Shane Webcke

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Saturday, 28th September, 1974
Current Age
49 years and 173 days
Place Of Birth
Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Dally M Prop Of The Year
2000, 2001, 2002
Ron McAuliffe Medal
2002
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2008

Biography

Hard-working Toowoomba back-rower spent a season with Brisbane Brothers in 1993 before joining the Broncos. Webcke put his career on hold in 1994 when he returned to the family farm in Leyburn following the tragic death of his father in an accident, but was encouraged by his family to return to the Broncos. Moving to prop, Webcke represented Queensland and Australia during Super League’s representative season before playing in the Telstra Cup grand final against Cronulla. Webcke gained selection in the Broncos-dominated Queensland State of Origin Team in the reunified 1998 NRL season and following the club’s grand final thrashing of C’bury, he built a platform for future Test selection in the final two matches of the Trans-Tasman series. One of nine Brisbane players who played in the Second Test against NZ in October 1998, Webcke finished a remarkable season as prop in the deciding Third Test, which Australia won 36-16. The following year Webcke stoked the Australian ‘engine room’ in the narrow 20-14 over NZ in the ANZac Test but following Brisbane’s disappointing season in the NRL premiership, he was ruled out of Australia’s Tri-series victory because of injury. In 2000 Webcke represented Australia in the 52-0 thrashing of NZ in the ANZac Test before playing in all three interstate matches in a series dominated by the Blues. In the grand final that year Webcke took on the Roosters’ pack just six weeks after breaking his arm. After representing Australia in a World Cup warm-up against Papua New Guinea, he proved to be the iron-man of rugby league when he appeared in all six matches of Australia’s successful World Cup campaign. 2001 saw Webcke in the best form of his career - playing his part in Queensland’s stunning State of Origin series win and maintaining his position as the premier prop in the game in the one-off Test against NZ in July. Webcke also proved to be a man of principle, publishing an open letter to all NRL players about their responsibilities to the game after drug allegations and misbehaviour rocked the code in April, and then declining to tour with the Kangaroos at the end of 2001. Safety concerns in light of the September 11 terrorist attacks originally led to cancellation of the tour after senior Australian Test players voiced their concerns about travelling overseas. When the ARL went ahead with a shortened tour Webcke was the only player to stand his ground, choosing to put his family ahead of football. A mainstay of the Queensland and Australian Test teams, making consecutive tours of England in 2003-04, he cemented his reputation as the best forward in the world before announcing his representative retirement. In 2006, in the final match of his career, he led by example in Brisbane’s grand final win against the Storm – finishing the game just as he had started it - a Champion. Autobiography, Warhorse (2006).
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 254 18 -   - 72 156 90 8 61.42% List
NRL Finals 25 - -   - - 12 13 0 48.00% List
State of Origin 21 1 -   - 4 8 11 2 38.10% List
Anzac Tests 3 - -   - - 3 0 0 100.00% List
World Cup 6 1 -   - 4 6 0 0 100.00% List
World Club Challenge 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 5 - -   - - 5 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 3 - -   - - 3 0 0 100.00% List
The Ashes 3 - -   - - 3 0 0 100.00% List
Tri-Nations 5 - -   - - 3 1 1 60.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia (SL) 1997 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Australia 1998-04 26 2 -   - 8 23 2 1 88.46% List
Overall1997-2004 27 2 0   0 8 23 3 1 85.19% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1998-2000 6 1 -   - 4 6 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
QLD (SL) 1997 3 1 -   - 4 1 2 0 33.33% List
QLD 1998-04 21 1 -   - 4 8 11 2 38.10% List
Overall1997-2004 24 2 0   0 8 9 13 2 37.50% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Brisbane ARL 1995 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Brisbane ARL 1996 14 1 -   - 4 9 5 0 64.29% List
Brisbane Super League 1997 18 3 -   - 12 14 3 1 77.78% List
Brisbane NRL 1998 28 1 -   - 4 21 6 1 75.00% List
Brisbane NRL 1999 23 1 -   - 4 11 10 2 47.83% List
Brisbane NRL 2000 23 1 -   - 4 19 2 2 82.61% List
Brisbane NRL 2001 29 3 -   - 12 15 13 1 51.72% List
Brisbane NRL 2002 23 2 -   - 8 14 8 1 60.87% List
Brisbane NRL 2003 24 1 -   - 4 12 12 0 50.00% List
Brisbane NRL 2004 18 1 -   - 4 9 9 0 50.00% List
Brisbane NRL 2005 25 - -   - - 15 10 0 60.00% List
Brisbane NRL 2006 27 4 -   - 16 16 11 0 59.26% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Brisbane 1995-06 254 18 -   - 72 156 90 8 61.42% List

Your Say

  • Antj
    07/04/2022

    My favourite prop of all time. If I picked an allstar team, Webcke and Lazarus would be my front row. Not sure if they had running meters and post contact meters back in Shane Webcke’s day but I reckon his numbers would be in the elite range.

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, AJ Lucantonio, Alan Katzmann, Bill Bates, Terry Liberopoulos, Cymru RL

Sources: NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2003, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2004, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL 2004 Official Rugby League Annual, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, 2006 Official Rugby League Annual