2009 Brisbane Broncos Season

The 2009 Brisbane Broncos season was the 22nd in the club's history and their first without foundation coach Wayne Bennett. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and by the 12th round were leading the competition, but then suffered one of their worst post-State of Origin form slumps ever and spent rounds 16 to 22 outside the top eight. The team managed to finish the regular season 6th (out of 16), qualifying for the finals for the 18th consecutive year. The Broncos then came within one match of the grand final but were knocked out for the 3rd season in a row by eventual premiers the Melbourne Storm (who months later were found to have been cheating the salary cap over the previous four seasons and had all honours achieved during the period nullified by the NRL).