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1993

gregstar

Referee
Messages
20,281
What a great year it was
ah yes, 1993.

we lost to a virtual state of origin roster.
we lost to a champion team which the arl admitted (10 seasons later) had been illegally maintained just as the raiders of the same era had been. They had been too gutless to act for fear of tainting a popular product on the eve of competition expansion.

the drongos certainly deserved to win the game. it's just that they did it with an illegally assembled & maintained team.

we had 2 origin reps at the time.
they maintained a roster containing origin 14 reps at that time.

it was a sh*tty end to a wonderful season on & off the field for the club.

i felt the turning point of the grand final was the loss of jason stevens in the first or second tackle of the game when he went in to cream lazzo & f*cked his finger. we were suddenly down a prop who had had a sensational first season. the guy had given lazzo an absolute bath in the last round win at ANZ in brissie. we couldn't cover his loss. we also fell into the trap of trying to match the razzle-dazzle flair of the drongos for the first 20 mins and made too many mistakes in doing so. you could tell as soon as they scored the first try, we were f*cked. you could see it in brian smith's reaction.
 

Old Kogarah Boy 1

First Grade
Messages
5,415
Was it 14:6?
Playing against what was pretty much QLD origin team we did ok

But I it was disappointing as we smashed other teams in the finals and I know I had my hopes up for the GF

Yeah, my father-in-law being a Eels supporter, decided to support the Broncos just to piss me off for both of the grand finals.

It was the only time l didn’t like him.

Those games against the Broncos will forever sit with me.

I sincerely hope we get the opportunity to beat them once in a gf...... preferably with Bennett at the helm.
 

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
ah yes, 1993.

we lost to a virtual state of origin roster.
we lost to a champion team which the arl admitted (10 seasons later) had been illegally maintained just as the raiders of the same era had been. They had been too gutless to act for fear of tainting a popular product on the eve of competition expansion.

the drongos certainly deserved to win the game. it's just that they did it with an illegally assembled & maintained team.

we had 2 origin reps at the time.
they maintained a roster containing origin 14 reps at that time.

it was a sh*tty end to a wonderful season on & off the field for the club.

i felt the turning point of the grand final was the loss of jason stevens in the first or second tackle of the game when he went in to cream lazzo & f*cked his finger. we were suddenly down a prop who had had a sensational first season. the guy had given lazzo an absolute bath in the last round win at ANZ in brissie. we couldn't cover his loss. we also fell into the trap of trying to match the razzle-dazzle flair of the drongos for the first 20 mins and made too many mistakes in doing so. you could tell as soon as they scored the first try, we were f*cked. you could see it in brian smith's reaction.

1993 grand final reminisces....

Speaking of "razzle dazzle", I think (from memory), Saints started proceedings with a short kick off.

And you're right, things didn't begin well when Stevens went off early with that horrific finger injury. In hindsight, it was a dumb move from coach Smith to replace him with a much smaller forward (Jeff Hardy) when Neil Tierney was sitting on the bench.

(Sidenote: I remember reading later that only one team mate, Phil Blake visited Stevens in hospital following his incident...he must've been popular!)

Of course Brisbane fielded an illegal team, not only that year, but in 1992 too. If you revisit its team from that period, I'm pretty certain the Broncos actually had 16 (out of 17) international and/or SOO players.
 

Life's Good

Coach
Messages
13,971
1993 grand final reminisces....

Speaking of "razzle dazzle", I think (from memory), Saints started proceedings with a short kick off.

And you're right, things didn't begin well when Stevens went off early with that horrific finger injury. In hindsight, it was a dumb move from coach Smith to replace him with a much smaller forward (Jeff Hardy) when Neil Tierney was sitting on the bench.

(Sidenote: I remember reading later that only one team mate, Phil Blake visited Stevens in hospital following his incident...he must've been popular!)

Of course Brisbane fielded an illegal team, not only that year, but in 1992 too. If you revisit its team from that period, I'm pretty certain the Broncos actually had 16 (out of 17) international and/or SOO players.
What about the lead up games!
Beating the Dogs at the SCG(Barnhill was mighty) & beating Brisbane in the last round at ANZ Stadium.
Mark Coyne destroying the Raiders in the first semi. Belting a hapless Dogs to qualify for the GF. Alas, then it all went quiet.
 

ouryears

Bench
Messages
3,195
What about the lead up games!
Beating the Dogs at the SCG(Barnhill was mighty) & beating Brisbane in the last round at ANZ Stadium.
Mark Coyne destroying the Raiders in the first semi. Belting a hapless Dogs to qualify for the GF. Alas, then it all went quiet.

Great semi final series.

Looking back at it now it is amazing we got so close to what was pretty much the
cane toad SOO team, though at the time I thought we had a shot on the big day.

14-6 was respectable but perhaps we did have the team to win it (?) with different tactics.
 
Messages
2,910
We were favourites in 1993 I believe.

I will never forget the Langer song at thier celebrations, shame he had to leave for England shortly after, but it was better than the alternative of a lengthy stint in the big house I suppose.
 

Life's Good

Coach
Messages
13,971
Great semi final series.

Looking back at it now it is amazing we got so close to what was pretty much the
cane toad SOO team, though at the time I thought we had a shot on the big day.

14-6 was respectable but perhaps we did have the team to win it (?) with different tactics.

We beat them only 3 weeks earlier at their home ground(they beat us at Kogarah mid year)so we were definitely a chance. Losing Stevens really did hurt any authority our pack would have been able to exert(Tallis was still coming alive). We couldn’t get in the groove & the Broncos got on top. It’s a surprise they didn’t win by more given their team but Mackay was everywhere in defence.
 

ouryears

Bench
Messages
3,195
Teams
Broncos player listed first,
then the Dragon's player straight after for each position.


Fullback
1. Julian O'Neill
1. Michael Potter
Wing 2. Michael Hancock
2. Ricky Walford
Centre 3. Chris Johns
3. Mark Coyne
Centre 4. Steve Renouf
4. Graeme Bradley
Wing 5. Willie Carne
5. Ian Herron
Five-Eighth 6. Kevin Walters
6. Tony Smith
Halfback 7. Allan Langer (c)
7. Noel Goldthorpe
Front Row 8. Glenn Lazarus
8. Tony Priddle
Hooker 9. Kerrod Walters
9. Wayne Collins
Front Row 10. Mark Hohn
10. Jason Stevens
Second Row 11. Trevor Gillmeister 11. David Barnhill
Second Row 12. Alan Cann
12. Scott Gourley
Lock 13. Terry Matterson
13. Brad Mackay

Bench 14. Andrew Gee
14. Jeff Hardy
Bench 15. John Plath
15. Phil Blake
Bench 16. Peter Ryan
16. Gorden Tallis
Bench 17. Nathan Brown

Coach Wayne Bennett
Brian Smith
 

ALSGI

Bench
Messages
3,101
Teams
Broncos player listed first,
then the Dragon's player straight after for each position.


Fullback
1. Julian O'Neill
1. Michael Potter
Wing 2. Michael Hancock
2. Ricky Walford
Centre 3. Chris Johns
3. Mark Coyne
Centre 4. Steve Renouf
4. Graeme Bradley
Wing 5. Willie Carne
5. Ian Herron
Five-Eighth 6. Kevin Walters
6. Tony Smith
Halfback 7. Allan Langer (c)
7. Noel Goldthorpe
Front Row 8. Glenn Lazarus
8. Tony Priddle
Hooker 9. Kerrod Walters
9. Wayne Collins
Front Row 10. Mark Hohn
10. Jason Stevens
Second Row 11. Trevor Gillmeister 11. David Barnhill
Second Row 12. Alan Cann
12. Scott Gourley
Lock 13. Terry Matterson
13. Brad Mackay

Bench 14. Andrew Gee
14. Jeff Hardy
Bench 15. John Plath
15. Phil Blake
Bench 16. Peter Ryan
16. Gorden Tallis
Bench 17. Nathan Brown

Coach Wayne Bennett
Brian Smith
Let’s not forget that apart from losing Stevens, playing with Tony Smith in the halves was like playing with McCrone.
 

gregstar

Referee
Messages
20,281
Yeah it sure was, if we had someone like Widdop we might have won.
It was a pity andrew walker hadn't found his feet in league at that stage. had he had some more seasons under his belt after transferring from yawnion, he could have been an asset to the team.

the biggest differences in '93 from '92
we had finals / big match experience from the previous year. beattie was the only dragons player in '92 who had played in any finals series / grand final. only barnhill & collins had experienced finals in other teams.
brad mackay had an injury free season.
mark coyne realised his big match potential
gordon tallis was developing & giving great backrow depth.
graeme bradley proved a good replacement for mick beattie.

but the biggest in my view - phil blake. off the bench, he was electric & we had a real strike weapon.
 

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