Brisbane Broncos 46–18 Sydney Roosters — Preliminary Final, 1998 NRL Finals Series
19 Sep 1998 · Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD · Attendance: 28,374
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 1998 NRL finals series: Brisbane Broncos 46–18 Sydney Roosters, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD on 19 Sep 1998.
Sourcing caveat: Both teams' try/goal counts fully reconcile with the final score. Sydney Roosters were officially branded "Sydney City Roosters" in 1998, recorded here under this project's canonical "Sydney Roosters" string. Brisbane's home venue is recorded under its modern name (Suncorp Stadium) rather than the period-correct "ANZ Stadium".
Scorers
| Brisbane Broncos | Tries: Lockyer; Lockyer; Lockyer; De Vere; De Vere; D. Smith; D. Smith; Sailor; Thorn Goals: Lockyer (4/8 conversions); De Vere (1/1 conversions) |
| Sydney Roosters | Tries: Elsegood; Fittler; Sing Goals: Cleary (2/2 conversions); Walker (1/1 conversions) Sin bin: Darren Junee — sin-binned for 10 minutes (reason not stated in source) |
Team sheets
| Brisbane Broncos | Sydney Roosters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Lockyer | Fullback | Darren Junee | 1 |
| 2 | Michael De Vere | Wing | Jack Elsegood | 2 |
| 3 | Steve Renouf | Centre | Matt Sing | 3 |
| 4 | Darren Smith | Centre | Ivan Cleary | 4 |
| 5 | Wendell Sailor | Wing | Richie Barnett | 5 |
| 6 | Kevin Walters | Five-Eighth | Brad Fittler (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Allan Langer (c) | Halfback | Adrian Lam | 7 |
| 8 | Shane Webcke | Prop | Scott Logan | 8 |
| 9 | Phillip Lee | Hooker | Simon Bonetti | 9 |
| 10 | Andrew Gee | Prop | Peter Cusack | 10 |
| 11 | Gorden Tallis | Second Row | Luke Ricketson | 11 |
| 12 | Brad Thorn | Second Row | Scott Gourley | 12 |
| 13 | Peter Ryan | Lock | Nigel Gaffey | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Kevin Campion | Nathan Wood | 14 | |
| 15 | Petero Civoniceva | Shane Rigon | 15 | |
| 16 | John Plath | Bryan Fletcher | 16 | |
| 17 | Ben Walker | Andrew Walker | 17 | |
| Wayne Bennett | Coach | Phil Gould | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Steve Clark |
Match report
A rampant Brisbane, inspired by a Darren Lockyer hat-trick, thrashed Sydney City Roosters on home soil to book a Grand Final berth, extending Brad Fittler's finals frustration.