Brisbane Broncos 2019 Season Draw

Author: Tanisha Stanton NRL.com Reporter
Timestamp: Fri 26 Oct 2018, 08:22 AM

Here is all you need to know about the Brisbane Broncos' 2019 Telstra Premiership draw.

Teams they play twice: Storm, Cowboys, Roosters, Sharks, Rabbitohs, Warriors, Titans, Eels, Bulldogs.

Teams they play once: Dragons, Wests Tigers, Raiders, Sea Eagles, Knights, Panthers.

Day-by-day breakdown: Thursday - seven, Friday - seven, Saturday - seven, Sunday - three.

Five-day turnarounds: 2 (Rd 8, Rd 18)

Kick-off: The Broncos take on three teams that made the 2018 finals in their opening four matches, including both grand final teams - a tough road trip to Melbourne to kick off the Telstra Premiership and an SCG blockbuster in the fourth round against the premiers, the Sydney Roosters.

Five key matches

Dragons (Round 3, Suncorp Stadium): The Red V annihilated the Broncos on the two occasions that they went head-to-head in 2018, at opposite ends of the season. In the opening round, they stunned Brisbane 34-12 and they ended the Broncos' campaign with a 48-18 win in the first week of the finals. Brisbane will be seeking revenge when they take on a St George Illawarra side that features former Bronco Korbin Sims playing alongside his brother Tariq.

Cowboys (Round 2, Suncorp Stadium): The Queensland derby clash between these two sides is always epic, no matter the form line of each team heading into the contest. The Broncos came out on top in their first game in 2018 with a close 24-20 win, while the Cowboys stole the second in yet another narrow result, 34-30. Johnathan Thurston may be gone but there's every chance the close battles between these two rivals continues.

Storm (Round 1, AAMI Park): Melbourne have an outstanding record against the Broncos, winning 68.9% of contests between the teams, and the Storm proved to be too good in both contests in 2018. They were convincing 34-20 winners at Suncorp Stadium and did it just as easy in the 32-16 rematch at AAMI Park. With Billy Slater retired the Broncos have the chance to start turning that poor record around.

Wests Tigers (Round 5, Suncorp Stadium): Jamayne Isaako scored all of Brisbane's points in a narrow 9-7 victory over the Wests Tigers in the one match between these teams in 2018, back in round three, with the rookie winger slotting four penalty goals and a field goal. The speculation linking Wayne Bennett to the Tigers' coaching role will only add to the interest in this match-up.

Roosters (Round 4, SCG): The Roosters may be the 2018 premiers but the Broncos will take plenty of confidence into this game having beaten them twice last season – first a narrow 28-22 result at Suncorp and then an emphatic 22-8 result in Sydney.

Toughest stretch: Rounds 1-4. The toughest stretch for Brisbane comes right up front with a tough road trip to Melbourne to kick off the season, followed by the Cowboys then Dragons (both at home) then premiers the Roosters at the SCG. That's both of last year's grand finalists, one fierce rival that always lifts for Brisbane games plus the team that smacked them in round one of 2018 and led the competition for the first 16 weeks.

NRL Telstra premiership draw 2019

And another thing: The only club to be at their home ground in round nine's Magic Round, featuring all eight games at Suncorp Stadium will technically be the away team for a Manly home game. It means the luxury of an additional “home” game but it didn't exactly pay off last year, with the Sea Eagles upsetting Brisbane in the match they moved to Suncorp in round 10.