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William Carne (Born on the 23rd of January, 1969 in Roma, Queensland) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos from 1990 to 1996, as well as Queensland and Australia. An attacking player with dangerous speed, his position of choice was wing.

Contents 1 Background 2 Broncos 3 Representative career 4 Representative Honours 5 Brisbane Broncos Club Honours 6 Brisbane Broncos Club Scoring Statistics 7 External Links

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

Carne played 151 first-grade games for the Brisbane Broncos. He was the club's top try-scorer in 1990 and 1993. He helped his team to their back-to-back Premiership wins in 1992 and 1993. From 1990-4, he was considered the best rugby league winger in the world.

In his final season for the Broncos, Carne assumed the position of goal kicker, as Julian O'Neill, the previous goal kicker, had been sacked in 1995 for being arrested in England for drink driving. After another failure by the Broncos in the 1996 season, Carne (despite being the top point-scorer for Brisbane that year) was one of four players asked by coach Wayne Bennett to leave the club since he could no longer guarantee the four players places in the Broncos' first grade team.

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

Carne made his State of Origin debut in 1990 for Queensland. He also played at the sport's highest level, representing Australia. He enjoyed an outstanding tryscoring debut in Australia's 44-0 win over New Zealand in Sydney in 1991, and also scored in the series decider in Brisbane. Carne was also an integral part of the winning Austalian team in the 1992 World Cup. He was made man of the match of the opening game of the State of Origin Series in 1994 after a strong performance, which included his scoring a try, successfully diffusing a NSW bomb and having an important hand in the last-minute try which resulted in a spectacular Queensland victory.

In 1995, Carne was one of a number of players who were not considered for selection for the Origin series as a result of having signed contracts with Super League. In 1996, Carne made an Origin comeback in the third and final game after the policy of excluding Super League players was lifted. Carne played an attacking game, looking dangerous at various moments of the match with impressive runs and occasional breaks.

In the year 2000 Carne was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.

• Queensland (12 Games, 1990-1996)
  • Man of the Match, Game 1 1994
• Australia (1990-1993)

• Rookie of the Year: 1990
• Best Back: 1993
• Record for Most Tries in Consecutive Games: 8 (Cronulla, Seagulls, Souths, Illawarra, St George, Canberra, Canterbury, Wests) May 18 to July 13, 1990
• 6th Highest All-Time Tryscorer: 76 (All Games), 72 (Premiership Games)

• Games: 151
• Tries: 72
• Goals: 63/103 (61.17%)
• Field Goals: 0
• Points: 414

• Player Details at stateoforigin.com.au

Brisbane Broncos
The Club Representatives | History | Records | Honours | Players | Venues
Seasons 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007
Stadiums Lang Park/Suncorp Stadium | ANZ Stadium
Captains Wally Lewis (1988-1989) | Gene Miles (1990-1991) | Allan Langer (1992-1999) Kevin Walters (1999-2000) | Gorden Tallis (2001-2004) | Darren Lockyer (2005-present)
Coaches Wayne Bennett (1988-present)