The best NRL team of the past 20 years: part five
Roar Guru By Curtis Woodward, 26 Sep 2012 Curtis Woodward is a Roar Guru & Live Blogger
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Well this is it. The showdown between the 1993 Brisbane Broncos and the 2008 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to determine the greatest side of the last twenty years.
The ’93 Broncos pipped the 1994 Canberra Raiders for the 1990s throne while the Eagles edged the 2002 Sydney Roosters as the best from the new millennium.
Will the speed and skill of the Broncos be enough to defeat the grit and power of the Eagles?
ANZ Stadium
Referees: Bill Harrigan and Greg McCallum
Video Referee: God (He couldn’t stuff it up could he?)
Brisbane Broncos
1 Julian O’Neill, 2 Michael Hancock, 3 Steve Renouf, 4 Chris Johns, 5 Willie Carne, 6 Kevin Walters, 7 Alan Langer (c), 8 Glen Lazarus, 9 Kerrod Walters, 10 Mark Hohn, 11 Trevor Gillmeister, 12 Alan Cann, 13 Terry Matterson.
Bench: 14 Andrew Gee, 15 John Plath, 16 Peter Ryan, 17 Gavin Allen.
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
1 Brett Stewart, 2 Michael Robertson, 3 Steven Bell, 4 Steve Matai, 5 David Williams, 6 Jamie Lyon, 7 Matt Orford (c), 8 Brent Kite, 9 Matt Ballin, 10 Josh Perry, 11 Anthony Watmough, 12 Glen Hall, 13 Glenn Stewart.
Bench: 14 Heath L’estrange, 15 Mark Bryant, 16 Jason King, 17 Steve Menzies.
It was a dubious start for the Sea Eagles with Anthony Watmough giving away a penalty for a high shot on Trevor Gillmeister in the opening set of the game.
After an impressive touch finder from Julian O’Neill, the Broncos were hunting for first points within the first two minutes.
But the Eagles held firm and after a sweeping play which started with Alan Langer, O’Neill grubbered for the in-goal and the Broncos had Brett Stewart in-goal.
It was a near thing moments later when a Glen Lazarus offload close to the line seemed to harmlessly fall on the ground and allow Jamie Lyon to dive on the ball. But replays revealed a hand from Watmough had knocked the ball free and Lyon was deemed offside.
4th Minute: O’Neill penalty goal (Broncos 2-0)
After a shaky start from Manly, the 2008 premiers eventually settled and started to win the arm wrestle through the middle. With Watmough and Glenn Stewart causing problems for Brisbane on the edges, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett turned to his bench and replaced Alan Cann with Peter Ryan.
But the change wouldn’t stop the Eagles as Brett Stewart sliced through after a nice interchange of passing between brother Glenn and Matt Orford.
Orford’s short ball saw the flying fullback race down field and only a despairing dive from Steve Renouf stopped the Eagles scoring their first points.
A Orford kick back across field was easily marked by Michael Hancock in-goal. But a late hit on Orford from Mark Hohn handed Manly their first chance at points.
17th Minute: Lyon penalty goal (2-All)
A bone-jarring hit from Lazarus on Josh Perry forced the ball free on the following set and the Broncos were pressing once more.
A short side raid from Kerrod Walters gave Brisbane an overlap and only had to draw Lyon to send Willie Carne away for the points. But Lyon somehow tapped the pass into the air and regathered before scooting away. O’Neill came across in cover but it was all in vain as Lyon streaked away untouched to score.
20th Minute: Lyon try and goal (Eagles 8-2)
After a string of penalties the Broncos returned to the right end of the park.
Langer would put his stamp on the game with a masterful display of short kicking that would eventually see Carne cross out wide.
On the fifth tackle and twenty metres from the Manly tryline, Langer grubbered for himself. Instead of attempting a regather at Brett Stewart’s feet, Langer kicked again for a flying Carne who dived on the ball to score.
34th Minute: Carne try, O’Neill goal (8-All)
Steve Menzies was finally sent into the game by coach Hasler and it almost paid immediate dividends as Orford put up a midfield bomb.
O’Neill spilt the ball cold and a chasing Menzies toed ahead. Carne won the race to the ball by only inches as the video referee determined Carne had grounded the ball ahead of the chasing Menzies.
Half-Time: Broncos 8 – Eagles 8
Brisbane came out of the box flying in the second half with Lazarus leading his pack from the front.
A Lazarus charge would be followed by a Kerrod Walters scamper with the hooker catching Watmough and Perry out at marker. Brett Stewart would make the tackle on Walters after the clean bust but the damage was already done as Langer shifted the ball out quickly handing Renouf a free passage to the line.
49th Minute: Renouf try, O’Neill no goal (Broncos 12-8)
Langer was at it again not long after with a sizzling run through the middle of the Manly ruck before linking with Terry Matterson. The Eagles were hanging on for dear life as the Broncos pelted the Manly tryline.
After three repeat sets of six, Manly finally cracked as Kerrod Walters stepped out of dummy half and turned Cann back inside who slammed the ball down on the chalk.
56th Minute: Cann try, O’Neill goal (Broncos 18-8)
Manly would hit back immediately like the champion side they are. With the game slipping away, the Eagles fired up and forced the ball from Andrew Gee’s grip after a crunching hit from Menzies and Watmough.
On the second tackle and close to the line, Glenn Stewart done the unthinkable and kicked for the posts. It seemed the only other player on the field that knew about it was his brother who grounded the ball ahead of O’Neill and Matterson.
59th Minute: Brett Stewart try, Lyon goal (Broncos 18-14)
But an innocuous Hancock scoot would hurt Manly once more. With Manly pushing up hard on the open side, the representative winger hit the blindside before beating Glen Hall with a brilliant right foot step. The big winger was away for the prize and only had Brett Stewart to beat.
Fortunately for Brisbane, Renouf was looming on the inside and took the pass from Hancock to score his second under the posts.
68th Minute: Renouf try, O’Neill goal (Broncos 24-14)
Lazarus would cap a monstrous performance with a late surge that left Matt Ballin and David Williams in his wake. The following play would see Langer kick for the corner and Chris Johns tap the ball back to the waiting Terry Matterson.
75th Minute: Matterson try, O’Neill goal (Broncos 30-14)
Full Time
Broncos 30: Renouf 2, Carne, Cann, Matterson Tries. O’Neill 5 Goals.
Eagles 14: Lyon, B.Stewart Tries. Lyon 3 Goals.
Greatest NRL team of the last 20 years: 1993 Brisbane Broncos. Agree or disagree?
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The Crowd Says (6) | Page 1 of Comments
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September 26th 2012 @ 7:21am
Andy said | September 26th 2012 @ 7:21am | Report comment
“(Broncos 30-14)” So you think that Brisbane would have put more points on Manly than all 3 of their finals opponents in 08, which was 12 points. Add to this Brisbane only managed 14 points against the Dragons in the Grandfinal in 93.
September 26th 2012 @ 9:30am
muz said | September 26th 2012 @ 9:30am | Report comment
Then what happened in your mythical fantasy world? Did Papua New Guinea win the world cup and with the video ref making a correct decison on the full time hooter, to disappoint the 2nd place French?
September 26th 2012 @ 10:44am
Jo said | September 26th 2012 @ 10:44am | Report comment
Definitely the Broncos have been the most successful club in the passed 20 years. 93′, 94′, 97′, 98′, 2000, 2006. And one coming up shortly
September 26th 2012 @ 12:28pm
The High Shot said | September 26th 2012 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Easily, good stuff Curtis.
September 28th 2012 @ 12:37pm
The Barry said | September 28th 2012 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
Interesting exercise Curtis.
Don’t think the 92 Broncs would have put that many points on the 2008 Manly side.
I am biased but think you have grosslyunderestimated the 1995 Bulldogs side.
You rate the 1993 Broncos, the 1994 Raiders and 1996 Eagles as the best three teams of the 90s.
In 95 the Dogs team, after a season of massive turmoil (the Dogs were arguably more effected by the Super League war than any other) finished in 6th spot.
In the first week of the semis they faced the 92/93 Grand Finalists St George and disposed of them 12-8.
They then faced the mighty Broncos and caned them 24-10. Dean Pay took out Glenn Lazarus early in the game with one of the most brutal hits I’ve ever seen.
Next was the Raiders, the previous seasons premiers, who were beaten 25-6 giving the Dogs a berth in the GF.
History shows the Dogs won 17-4, three tries to nil.
I can’t imagine a more difficult run to the GF against the mighty Brisbane, Canberra and Manly sides of that era.
The Dogs effectively beat your top three teams from the 90s in the space of three weeks to win the title, outscoring them 66-20.
While history may not afford many of that side the same place in history as many of their opponents we are talking about the best TEAM. It wasn’t a fluke or just a good run because the Dogs were the 1994 minor premiers.
The team contained great players like Terry Lamb, Dean Pay, Steve Price, Jim Dymock and Jason Smith.
Lesser known players like Simon Gillies, Rod Silva, Matt Ryan, Darryl Halligan, Jason Hetherington, Darren Britt, Craig Polla-Mounter, Jason Williams and John Timu might not be household names but were very, very good players at that point in time.
Gillies and Ryan in particular were fantastic that year although they faded pretty quickly.
Just saying.
May 10th 2013 @ 10:05pm
Julien Peter Benney said | May 10th 2013 @ 10:05pm | Report comment
The Barry,
if the middle 1990s Bulldogs had had a real specialist fullback of some class, who knows what record they could have achieved?
The way Ricky Stuart’s bombs demoralised two players who should never have been played away from five-eighth (Scott Wilson) or centre (Matthew Ryan) reflects very poorly on a team that won eighteen of 22 games. Canterbury as it was were lucky not to have lost by more than 36-12, for they scored one intercept try and one dubious one, whilst the Raiders could quite easily have scored several more tries in addition to the seven they actually scored. Moreover, the Raiders won easily with players of the calibre of Brett Mullins and Steve Walters doing very little.
Even in the 1995 preliminary final, when Ricky Stuart had little opportunity to use the bomb, Rod Silva – closer at least to a specialist fullback than the players the Bulldogs had been using beforehand – looked very ordinary at countering Stuart. Looking back further at the grand finals I have on DVD, it is easy for me to say that if the mid-1990s Bulldogs had had a fullback anywhere near the calibre of Graham Eadie in his prime (and Eadie’s display in the 1978 replay is the best performance I’ve seen in league, period) they would have been able to equal Easts two unbeaten seasons in 1936 and 1937.