Shane Webcke (born 28 September 1974) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer, who spent his entire club career playing for the Brisbane Broncos. Webcke represented

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in the State of Origin 21 times and also captained the side. He made 26 test appearances for Australia. His position was

prop forward A rugby league team consists of thirteen players on the field, with 4 substitutes on the bench. Each of the thirteen players is assigned a position, normally with a standardised number, which reflects their role in attack and defence, although pl ...

and at his peak he was renowned as the best front rower in the world. Alongside Glenn Lazarus and Arthur Beetson, Webcke is considered by many to have been one of the finest post-war front-rowers to play the game. After retiring from playing in 2006, Webcke became the Sunday–Thursday sports presenter on ''

Seven News ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high-definition television, high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while f ...

'' in his hometown of Brisbane, a position he holds to this day.

Early life

Webcke was born in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

, of German and Scottish descent. Originally from

Leyburn, Queensland Leyburn (pronounced Lee-burn) is a rural town in the Southern Downs Region and a locality split between the South Downs Region and the Toowoomba Region in Queensland, Australia. In the , Leyburn had a population of 476 people. Geography T ...

and having played for Toowoomba, Webcke was scouted by Wayne Bennett, whom he acknowledges as the greatest influence on his career, after seeing him play as a schoolboy in 1993. The following year Webcke's father was killed in a work accident when he was still 19 years of age.

Playing career

1990s

Webcke made his debut for the Broncos in the 1995 ARL season. Within two seasons he had his first premiership ring, when he helped Brisbane to victory over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the 1997 Super League season's grand final. Webcke made his first appearance for the Queensland Maroons in the first game of the 1998 State of Origin series and was named man of the match in the third and deciding game that year. From his debut until his retirement from representative football following Game III in 2004, no other player wore the number 8 for Queensland. Webcke won his second grand final in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, when Brisbane defeated the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facili ...

2000s

In 2000 Webcke broke his arm during the finals series that season but went on to play for the Broncos in their grand final victory over the Sydney Roosters. Post-season he was a member of the Australian team that won the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Webcke was also awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. Following Australia's World Cup victory, Webcke and teammate Gorden Tallis wrote an open letter to players appealing for an end to scandalous behaviour amongst footballers which had been tarnishing the sport. Having won the 2000 NRL Premiership, the Broncos travelled to England to play against 2000's Super League V Champions, St. Helens for the 2001 World Club Challenge, with Webcke playing at prop forward in Brisbane's loss. Webcke won the Broncos' best player award for the 2001 season. Post-season he refused to tour with the Kangaroos in the wake of the

11 September attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. At the end of the 2003 NRL season, he went on the 2003 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, helping Australia to victory over

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

the last time rugby league's Ashes series was contested. Webcke was selected in the Australian team to compete in the 2004 Tri-Nations tournament. In the final against Great Britain he played in the Kangaroos' 44–4 victory. With the representative retirement of Gorden Tallis and an injury to Darren Lockyer, Webcke captained

in Game 1 of the 2004 State of Origin series, which the Maroons lost 9–8 in golden point extra time. Webcke again won the Paul Morgan Medal for the Broncos' best and fairest player for the 2005 season. Shane Webcke (4 October 2006, Brisbane)

Webcke announced on 26 April 2006 that he would retire at the end of the 2006 NRL season. Webcke's final game was the Broncos' victory in the 2006 grand final against the Melbourne Storm, days after his 32nd birthday.

Post-playing

Post-football, Webcke went on to release his auto-biography, ''Warhorse'' and also ventured into media with the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

in his hometown of Brisbane, presenting sport on the local ''

'' bulletin on Sundays to Thursdays. He also worked on-screen with Matthew Johns in the first and only season of '' The Matty Johns Show''. Webcke's pub at

– the Royal Hotel – is the longest, continuously licensed premises in Queensland
/small>. Webcke was set to become the first player to give the annual Tom Brock Lecture when he was invited to do so in 2007, but this did not eventuate. In 2007 at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Webcke. In February 2008, Webcke was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. A few months later the Brisbane Broncos appointed Shane Webcke, along with Allan Langer, as full-time assistant coaches to work alongside new head coach Ivan Henjak from the 2009 season. However, shortly after the start of the season, Webcke quit his post in the wake of controversy surrounding the release of his new book in which he was openly critical of the Broncos administration not standing down star players Darius Boyd, Sam Thaiday and Karmichael Hunt when police were investigating sexual assault allegations against them in September 2008. He went on to state that he was 'filthy' about the state of affairs at the Broncos.

Accolades

Dally M Prop Of The Year: 2000, 2001, 2002 Ron McAuliffe Medal: 2002 Rugby League Week Player of the Year: 2001 Named in NRL Team of the 1990s: 2003

Playing career highlights

*Junior Club: Wattles Allora/Clifton *First Grade Debut: Round 10, Brisbane v. Norths at North Sydney, 19 May 1995 won *First Grade Premierships: 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2006 with Brisbane Broncos *Career Stats: 254 career appearances with 18 tries *State of Origin: 21 games for Queensland between 1998 and 2004, captain in Game I 2004 *International: 26 tests for Australia

Footnotes

External links

* *
Queensland representatives at qrl.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webcke, Shane 1974 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian people of German descent Australian people of Scottish descent Brisbane Broncos players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin captains Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league players from Toowoomba Rugby league props Seven News presenters