The club play their home games at AAMI Park; the Storm have won three premierships since their inception, in 1999, 2012 and 2017, have contested several more grand finals and were stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships, following salary cap breaches. The Storm competed in the NRL's Under-20s competition from 2008 until its demise in 2017 and now in 2018 have entered the in the Hastings Deering Colts u20s QLD competition. In addition, the club has expanded into netball with a joint venture with University of the Sunshine Coast; the Sunshine Coast Lightning commenced playing in the National Netball League in 2017.
Following record attendances at State of Origin fixtures in Melbourne of 87,161 in 1994 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Australian Rugby League had planned to establish a Melbourne-based team in the Premiership by 1998. However, the disruption caused by the Super League war caused great change to the game in Australia. By May 1997, Super League boss John Ribot pushed for a Melbourne-based club for his competition, the rival of the ARL. Former Brisbane Broncos centre Chris Johns became the CEO of the club and Ribot stepped down from the head of Super League to set up the club. In September 1997, Melbourne announced that Chris Anderson would be their foundation coach, Super League announced that the new team would be named the Melbourne Storm; the Melbourne club went forward with signing players from folding Super League clubs Perth Reds and Hunter Mariners. These players included Glenn Lazarus, Brett Kimmorley and Scott Hill. With the Super League and ARL joining into one competition for the 1998 season, the Melbourne team became part of the National Rugby League.
The Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club was unveiled at a function at the Hyatt Hotel – Melbourne in February 1998. In their first game, they defeated the Illawarra Steelers, with Glenn Lazarus as their inaugural captain. Melbourne, in a complete shock to the rest of the competition, won their first four games, before losing to the Auckland Warriors, they were defeated by the eventual premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. In January 1999, CEO John Ribot negotiated a deal that saw Melbourne Storm games televised in China every weekend; the club won eight of their first eleven games of the 1999 NRL season, went on to make the finals in third position on the Premiership ladder. The team was beaten convincingly 34–10 in the quarter final by St. George Illawarra. After narrow victories against the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels. Melbourne's Premiership defence began slowly losing their first four games of the 2000 NRL season, the club went on to make the finals, but were knocked out by Newcastle Knights in the quarter-finals.
Between 2001 and 2002, the club's on field performances waned, resulting in a 10th-placed finish in 2002. Cracks were starting to appear between John Ribot and Anderson throughout the period, with Anderson quitting as coach after round 7, 2001, he was replaced by Mark Murray. The Melbourne club failed to make the finals in 2001. Johns left the club as CEO at the end of 2002 and coach Murray was sacked due to Melbourne's poor form, with the club missing the finals for the second year in a row. Wayne Bennett's assistant coach at the Brisbane Broncos, Craig Bellamy was announced as the new coach of Melbourne for 2003. In addition to a new captain in Kiwi international skipper Stephen Kearney, Bellamy's strict coaching would see the Melbourne Storm get back on track from the previous lean years. Between 2003 and 2005, Melbourne made the finals, but lost games in the semi-finals that prevented them from reaching the grand final. On 17 July 2004, during round 19 of the 2004 NRL season, Danny Williams king-hit Wests Tigers' player Mark O'Neill.
Williams defended the incident, using four medical experts to argue on his behalf that he was suffering post-traumatic amnesia when the incident occurred, which he claims was the result of a high tackle by O'Neill just prior to the incident. Despite Williams' claim, he was suspended for 18 weeks by the NRL judiciary. After the decision, Williams stated that he was "obviously disappointed with the outcome", it was the longest suspension in Australian rugby league since Steve Linnane was suspended for twenty weeks for eye-gouging in 1987. In 2005, Storm coach Craig Bellamy, in his third season as an NRL coach, gained representative honours when he was selected to start coaching the Country Origin team. Season 2006 saw the retirement of captain Robbie Kearns, the emergence of talented rookie halfback Cooper Cronk, taking the reins from Matt Orford, the recruitment of hard-man Michael Crocker. Contrary to expectation, 2006 was a standout year for the Melbourne team, winning their first Minor Premiership.
Melbourne only lost four games in the season. They went on to win their two finals matches, were favourites in the 2006 NRL Grand Final, but lost 15–8 to the Brisbane Broncos, in a match where controversial refereeing decisions against Melbourne caused much media coverage. In 2007, the Storm finished the season Minor Premiers by finishing on top of th
Rugby league positions
A rugby league team consists of thirteen players on the field, with four substitutes on the bench. Each of the thirteen players is assigned a position with a standardised number, which reflects their role in attack and defence, although players can take up any position at any time. Players are divided into two general types and backs. Forwards are chosen for their size and strength, they are expected to run with the ball, to attack, to make tackles. Forwards are required to improve the team's field position thus creating space and time for the backs. Backs are smaller and faster, though a big, fast player can be of advantage in the backs, their roles require speed and ball-playing skills, rather than just strength, to take advantage of the field position gained by the forwards. Forwards tend to operate in the centre of the field, while backs operate nearer to the touch-lines, where more space can be found; the diagram, shows the typical positions of each player during a scrum. The laws of the game recognise standardised numbering of positions.
The starting side wear the numbers corresponding to their positions, only changing in the case of substitutions and position shifts during the game. In some competitions, such as Super League, players receive a squad number to use all season, no matter what positions they play in; the positions and the numbers are defined by the game's laws as: Backs1 Full Back 2 Right Wing Threequarter 3 Right Centre Threequarter 4 Left Centre Threequarter 5 Left Wing Threequarter 6 Stand-off Half or Five-eighth 7 Scrum Half or HalfbackForwards8 Prop 9 Hooker 10 Front Row Forward 11 Second Row Forward 12 Second Row Forward 13 Lock ForwardIn practice, the term'front row forward' is rarely used, a team has two props. The scrum half is known as the half back in Australasia, the lock forward is known as loose forward in England. There are seven backs, numbered 1 to 7. For these positions, the emphasis is on ball-handling skills; the "back-line" consists of smaller, more agile players. Numbered 1, the fullback's primary role is the last line of defence, standing behind the main line of defenders.
Defensively, fullbacks must be able to chase and tackle any player who breaks the first line of defence, must be able to catch and return kicks made by the attacking side. Their role in attack is as a support player, they are used to come into the line to create an overlap in attack. Fullbacks that feature in their respective nations' rugby league halls of fame are France's Puig Aubert, Australia's Clive Churchill and Billy Slater, Charles Fraser, Graeme Langlands and Graham Eadie, Great Britain/Wales' Jim Sullivan and New Zealand's Des White. There are four threequarters: two wingers and two centres - right wing, right centre, left centre and left wing; these players work in pairs, with one winger and one centre occupying each side of the field. Known as wingers. There are two wings in a rugby league team, numbered 2 and 5, they are positioned closest to the touch-line on each side of the field. They are among the fastest players in a team, with the speed to exploit space, created for them and finish an attacking move.
In defence their primary role is to mark their opposing wingers, they are usually required to catch and return kicks made by an attacking team dropping behind the defensive line to help the fullback. Wingers that feature in their nations' rugby league halls of fame are Great Britain's Billy Batten, Billy Boston and Clive Sullivan, Australia's Brian Bevan, John Ferguson, Ken Irvine, Harold Horder and Brian Carlson, South African Tom van Vollenhoven and France's Raymond Contrastin There are two centres and left, numbered 3 and 4 respectively, they are positioned just inside the wingers and are the second-closest players to the touch-line on each side of the field. In attack their primary role is to provide an attacking threat out wide and as such they need to be some of the fastest players on the pitch providing the pass for their winger to finish off a move. In defence, they are expected to mark their opposite centre. Centres that feature in their countries' halls of fame are France's Max Rousié, England's Eric Ashton, Harold Wagstaff and Neil Fox, Wales' Gus Risman and Australia's Reg Gasnier, H "Dally" Messenger, Dave Brown, Jim Craig, Bob Fulton and Mal Meninga.
There are two halves. Positioned more centrally in attack, beside or behind the forwards, they direct the ball and are the team's main play-makers, as such are required to be the most skillful and intelligent players on the team; these players usually perform most tactical kicking for their team. Numbered 6, the stand off or five-eighth is a strong passer and runner, while being agile; this player is referred to as "second receiver", as in attacking situations they are the second player to receive the ball and are able to initiate an attacking move. Star players of this position include Wally Lewis, Darren Lockyer, Bob Fulton, Brad Fittler, Laurie Daley and Terry Lamb Numbered 7, the scrum-half or half back is involved in directing the team's play; the position is sometimes referred to as "first receiver", as half backs are the first to receive the ball from the dummy-half after a play-the-ball. This makes them important decision-makers in attack. A rugby league forward pack consists of six players who tend to be bigger and stronger than backs, rely more on their strength and size to fulfill their roles than play-making skills.
The forwards traditionally formed and contested scrums, however in the modern game
Rugby league
Rugby league football is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of rugby, it originated in Northern England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players, its rules progressively changed with the aim of producing a faster, more entertaining game for spectators. In rugby league, points are scored by carrying the ball and touching it to the ground beyond the opposing team's goal line; the opposing team attempts to stop the attacking side scoring points by tackling the player carrying the ball. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals. After each try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion for further points. Kicks at goal may be awarded for penalties, field goals can be attempted at any time. Rugby league is the national sport of Papua New Guinea, is a popular sport in Northern England, the states of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, South Auckland in New Zealand, southwest France and Lebanon.
The Super League and the National Rugby League are the premier club competitions. Rugby league is played internationally, predominantly by European and Pacific Island countries, is governed by the Rugby League International Federation; the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954. Rugby league football takes its name from the bodies that split to create a new form of rugby, distinct from that run by the Rugby Football Unions, in Britain and New Zealand between 1895 and 1908; the first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union, was established in 1895 as a breakaway faction of England's Rugby Football Union. Both organisations played the game under the same rules at first, although the Northern Union began to modify rules immediately, thus creating a new faster, stronger paced form of rugby football. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves "rugby football leagues" and introducing Northern Union rules.
In 1922, the Northern Union changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as "rugby league" football. In 1895, a schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union. Although many factors played a part in the split, including the success of working class northern teams, the main division was caused by the RFU decision to enforce the amateur principle of the sport, preventing "broken time payments" to players who had taken time off work to play rugby. Northern teams had more working class players who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to affluent southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain the amateur principle. In 1895, a decree by the RFU banning the playing of rugby at grounds where entrance fees were charged led to twenty-two clubs meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield on 29 August 1895 and forming the "Northern Rugby Football Union". Within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution.
In 1897, the line-out was in 1898 professionalism introduced. In 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after every tackle with the play the ball. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Australia. There, on 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Bateman's Hotel in George Street. Rugby league went on to displace rugby union as the primary football code in New South Wales and Queensland. On 5 May 1954 over 100,000 spectators watched the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at Odsal Stadium, England, setting a new record for attendance at a rugby football match of either code. In 1954 the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on the fourth tackle a scrum was to be formed; this was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover.
1967 saw. The first sponsors, Joshua Tetley and John Player, entered the game for the 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season. Television would have an enormous impact on the sport of rugby league in the 1990s when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sought worldwide broadcasting rights and refused to take no for an answer; the media giant's "Super League" movement saw big changes for the traditional administrators of the game. In Europe, it resulted in a move from a winter sport to a summer one as the new Super League competition tried to expand its market. In Australasia, the Super League war resulted in long and costly legal battles and changing loyalties, causing significant damage to the code in an competitive sporting market. In 1997 two competitions were run alongside each other in Australia, after which a peace deal in the form of the National Rugby League was formed; the NRL has since become recognised as the sport's flagship competition and since that time has set record TV ratings and crowd figures.
The objective in rugby league is to score more points through tries and field goals than the opposition within the 80 minutes of play. If after two halves of play, each consisting of forty minutes, the two teams are drawing, a draw may be declar
Darren Lockyer
Darren James Lockyer is an Australian television commentator and former rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire professional career with the Brisbane Broncos, he is considered one of the greatest players of all time. During his 17-year career he set appearance records for his club and country, set additional all-time records for most National Rugby League appearances, most State of Origin appearances, most games as captain and most tries for the Australian national team; as a fullback, Lockyer won four grand finals with the Broncos, a World Cup with Australia, the Golden Boot Award for the world's best player. He was named in Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century at fullback, he switched positions to five-eighth in 2004 and went on to win a fourth grand final with the Broncos, a further five State of Origin series with Queensland, a second Golden Boot Award. Lockyer was born in Queensland, his father, played Australian rules football for ten years in Brisbane with Morningside and introduced Darren to the game at four years of age.
Two years Lockyer started playing Aussie rules for Springwood, finishing runner-up in the best and fairest award in his first season. The following season he won the club's best and fairest award by 17 votes, despite having to travel 800 kilometres every weekend to play when the family moved to the small country town of Wandoan midway through the season. Travelling commitments and a lack of Australian rules football clubs around the Wandoan area forced him to quit the game and take up rugby league, he played rugby league for school and club in Wandoan for four years before moving to Roma and playing for the Cities Gladiators. He played fullback for his Roma club. In 1990 Queensland Rugby League Development Officer, Glenn Bayliss, spotted the young Lockyer while visiting Roma. After returning to Toowoomba he passed on his views on to Brisbane Broncos talent scout Cyril Connell and Connell followed his progress over the next few years. In 1994, he traveled to Ipswich for a junior rugby league carnival where his performance caught the eye of coach Wayne Bennett.
After impressing at the carnival, he moved to Brisbane and accepted a $2000 scholarship with the Broncos. He worked as a bartender at the Broncos Leagues Club to make ends meet; that year, he signed a $10,000 playing contract with the Broncos. Lockyer made his professional first-grade debut with the Brisbane Broncos from the bench as an eighteen-year-old five-eighth in a 60–14 thrashing of the Parramatta Eels in Round 13 of the 1995 ARL season, he went on to be named the 1995 Brisbane Broncos season's rookie of the year. Lockyer played most of the 1996 ARL season from the interchange bench. Lockyer was moved permanently to the fullback position by coach Wayne Bennett at the beginning of the 1997 Super League season, replacing Australian former international winger Willie Carne, who had played fullback for the Broncos in 1996, with Lockyer taking over the goal kicking duties from Carne, he first gained representative honours for Queensland that season in the second Super League Tri-series match against New South Wales.
Lockyer's try-scoring and goal-kicking ability made him the top point-scorer of the 1997 Brisbane Broncos season, he went on to play in the club's Super League Grand Final-winning team that year, kicking five goals from six attempts in the 26–8 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in front of a ground record crowd of 58,912 at the Broncos' home ground, the ANZ Stadium. At the end of the 1997 season Lockyer made his international debut when he was selected to play at fullback for Australia in all three games of the Super League Test series against Great Britain in England, he kicked two goals and one field goal during the series, won by Australia. In the re-unified 1998 NRL season, Lockyer was selected as the Queensland team's fullback and goal-kicker for all three games of their successful 1998 State of Origin series, in which he was the top point-scorer. Lockyer made his debut for the Australian team against New Zealand, becoming Kangaroo No. 661. He was again top point-scorer for Brisbane that year, smashing the club record of 193 for most points in a season by scoring 272.
By this time, Lockyer's playing style in attack was being likened to that of a five-eighth. He again played at fullback in the 1998 NRL Grand Final, kicking five goals from seven attempts in the Broncos' second consecutive premiership win. Lockyer's goal-kicking duties at the Broncos were shifted to teammates Ben Walker and Michael De Vere in 1999. Lockyer replaced Robbie O'Davis as Queensland's fullback in Game III of the 1999 State of Origin series, scoring a try and kicking a goal in the 10–10 draw, enough to see the Maroons retain the shield, he did goal-kicking for Australia though, was sin-binned in the Kangaroos' win against the Kiwis in the final of the post-season 1999 Tri-nations tournament. Lockyer played at fullback in all three matches of the 2000 State of Origin series in which the Maroons suffered a 3–0 series whitewash at the hands of the Blues. At the end of the season, Lockyer played at fullback in the Broncos' 2000 NRL Grand Final victory over the Sydney Roosters, was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for best and fairest player on the field.
In 2000 he received the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league and played in the 2000 World Cup-winning Kangaroos side, scoring a try in the final against New Zealand. By this time Lockyer was being called the best fullback in the world. Having won the 2000 NRL Premiersh
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons are a professional rugby league club in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France. They play in the Super League, are the only team in the competition from outside England; the Dragons play home games at Stade Gilbert Brutus. They are the current Challenge Cup holders, the first non British team to win it since the competition started in 1896, after beating Warrington Wolves 20–14 at Wembley Stadium on 25 August 2018; the club was formed in 2000 by a merger of XIII Catalan and AS Saint-Estève into Union Treiziste Catalane. They won the 2005 French Rugby League Championship and the Lord Derby Cup in 2004 and 2005. In 2006, they were granted taking the name Catalans Dragons. UTC continues to compete in the French Championship's Elite One Championship as a feeder club for the Dragons, now under the name Saint-Estève XIII Catalan; the club was founded in 2000 after the merger of two teams in Perpignan, XIII Catalan and AS Saint Estève. The merged team took the name Union Treiziste Catalane abbreviated to UTC.
XIII Catalan thus were founding members of the French Championship. During their run, they won 11 Lord Derby Cups. AS Saint-Estève were founded in 1965, they won four Lord Derby Cups. There were two other clubs in the twelve-team competition in Pyrénées-Orientales: Pia XIII and Saint-Cyprien. In 2002 Saint-Cyprien joined the merged UTC side. UTC won the 2004 and 2005 Lord Derby Cups. In 2005, UTC applied to join the Super League, the highest tier of professional rugby league in Europe, they were selected ahead of Toulouse Olympique and Villeneuve Leopards to enter the league for the 2006 season. The franchise was named Catalans Dragons; the club set. The Catalans are not the first French side to play in the Super League, but the first, Paris Saint-Germain, lasted only two seasons. Both rugby codes have their stronghold in the southwest of France, the north of France is more football-friendly. Players on loan from French league clubs had to play for their own clubs as well, train in the south and take the long journey to Paris or England for matches.
To ensure that the Catalans had the best French players available to them, the French rugby league decided to let them sign players from other French clubs without paying a transfer fee. The league would not relegate them from the Super League for three years if they finished last. Many believe that the Catalans will be joined by other French clubs in the Super League, but the whole idea of expanding into France had critics; the Catalans won their first Super League match 38–30 against Wigan on 11 February 2006, at Stade Aimé Giral. The club encountered a steep learning curve in their first season in the Super League. Many of less experienced French players suffered from tiredness towards the end of a gruelling, injury-marred campaign. A particular loss was that of key playmaker and captain Stacey Jones, who missed much of the season with a broken arm; the team finished bottom of the table, but the three-year exemption from relegation kept them in the Super League. The year 2007 saw a strong recruitment by new coach Mick Potter with a string of high-profile signings from Australia, including Clint Greenshields, Casey McGuire, Jason Croker and Aaron Gorrell, all seasoned NRL campaigners.
Gorrell, a goalkicking'hooker', impressed in the first month but sustained a bad knee injury in February's win over Leeds and missed the rest of the season. On 10 March 2007, it was announced that Newcastle Knights hooker Luke Quigley would cover Gorrell's absence for the remainder of the campaign, but a number of players sustained injuries throughout the campaign. On 29 July 2007, the Catalans became the first French side and first non-British side to reach the final of the Challenge Cup after beating Wigan 37–24 in the semifinal; the Catalans lost the 2007 Challenge Cup Final with St. Helens at Wembley Stadium on 25 August 2007, they managed to finish the 2007 season off the bottom of the table, ending the season in a respectable tenth place. In 2008, the Catalans secured their first playoff berth by finishing third on the league ladder on the back of a ferocious forward pack, they smashed Warrington 46–8 in their first-ever playoff match on 13 September in Perpignan, but 20 September saw Wigan blow open what had been a close game in the second half of their elimination semifinal, with Wigan winning 50–26.
Coach Mick Potter left the Dragons at the end of the 2008 season to replace Daniel Anderson at St Helens. In 2009, they were involved in two historic milestones for the sport of rugby league in Europe. During their match away to the Welsh club Crusaders on 23 May, the two clubs played the first Super League match to not feature an English team. History was created on 20 June, when the club played in the first Super League game to be played in Spain, at Barcelona's Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the venue for the 1992 Summer Olympics, against Warrington; the Dragons led 10–6 at halftime, but Warrington finished as the winners 12–24. The purpose of the latter fixture was to promote the sport in Catalonia, with around 1000 tickets being sold in the local area, the game was televised on the Catalan channel El 33. After the game, Walters commented that the event in Spain could become an annual one complementing comments made by the club's general manager about using a new high-speed link between Perpignan and Spain, supposed to start running within two years.
In 2016 Catalans Dragons celebrated ten year
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd. referred to as the Brisbane Broncos or colloquially as Red Hill, are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in April 1988, the Broncos play in Australia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership, they have won six premierships,including two NSWRL titles, a Super League premiership and three NRL premierships. They have two World Club Challenges; the Broncos have achieved four minor premierships during their 29 years in multiple competitions, making them Rugby League's most successful club over the past three decades. Until 2015, Brisbane had never been defeated in a grand final, since 1991, have only failed to qualify for the finals twice, they are the most successful club in the National Rugby League, since it began in 1998, winning three premierships. It is one of the most successful clubs in the history of rugby league, having won 62.5% of games played since its induction in 1988, second only to Melbourne Storm with 65.2%.
Since the club's founding, Brisbane has never received the wooden spoon. The club records the highest annual revenue of all NRL clubs – $A32.8m for the 2012 financial year – and is one of the most valuable clubs of any code in Australia, worth over $42 million. Along with financial competitiveness, the Broncos have been voted one of Australia's most popular and most watched football teams, has one of the highest average attendances of any rugby league club in the world; the club was founded in April 1988 as part of the Winfield Cup's national expansion, along with the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants, one of Queensland's first two participants in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. The Broncos became the dominant force in the competition before playing a significant role in the Super League War of the mid-1990s continuing to compete in the newly created National Rugby League competition; the Broncos are based in the Brisbane suburb of Red Hill where their training ground and Leagues club are located, but they play their home games at Milton's Lang Park.
It is the only publicly listed sporting club on the Australian Securities Exchange, trading as Brisbane Broncos Limited. The club's current head coach is former South Sydney Rabbitohs coach, Anthony Seibold, the Dally M coach of the year for 2018. Queensland's success in the 1980s, the early years of the State of Origin series between Queensland and New South Wales, in addition to the inclusion of a combined Brisbane Rugby League team in the mid-week competition, convinced the New South Wales Rugby League to invite a Queensland-based team into the competition. After tough competition between the various syndicates for the Brisbane licence, the Queensland Rugby League chose the bid of former Brisbane Rugby League players, Barry Maranta and Paul "Porky" Morgan. At the first meeting with the NSWRL hierarchy, the newly formed Brisbane Broncos were asked to pay a $500,000 fee; the Broncos secured the services of Australian Kangaroos captain Wally Lewis and former BRL coach Wayne Bennett. The team made their debut in the NSWRL's 1988 Winfield Cup premiership against reigning premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, defeated them 44–10.
However, after this promising start they failed to make the finals. In their second season they won the 1989 Panasonic Cup; the club first tasted premiership success in 1992, again in 1993, defeating the St. George Dragons in both years at Sydney Football Stadium. In 1990, in order to increase in the Winfield Cup, Wayne Bennett controversially sacked Wally Lewis as the Broncos' captain and inserted Gene Miles into the job. Once Gene Miles retired, Wayne thought he could lessen the reliance on Wally Lewis, who he said was not a good club man or a good trainer. In 1995, the Super League War broke out. After threats of expulsion from the NSWRL, the Broncos were one of the last clubs to sign with the new league and all players followed suit. Broncos CEO John Ribot moved to take over the running of the rebel Super League, leading to a perception that the conflict was orchestrated by the club. Brisbane won the only Super League premiership in 1997, before winning the first National Rugby League trophy in the re-unified 1998 competition.1999 was disappointing for the club with a terrible early-season form hindering their attempt at a third consecutive premiership losing 8 of their first 10 matches.
Club legend Allan Langer retired mid-season as a result of the team's form. Despite the club's mid-season turnaround, which resulted in qualification for the finals after an 11-match winning streak, the team was eliminated by the Cronulla Sharks in the first week of the finals. However, the Broncos' rebounded in 2000 with their fifth premiership; the game marked the retirement of veterans Kevin Michael Hancock. Not long after the disappointment of the previous year, in 2000, the Broncos rested on the top of the ladder from round 4. Queensland Representative, Allan Langer returned to the club in 2002 for one season before retiring. 2002 was the beginning of Brisbane's "post-Origin slump", which has haunted the club in the years since. Many players represent Queensland in the State of Origin series, with 7 Broncos players on average included in the Queensland Origin team; this extra workload has caused a loss of form for the club after the series, evidenced in 2003 when the lad
