[1] The club was founded in April 1987 as part of the Winfield Cup's national expansion, becoming, along with the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants, one of Queensland's first two participants in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.

However, the biggest news was the decision of Bennett to remove Lewis as club captain on the basis that he wasn't a good trainer or teammate, with Miles resuming the captaincy of the side.

Unfortunately, Brisbane endured their worst season to date in 1991, spending just 2 weeks total inside the Top 5 and hovering around 10th for much of the year before a 5-game winning streak saw them finish 7th, just a solitary draw outside a playoff for 5th place.

They ended Manly's season with a dominant 36–10 win, then took on a Canberra side whose form had plummeted following a broken leg to superstar halfback Ricky Stuart, and Brisbane cast them aside 30–12.

Brisbane's decision to side with the Super League saw a host of players join them from the ARL- most notably St George pair Anthony Mundine and Gorden Tallis, which offset the departure of longtime hooker Kerrod Walters to the Adelaide Rams.

Brisbane also competed in the World Club Challenge, going undefeated in their group (including a 76–0 demolition of Halifax Blue Sox), before beating St Helens 66–12, the Auckland Warriors 22–16 and the Hunter Mariners 36–12 to win the only edition of the costly tournament.

Brisbane entered the 1998 NRL season as one of the favourites to win the unified competition- despite the return of Mundine to the Dragons and the departure of Lazarus to become the inaugural captain of the newly formed Melbourne Storm.

They responded in typical Brisbane style- routing Melbourne and Sydney City (formerly Eastern Suburbs) 30–6 and 46–18 respectively to qualify for the big dance, where they ended Canterbury's dream finals run with a 38–12 victory.

After joining the Warrington Wolves and making a stunning comeback to the Queensland squad, Langer returned to the club for one last season in 2002 to help ease their halves problem.

Meanwhile, Prince had struggled to find game time after 2001 and left for the Tigers, where he would win the 2005 Clive Churchill medal and captain the side to premiership glory in one of the biggest "Ones that Got Away" for the Broncos.

Brisbane volunteered to move the match from Stadium Australia to Willows Sports Complex, and the Cowboys responded by using their raucous home support to stun their "Big Brothers" 10–0.

Once again, Brisbane started a premiership defence poorly, losing 7 of their first 10 to sit 15th, but their stay at the bottom of the table was abruptly ended when they produced a club record 71–6 victory over a battered Knights side.

But the video referee deemed Hannant was held up, and a few minutes later an Ashton Sims knock on saw Greg Inglis score for the Storm to seal a late 16–14 victory, breaking Brisbane hearts and ending their season.

In their place was boom teenager Israel Folau, young back rower Ben Te'o and a host of club-developed talent, including Gerard Beale, Alex Glenn, Josh McGuire, Andrew McCullough and Jharal Yow Yeh.

Brisbane sat Top 4 until the Origin period, when they collapsed, conceding 40+ points in 3 straight games, an extra 44–12 loss to South Sydney and a then-club record 56–0 thrashing at the hands of the Raiders, leaving them dangling in 10th position.

Brisbane took one up on their former mentor with a dominant 24–10 victory, however Wallace fractured his ankle in the win, leaving them without a recognised halfback ahead of their preliminary final matchup with the Storm, one of the bigger reasons they fell 40–10.

Inglis had agreed in principle to join the Broncos for 2011 onward, but then decided to cancel a flight to Brisbane to sign the contract under the alibi that "It's raining and I don't think the planes are flying".

St George Illawarra tied the game, necessitating Golden Point, where an injured Lockyer slotted home a field goal to seal a 13–12 win and keep Brisbane in the finals.

Their campaign started rocky, a 36–6 thrashing at the hands of South Sydney, but they soon found their feet and won 8 straight matches during the Origin period – a drastic change from the previous years – ultimately finishing the season in 2nd place.

In what is considered by some commentators to be one of the best Grand Finals in recent history, the Broncos led 16–12 for much of the second half before Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt scored in the corner on the last play of regulation to tie the match.

Thurston kicked a field goal 2 minutes into the Golden Point period to win the match for the Cowboys 17–16, ending the season in jubilation for Townsville and heartbreak for Brisbane.

Parker retired after the match, but Brisbane brought in embattled ex-New Zealand halfback Benji Marshall on a lifeline deal, as well as established prop Korbin Sims from Newcastle and experienced winger David Mead from the Gold Coast.

Josh McGuire left for North Queensland and Korbin Sims for St. George Illawarra, then halfway through the season, James Roberts, Jaydn Su'A and Kodi Nikorima also departed the club for the Rabbitohs and Warriors.

The Broncos handed debuts to Patrick Carrigan, Xavier Coates, Tom Dearden, Herbie Farnworth and Keenan Palasia, while also signing Rhys Kennedy and James Segeyaro mid-season.

A four match losing streak early in the season set the tone for the club, as they sat 14th after Round 16, only to go on a run of 6 wins and a draw from their last 10 games to ensure they finished in 8th place.

Ben Te'o and Karmichael Hunt quietly retired from rugby league, while Danny Levi, Anthony Milford, John Asiata, Brodie Croft, Xavier Coates and Richard Kennar departed for other clubs.

However, following ongoing conflict with the Queensland Rugby League and Lang Park Trust due to a sponsorship conflict with the QRL having a commercial agreement with Castlemaine XXXX brewery with prominent signs around the ground, while the Broncos were sponsored by rival brewery Powers who were not permitted any permanent signs (the Broncos initially got around this by not using the change rooms at half time during games, instead sitting on the ground with a temporary protective banner surrounding them which just happened to have prominent Powers logos), the team relocated to the 60,000 capacity QEII Stadium in 1993 (QEII had been the main stadium of the 1982 Commonwealth Games).

In 2012, local Brisbane based company Firstmac replaced WOW Sight & Sound as sleeve sponsor for three years to launch into the retail financial services market.

Updated: 9 May 2007Source(s): Broncos Name Legends Team[dead link‍] [75] In their thirty-nine completed seasons, the club has made a total of eight Grand Finals, winning six and losing two; once to the North Queensland Cowboys in 2015, and once to the Penrith Panthers in 2023.

Darren Lockyer was named Fullback in Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century in 1998–2007 and he won 4 grand finals with the Brisbane Broncos (including a Clive Churchill Medal) and a World Cup title with Australia.