Willie Carne

William Carne (born 23 January 1969 in Roma, Queensland) is an Australian former rugby footballer who played rugby league for the Brisbane Broncos from 1990 to 1996, as well as representing both Queensland and Australia, and rugby union for the Queensland Reds. An attacking player with dangerous speed, he played at wing and fullback.

Early years

Carne attended Ipswich Grammar School, of which former Brisbane Broncos Kevin Walters, Kerrod Walters and Steve Walters are also Alumni. In his younger days, Carne played for the Roma Wattles.

Brisbane Broncos career

In 1990 he played his first season with the Brisbane Broncos' and that year he co-won the club's rookie of the year with giant fullback Paul Hauff,^[3] as well as being the clubs top try-scorer with 15. He made his State of Origin debut for Queensland in the third match of 1990 series.

Carne made his test début for Australia in the second test of the 1991 Trans-Tasman Test series against New Zealand at the Sydney Football Stadium. He crossed for a try as Australia defeated New Zealand 44-0. He subsequently retained his spot in the team for the final test at Lang Park in Brisbane, crossing for two tries. At the end of the 1991 season, Carne toured Papua New Guinea with the Kangaroos, scoring 3 tries in both tests against the Papua New Guinea Kumuls.^[1]

He played for the Brisbane Broncos in the 1992 NSWRL season's grand final against the St. George Dragons, which they won.

In the weeks following the grand final Carne traveled to England where he and Broncos team mate Michael Hancock were selected as the Australian wingers in their 1992 World Cup Final victory over Great Britain at London's Wembley Stadium. He was one of seven Broncos players in the Australian side on the day with the others being Hancock, Renouf, Langer, Prop forward Glenn Lazarus and replacements Kevin Walters and Chris Johns. A week after winning the World Cup Final, Carne played for the Broncos on the wing in the 1992 World Club Challenge against British champions Wigan, with Brisbane winning 22-8 to become the first Australian club to win the match in Britain.

Carne was the 1993 Brisbane Broncos season's top try scorer, crossing the line for 17 tries, and enjoyed back-to-back premierships, playing on the wing in the 1993 NSWRL season's grand final victory, again over St. George. During the year he also played on the wing for Queensland in their 2-1 Origin series loss to New South Wales, as well as retaining his place in the test team for the mid-year three test series against New Zealand. The final test of the series at Lang Park in Brisbane would prove to be Carne's last ever test appearance for Australia.

During the 1994 NSWRL season, Carne played at fullback for the defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British champions Wigan for the 1994 World Club Challenge. In front of a record World Club Challenge crowd of 54,220 at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane, Wigan won 20-14.^[5]

Carne was named man-of-the-match in the opening game of the 1994 State of Origin series at the Sydney Football Stadium.

In his final season for the Broncos in 1996, Carne assumed the position of the club's goal-kicker and played most of the season at fullback. Carne was the top point-scorer for Brisbane with 146 points that year from 59 goals and 7 tries.^[1]

Carne played a total of 136 first-grade games for the Broncos. He crossed for 73 tries and kicked 63 goals from 103 attempts (61.17%).^[1]

In 2007, Carne was inducted into the Broncos' official Hall of Fame.^[6]

Rugby union

Carne subsequently defected to rugby union, making his debut in a Queensland Reds trial match in 1997. Although his opening performance was described by coach John Connolly as 'a pass' , Carne struggled in rugby union and was unable to secure a place in the Reds's regular line-up. Later that season he retired from professional sport altogether .

References

External links

• Willie Carne at the Former Origin Greats website.