Pool building, working in the mines and teaching: Where the Broncos’ 1998 team is now

There’s no question that across the 1990s, no team was as dominant as the Brisbane Broncos.

In that ten-year span, Brisbane won titles in five of those, including the 1997 Super League.

For good measure, Brisbane won it all at the turn of the century as well, beating the Roosters in the 2000 grand final.

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The 1998 premiership however held special significance as former Broncos superstar Steve Renouf explained to foxsports.com.au.

“It was the inaugural NRL competition and that was massive,” Renouf said.

“That was the first year of the premiership rings as well.”

When the ARL and Super League finally made peace, the two leagues merged, creating the NRL.

The Broncos went and conquered the Super League in its sole year of existence. When the NRL was born, they picked up where they left off.

After finishing as the minor premiers, Brisbane defeated the Bulldogs in the 1998 decider, fielding one of the all-time great grand final teams.

“We had a really good team. It was made up of the younger guys and the older guys,” Renouf recalled.

“It was a pretty special group of young men playing footy.

“We were tight. A lot of the young guys debuted in 1995 like Webcke and Lockyer. To have all these young guys coming through were special. They just loved being a part of it.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing in the finals though.

There was an early hiccup when the Broncos lost to Parramatta in a qualifying final.

They bounced back though, progressing to the decider after wins over the Storm and Roosters.

Favoured to beat the Bulldogs, there was a scare. Brisbane trailed 12-10 at the break.

Renouf recalled what happened next.

“We got a revving,” he said.

“We hadn’t really hit our straps. I was quiet, Alf was quiet (in the first half). We thought as the senior guys in our group we had to step up and lead the way.

“You see some of the tries that were scored, a couple of young guys went over.”

The Broncos scored 28 unanswered points in the second forty to run away with it in a 38-12 win.

So how did they celebrate?

“We could do it back then but we just carried the trophy around Brisbane and went on pub crawls around the city. We were very lucky back then to be able to do that.”

Foxsports.com.aui where the entire ‘98 Broncos team are now!

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1 DARREN LOCKYER

One of the all-time greats, Darren Lockyer went on to play another 13 seasons with the Broncos — and enjoyed a hugely successful switch to five-eighth in 2004.

Lockyer retired at the end of 2011 with 355 first-grade games to his name, as well as 36 Origin games for Queensland and 59 appearances for the Kangaroos.

He moved into the mining industry and today is a shareholder of MWG Mining, the Executive Director of Aura Mining and is the Head of Business Affairs at Mayur Resources.

Lockyer has been a Broncos board member since 2013 and recently bought 90 per cent of English second division team, London Broncos.

On top of that he still manages to find time to be an expert analyst on Channel 9.

14 MICHAEL DE VERE

Promoted to the starting side due to Michael Hancock’s finger injury and ended up scoring the first try in the third minute of the game.

De Vere left the Broncos in 2004 to join Super League team Huddersfield Giants. He retired at the end of 2006 — however made a shock comeback with the Broncos in 2009. It was short-lived though and he retired again in April after one game.

De Vere is a Game Development Officer with the Broncos and Carina Leagues Club — a role he’s held since 2006 — and is also a Director of a coaching and consultant business called Scoble & De Vere.

3 STEVE RENOUF

‘The Pearl’ played one more season with the Broncos before finishing his career in the Super League.

After two years at Wigan, Renouf retired at 31.

He played 183 games for Brisbane, scoring 142 tries.

In 2024, Renouf was inducted into the National Rugby League Hall of Fame.

“I’m doing a bit of work for Hitachi Rail and I’ve been busy being involved with Indigenous health helping a mate in the Darling Downs with that work. That’s been keeping me busy now for 15 years,” Renouf told foxsports.com.au.

“A lot of community work is involved so that’s been great. I love mixing it with the community and a lot of our elders. It’s a really good space for me.

“Life’s good.”

4 DARREN SMITH

Smith finished 1998 with a premiership and Dally M Centre of the Year honours before departing the club to return to the Bulldogs, where he started his first-grade career eight years prior.

After four seasons with the Dogs, Smith joined St Helens in the Super League for one year and then returned to Red Hill to play 18 games for the Broncos over the 2004-05 seasons.

He’s spent the last 15 years as a high school teacher at Clairvaux MacKillop College at Upper Mt Gravatt, focusing on vocational education and career pathways.

5 WENDELL SAILOR

The dual international departed the Broncos in 2001 to make the switch to rugby union and went on to make his debut for the Wallabies in 2002.

Sailor returned to the NRL via the Dragons in 2008 and retired the following season.

He had a busy media career that saw him work with Channel 9, 7 and 10, while he also featured on reality TV shows Dancing with the Stars and the Masked Singer.

He enjoyed a long career in radio too, but finished up with Triple M in July to focus more time with his family and pursuing grassroots as well as corporate opportunities.

Sailor will fight common assault allegations in court in February 2026 after an incident at a bar in Sydney last November.

6 KEVIN WALTERS

Walters is a club great, who played in 242 games for the Broncos, winning five premierships.

Two years after the 1998 success, he started at halfback and captained the Broncos in the club’s 2000 grand final win over the Roosters before deciding to join good friend Allan Langer at the Warrington Wolves in the Super League.

Walters and his family were homesick in the UK so after just four games, Walters returned to Australia before ending his career with a five-game stint for the Broncos in 2001.

Walters turned to coaching, working as an assistant for the Broncos and Maroons before heading to the Super League again, this time as the Catalans Dragons head coach.

Despite no NRL head coaching experience, Walters was appointed Maroons coach in 20216 where he compiled a 2-2 series record before resigning after four years to take up the Broncos’ top job.

He turned the fortunes of the club around. When Walters took over after the 2020 season, Brisbane had just collected the wooden spoon. Three years later, the Broncos were in a grand final. He was sacked at the end of the 2024 season and replaced by Michael Maguire.

Walters can now be seen and heard on Fox League screens as an expert analysis and commentator. He also co-hosts the Inside Ball Podcast with journalist Ben Dobbin.

7 ALLAN LANGER

Considered the Broncos’ favourite son and arguably the club’s best-ever player.

The season after leading Brisbane to their fourth premiership in 1998, the diminutive halfback surprised many when he announced his retirement midway through the 1999 campaign.

Langer would come out of retirement to play for Warrington for a couple of seasons before returning to the Broncos in 2002.

After two decades in the Broncos’ football staff, working as a trainer and assistant coach, he moved into an ambassador role with Broncos following Kevin Walters’ sacking.

“I’ve been with the Broncos since the start, and I want to be there until the end... It’s the perfect role for me,” Langer said about his Broncos Ambassador role.

8 SHANE WEBCKE

Considered among the greatest props to ever play the game, Webcke was a one-club man, playing in 254 games for Brisbane between 1995 and 2006 and winning four premierships.

Announcing his retirement at the start of the 2006 season, he went out in a blaze of glory, with Brisbane defeating the Storm in that year’s decider.

Webcke held a role for 18 years at Channel 7 as a Sports Presenter, but finished up in January.

However, Webcke can sometimes be heard on SEN radio offering NRL analysis.

9 PHILLIP LEE

The versatile Lee was just 21 when he started at hooker for the Broncos in the 1998 grand final, scoring a 68th minute try to increase Brisbane’s lead to 20 points.

He didn’t feature in the Broncos’ grand final winning side two years later, but played at lock for Brisbane in their World Club Challenge loss to St Helens.

Lee retired in 2003 after 104 career games (85 for Brisbane).

Post-footy, he went on to take over the family construction business and is still based in Brisbane.

10 ANDREW GEE

Gee enjoyed a 13-year career at the Broncos as a player. Like several teammates, he left at the end of the 1999 season to join the Super League but returned for a two-year swansong at Brisbane in 2002-2003.

He finally retired after 255 games in a Broncos jersey and 18 appearances for Queensland.

Gee held various roles in the football department at Broncos, including General Manager of Football Operations.

Gee then owned a construction company with his brother. He now works for a car company.

11 GORDEN TALLIS

‘The Raging Bull’ was the 1998 Clive Churchill Medal winner after a dominant performance against the Dogs, which included a second half try.

The then 25-year-old earned selection for the Kangaroos weeks later, making his Australian debut against New Zealand.

Tallis would win one more premiership in 2000. He played his final game in a semi-final loss to the Cowboys in 2004, hanging up the boots after 214 games for the Dragons and Broncos.

He features regularly on Fox League as the co-host of NRL 360 and commentates games on radio station Triple M.

12 BRAD THORN

Hard-nosed back rower who boasts one of the more glittering resumes in sport, representing Australia in rugby league and New Zealand (59 caps) in rugby union.

As a player, Thorn won three premierships with the Broncos before a switch to union, where he spent four seasons at the Crusaders before returning to the NRL.

He played for a further three years at the Broncos before again switching to union, winning a Super 14 title with the Crusaders (2008).

Thorn also coached the Queensland Reds Super Rugby team from 2018 to 2023, winning a title in 2021.

After his Reds’ head coach tenure ended, Thorn remained in coaching.

He was recently appointed new forwards coach and strength and conditioning coach for Malta rugby union team.

13 TONIE CARROLL

Tough as nails forward who forged a 14-year playing career (227 for Broncos, 50 for Leeds Rhinos).

Carroll scored two minutes into second half of the ‘98 decider to give the Broncos a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

He was one of Broncos’ best that season with his versatility key. He played on wing and in centres that season.

Left the Broncos after their 2000 premiership success to head to the Super League for Leeds but returned a couple of years later, playing seven more seasons for Brisbane.

He is working in the mines in Blackwater, managing a team of about 40-50 people.

The 49-year-old can often be found at Broncos games which he attends with his family.

2 MICHAEL HANCOCK

Started on the bench in the 1998 decider because of a finger injury.

Played in the Brisbane Broncos’ first five Grand Final victories in 1992, 1994, 1997 (SL), 1998 and 2000

At the time of his retirement from football in Australia in 2000 he held the Broncos’ club records for most career tries and most capped player.

Hancock spent time in England, then upon returning to Australia, took up a role with Broncos as a game development officer.

He has also worked on many Indigenous Mentoring Programs throughout Queensland.

15 JOHN PLATH

The versatile Plath played ten years for the Broncos before retiring in 1999. He appeared in 149 games, scoring 20 tries and won four premierships.

Plath has been the Managing Director for Eco Pool Solutions for last 18 years after starting as a pool builder.

His son Max plays for Dolphins.

16 KEVIN CAMPION

Soon after being injected into the game, Campion scored the Broncos’ second try to give his side a 10-8 lead.

Campion won two premierships with the Broncos (1998, 2000) before finishing his career with two seasons each at the Warriors and Cowboys.

Played 241 games for six teams in total. Before arriving in Brisbane, Campion spent time at the Gold Coast Seagulls, St. George Dragons and the Adelaide Rams.

After retiring, Campion got his business diploma and spent time in property development and real estate before launching a business in 2014 called Identified Solutions – which offers commercial cleaning, waterproofing and labour hire.

The impressive 54-year-old is also a strong supporter of the Australian Anti-Ice campaign and is a holder of a mental health first aide certificate.

He also collaborates with the Royal Flying Doctor Service to reach remote communities and provide support to individuals battling mental health issues.

17 PETERO CIVONICEVA

Civoniceva won a premiership in his rookie year, with the then 22-year-old coming off the bench in the decider.

He’d go onto forge a tremendous career, becoming one of the rare props to notch up over 300 career NRL games (235 for Brisbane, 74 for Penrith).

Since retiring he has become a Broncos ambassador, the Chairman of the Kaiviti Silktails, a Fijian team who competed in the Ron Massey Cup between 2020 and 2023.

He also co-founded the Petero Civoniceva Foundation in 2014 and has a business called Petero’s Sports Tours, which specialises in creating tailored tours that combine athletic adventures with Fijian culture.

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