# 2009 Brisbane Broncos season

The 2009 Brisbane Broncos season was the 22nd in the club's history and their first without foundation coach Wayne Bennett. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and by the 12th round were leading the competition, but then suffered one of their worst post-State of Origin form slumps ever and spent rounds 16 to 22 outside the top eight. The team managed to finish the regular season 6th (out of 16), qualifying for the finals for the 18th consecutive year. The Broncos then came within one match of the grand final but were knocked out for the 3rd season in a row by eventual premiers the Melbourne Storm (who months later were found to have been cheating the salary cap over the previous four seasons and had all honours achieved during the period nullified by the NRL).

## Results

The new post-Bennett Broncos era got off to a thrilling start when they defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 19–18 in round 1 at Suncorp Stadium in the first game under coach Ivan Henjak. Star signing Israel Folau scored his first try in Broncos colours and the first try of the season for the club in the 6th minute, followed by NRL debutantes Antonio Winterstein and Jharal Yow Yeh who also crossed. In round 2 the Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm for the first time since the 2006 NRL Grand Final. Israel Folau was up against his old club for the first time and scored a try in the 11th minute and second for the year for the Broncos.
For the second year in a row, The Broncos won the opening three rounds of the season when they defeated the New Zealand Warriors 26–10 at Mt Smart Stadium. In the following days Shane Webcke, who had been appointed assistant coach for Brisbane at the start of the season quit his post in the wake of controversy surrounding the release of his new book in which he was critical of some Broncos personnel. Later that week Wayne Bennett returned to Brisbane with the St. George Illawarra Dragons for round 4, coaching against his old club for the first time. Brisbane conceded their first loss of the season in what was also Darius Boyd's first match against his old club and the Dragons' 8th straight win against the Broncos.
The following week, the Broncos continued their 7-year winning streak in the Good Friday match against the Roosters, surviving a strong 2nd-half comeback by the Sydneysiders. In round 7, Darren Lockyer answered his critics as he helped the Broncos to a 40–8 win over the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium. Lockyer had a hand in most of the Broncos seven tries with Karmichael Hunt scoring three of the seven tries himself. Darren Lockyer's 300th game did not go as planned when they faced the Newcastle Knights in torrential rain at EnergyAustralia Stadium and lost, the match punctuated by a 35-minute half-time break. In round 10, Israel Folau equalled the club record for most tries in a match when he scored 4 tries against the Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium.
The following week, the Broncos survived a strong Wests Tigers side who were playing their 10th anniversary match, hanging on to win 20–18 at Campbelltown Stadium. In round 13, the Broncos suffered one of their worst defeats in the club's history when they lost 48–4 against the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park. The loss is also equalled second in the Broncos worst defeats. In round 21, the Broncos were handed their worst ever defeat by the Canberra Raiders 56–0 at Canberra Stadium.
The following week, the Broncos bounced back to keep their finals hopes alive with a 30–10 win over the Cronulla Sharks at Suncorp Stadium. In round 24, The Broncos won their first match against the St. George Illawarra Dragons since round 6, 2005, when they beat the Dragons 12–2 at WIN Stadium. In round 25, the Broncos secured their 18th straight finals appearance when they beat Queensland rivals North Queensland Cowboys 16–10 at Dairy Farmers Stadium. The Broncos were the first opponent for the Gold Coast Titans competing in their first ever finals series. The Broncos survived a late comeback from the Titans holding on to a 40–32 win at Skilled Stadium. The Broncos made it consecutive wins against the St. George Illawarra Dragons for the first time since 2004 and their first win against the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium since 2004 with a 24–10 win against the Dragons in the semi-final at Suncorp Stadium. Source: Their chances against Melbourne in the grand final qualifier suffered a major blow when in form halfback Peter Wallace broke his ankle toward the end of that win against the Dragons. The Broncos 2009 season came to an end in the Preliminary Final going down 40–10 to eventual premiers, the Melbourne Storm at Etihad Stadium.
| Round | Opponent | Result | Bris. | Opp. | Venue | Date | Crowd | Position |
| Trial | Gold Coast Titans | Win | 24 | 18 | Kougari Oval, Wynnum | 14 February | 3,500 | |
| Trial | Canberra Raiders | Win | 30 | 16 | Dolphin Oval, Redcliffe | 21 February | 10,500 | |
| Trial | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 6 | 20 | Quad Park, Kawana | 28 February | 8,178 | |
| 1 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 19 | 18 | Suncorp Stadium | 13 March | 45,022 | 8/16 |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm | Win | 16 | 14 | Suncorp Stadium | 20 March | 36,647 | 3/16 |
| 3 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 26 | 10 | Mt Smart Stadium | 28 March | 24,350 | 1/16 |
| 4 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Loss | 12 | 25 | Suncorp Stadium | 3 April | 42,435 | 4/16 |
| 5 | Sydney Roosters | Win | 28 | 24 | Sydney Football Stadium | 10 April | 18,464 | 3/16 |
| 6 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 38 | 18 | CUA Stadium | 17 April | 14,332 | 2/16 |
| 7 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 40 | 8 | Suncorp Stadium | 24 April | 30,887 | 1/16 |
| 8 | Newcastle Knights | Loss | 12 | 28 | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 2 May | 18,154 | 3/16 |
| 9 | Manly Sea Eagles | Loss | 20 | 22 | Suncorp Stadium | 10 May | 27,527 | 3/16 |
| 10 | Gold Coast Titans | Win | 32 | 18 | Suncorp Stadium | 15 May | 43,079 | 4/16 |
| 11 | Wests Tigers | Win | 20 | 18 | Campbelltown Stadium | 22 May | 9,675 | 3/16 |
| 12 | Bye | | | | | | | 2/16 |
| 13 | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 4 | 48 | Olympic Park | 5 June | 15,316 | 2/16 |
| 14 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 22 | 44 | Suncorp Stadium | 12 June | 26,353 | 5/16 |
| 15 | Cronulla Sharks | Loss | 12 | 46 | Toyota Park | 22 June | 8,117 | 7/16 |
| 16 | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 14 | 21 | Parramatta Stadium | 26–29 June | 10,030 | 9/16 |
| 17 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 28 | 14 | Suncorp Stadium | 3–6 July | 32,456 | 9/16 |
| 18 | Bye | | | | | 10–13 July | | /16 |
| 19 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Loss | 12 | 44 | Suncorp Stadium | 17 July | 50,109 | /16 |
| 20 | Gold Coast Titans | Loss | 18 | 34 | Skilled Park | 24 July | 26,336 | /16 |
| 21 | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 0 | 56 | Canberra Stadium | 1 August | 10,200 | /16 |
| 22 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 30 | 10 | Suncorp Stadium | 10 August | 20,114 | 10/16 |
| 23 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 58 | 24 | Suncorp Stadium | 16 August | 25,305 | 8/16 |
| 24 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 12 | 2 | WIN Stadium | 21 August | 17,044 | 7/16 |
| 25 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 16 | 10 | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 28 August | 24,332 | /16 |
| 26 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 22 | 10 | Suncorp Stadium | 6 September | 35,112 | 6/16 |
| QF | Gold Coast Titans | Win | 40 | 32 | Skilled Park | 12 September | 27,227 |
| SF | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 24 | 10 | Suncorp Stadium | 19 September | 50,225 |
| PF | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 10 | 40 | Etihad Stadium | 26 September | 27,687 |

### Scorers

| Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Points |
| Corey Parker | 5 | 75 | 0 | 170 |
| Israel Folau | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
| Antonio Winterstein | 14 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| Karmichael Hunt | 11 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
| Jharal Yow Yeh | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Steve Michaels | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Alex Glenn | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Peter Wallace | 2 | 6\8 | 1 | 21 |
| David Taylor | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Ben Te'o | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Darren Lockyer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Justin Hodges | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Sam Thaiday | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Lagi Setu | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Joel Clinton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Josh McGuire | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Ashton Sims | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Andrew McCullough | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Nick Kenny | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| TOTAL | 103 | 81 | 1 | 585 |

## Ladder

2009 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 548 | 329 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 575 | 428 | +147 | 38$^1$ |
| 3 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 514 | 467 | +47 | 36 |
| 4 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 505 | 348 | +157 | 33 |
| 5 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 549 | 459 | +90 | 32 |
| 6 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 511 | 566 | −55 | 32 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 508 | 491 | +17 | 30 |
| 8 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 476 | 473 | +3 | 29 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 558 | 483 | +75 | 28 |
| 10 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 566 | 549 | +17 | 27 |
| 11 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 515 | 589 | −74 | 27 |
| 12 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 558 | 474 | +84 | 26 |
| 13 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 489 | 520 | −31 | 22 |
| 14 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 377 | 565 | −188 | 20 |
| 15 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 359 | 568 | −209 | 14 |
| 16 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 382 | 681 | −299 | 14 |
$^1$ The Bulldogs were deducted 2 competition points after an interchange breach in Round 2.

## Squad

Bold Players have played International or State any year
Fullbacks
* Australian Karmichael Hunt
* Australian Dale Copley
* Australian Josh Hoffman
Wingers
* Australian Israel Folau
* Australian Tom Hewitt
* New Zealand Antonio Winterstein *Australian Jharal Yow Yeh
Centres
* Australian Justin Hodges
* Australian Steve Michaels
* New Zealand Alex Glenn
* New Zealand Gerard Beale
Halves
* Australian Darren Lockyer (c)
* Australian Peter Wallace
* Australian Ben Hunt
Front Rowers
* Australian Joel Clinton
* Australian Nick Kenny
* Australian Josh McGuire
* Australian David Taylor
* Australian Palmer Wapau
Hookers
* Australian Aaron Gorrell
* Australian PJ Marsh
* Australian Andrew McCullough
Back Rowers
* Australian Corey Parker
* New Zealand Lagi Setu
* Fijian Ashton Sims
* Australian Michael Spence
* New Zealand Ben Te'o
* Australian Sam Thaiday
* Australian Will Tupou

## Coaching staff

| Name | Coaching Role |
| Ivan Henjak | Head Coach |
| Allan Langer | Assistant Coach |
| Paul Green | Assistant Coach |
| Peter Ryan | Assistant Coach |
| Dean Benton | Performance Director |
| Andrew Croll | Athletic Performance Coach |
| Dan Baker | Strength Coach |
| Tim Gabbett | Sports Scientist |
Shane Webcke was an Assistant Coach up until 6 April 2009, when he resigned from his role due to the controversy surrounding his auto-biography "Hard Road". In addition, international cricketer and long-time Broncos fan Andrew Symonds was adopted by the club in an unpaid role assisting the coaching staff following his exile from cricket.

## Honours
### League

* Nil

### Club

* Player of the year: Corey Parker
* Rookie of the year: Andrew McCullough
* Back of the year: Justin Hodges
* Forward of the year: Sam Thaiday
* Club man of the year: Nick Kenny

## Player movements
### Gains

| Name | Club Coming From | Details |
| Israel Folau | Melbourne Storm | Until 2010 |
| Ben Te'o | Wests Tigers | Until 2009 |
| Lagi Setu | St George Illawarra Dragons | Until 2009 |
| Aaron Gorrell | Catalans Dragons | Until 2009 |
| Michael De Vere | Retirement | Until 2009 |

### Losses

| Name | Club Going To | Details |
| Denan Kemp | New Zealand Warriors | Until 2010 |
| Ben Hannant | Canterbury Bulldogs | Until 2011 |
| Michael Ennis | Canterbury Bulldogs | Until 2011 |
| Joel Moon | New Zealand Warriors | Until 2011 |
| Shane Perry | Catalans Dragons – ESL | Until 2009 |
| Darius Boyd | St George Illawarra Dragons | Until 2011 |
| Greg Eastwood | Canterbury Bulldogs | Until 2011 |
| Tonie Carroll | Retired | |
| Nick Emmett | St George Illawarra Dragons | Unknown |
| David Stagg | Canterbury Bulldogs | Until 2010 |
| Wayne Bennett (Coach) | St George Illawarra Dragons | Until 2011 |

### Re-signings & Signings

| Name | Contract details |
| Alex Glenn | Contract ends 2012 |
| Nick Kenny | Contract ends 2012 |
| Darren Lockyer | Contract ends 2011 |
| Sam Thaiday | Contract ends 2011 |
| Denan Kemp | Contract ends 2010 |
| Tim Natusch | Contract ends 2010 |
| Scott Anderson | Contract ends 2011 |

### Off contract at end of 2009

| Name | Contract details |
| Karmichael Hunt | Signed with the French Rugby Union |
| David Taylor | Signed with the South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Lagi Setu | Contract ends 2009 |
| Aaron Gorrell | Contract ends 2009 |

### Off contract at end of 2010

| Name | Contract details |
| Joel Clinton | Contract ends 2010 |
| Ashton Sims | Contract ends 2010 |
| Steve Michaels | Contract ends 2010 |
| PJ Marsh | Contract ends 2010 |
| Josh Hoffman | Contract ends 2010 |
| Josh McGuire | Contract ends 2010 |
| Andrew McCullough | Contract ends 2010 |
| Gerard Beale | Contract ends 2010 |
| Ben Te'o | Contract ends 2010 |
| Ivan Henjak (Coach) | Contract ends 2010 |

### Off contract at end of 2011

| Name | Contract details |
| Kurt Baptiste | Contract ends 2011 |
| Dale Copley | Contract ends 2011 |
| Dane Gagai | Contract ends 2011 |
| David Hala | Contract ends 2011 |
| Justin Hodges | Contract ends 2011 |
| Ben Hunt | Contract ends 2011 |
| Kurtis Lingwoodcock | Contract ends 2011 |
| Darren Lockyer | Contract ends 2011 |
| Dunamis Lui | Contract ends 2011 |
| Corey Parker | Contract ends 2011 |
| Sam Thaiday | Contract ends 2011 |

### Off contract at end of 2012

| Name | Contract details |
| Israel Folau | Contract ends 2012 |
| Alex Glenn | Contract ends 2012 |
| Nick Kenny | Contract ends 2012 |
| Peter Wallace | Contract ends 2012 |
| Jharal Yow Yeh | Contract ends 2012 |