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Illawarra Steelers

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Illawarra
File:Illawarra 1988.png
Club information
Full nameIllawarra District Rugby League Football Club
Founded1982
Exited1998
Former details
CompetitionNSWRL, ARL, NRL
199812th of 20
Home jersey
Team colours
Records
PremiershipsNil
Runners-upNil
Minor premiershipsNil
Wooden spoons3 - 1985, 1986, 1989

The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club previously played in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 when they, along with the Canberra Raiders, were admitted into the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership until 1999 when they merged with the St. George Dragons to form the St. George Illawarra Dragons. The Steelers still field stand alone teams in junior grades.

Their mascot was the ever popular Stanley, the Steel Avenger (commonly referred to as Stanley the Steeler).

History

Formation

Illawarra made several attempts to enter the NSWRL competition, the first major attempt was in the 1950s. The Illawarra Rugby League made a much more serious attempt for entry into the 1967 season but were blocked by the Country Rugby League (CRL) who used their constitution to prevent Illawarra's plans of playing in the Sydney competition. This was a crucial moment in the emergence of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, as it was after Illawarra were blocked and the NSWRL wanted a second new club to enter with Penrith to avoid the need for a bye that "the shire's" submission was successful.

In this unsuccessful bid, Illawarra were to be backed by the then wealthy Illawarra Leagues Club in Church Street, Wollongong. The club is the second oldest leagues club in the world. It was originally established to financially support top class rugby league and soccer in the region. Unfortunately, by the time the Steelers entered the competition in 1982, this had changed. Looking at the endless number of talented internationals that the region produced during this period, one can only imagine what heights Illawarra could have achieved.

On the 13th of December 1980, the NSWRL voted almost unanimously for Illawarra to enter in the 1982 season. Only three dissenting votes were counted, which were the three CRL representatives present. Illawarra's organiser Bob Millward told those at the meeting that Rugby League in the region depended on this bid getting the go ahead. Interest in the region had turned away from local football to the Sydney competition. The Illawarra Mercury daily newspaper was increasing its coverage of the Sydney premiership and Illawarra's inclusion was viewed as the best way of reviving the local league.

1980s

Illawarra entered the competition in 1982, with financial backing from many of the local leagues clubs. Their first captain was star fullback John Dorahy, and first coach Allan Fitzgibbon.[1] Unfortunately, the recession hit hard and the leagues club money dried up and the Steelers were a new club in desperate financial trouble. In 1984, BHP Steel saved the club, signing on as the major sponsor. BHP stayed with the Steelers until they merged with St George in 1999.

Their first 8 seasons produced 3 wooden spoons, but things started to improve for the club. In the 1989 Panasonic Cup the club reached the final which was played against the Brisbane Broncos at Parramatta Stadium. The Broncos raced to a 16-0 lead and it seemed the Steelers much more fancied opponents would run away with the game. But Illawarra hit back. Young Illawarra juniors such as Brett Rodwell and Rod Wishart made their mark in this game, players that would form the foundation of the club's improved performances in the early 1990s. Illawarra lost the match 22-20, however Brisbane scored a try off what appeared to be forward pass. The large Illawarra contingent at Parramatta Stadium booed the Broncos after their win, with Brisbane captain "King" Wally Lewis gaining their ire by gesturing back. Illawarra's performance inspired Australian folk singer John Williamson to write a song about the match.

1990s

1990 saw big improvements with the club finishing not too far away from the top 5. The Steelers licenced club opened its doors thanks to the efforts of the local community and businesses.

A new coach by the name of Graham Murray turned Illawarra into an almost unbeatable force at the Wollongong Showground in 1991, losing only to the Penrith Panthers who went on to win the premiership. A big win against Brisbane and a crushing 44-4 win over Canterbury-Bankstown were signs of things to come. A crucial refereeing decision by Bill Harrigan towards the end of the season in a game at Penrith Stadium put an end to their finals aspirations. Harrigan, much to his credit, apologised in the media after the game. Thus Illawarra missed out on a place in the finals by just two points, despite having a season points differential second only to eventual premiers, Penrith.

The Steelers had sweet revenge in the 1992 pre-season Tooheys Challenge, defeating Brisbane 4-2 in a tryless final at Dubbo. This sparked their successful 1992 Winfield Cup campaign, going one game from the Grand Final. Illawarra's first semi final was against future merger partner St George, beating "big-brother" 18-16. Next a loss to the Broncos 22-12 and their last chance against St George, losing 4-0. However, Illawarra were denied tries on several controversial occasions leaving the Steelers with a bitter end to their successful season.

File:Illawarra steelers logo 1998.jpg

1993 and 1994 were disappointing in contrast to '92, but the club still managed to finish just outside the top 5 each year.

Super League hit in 1995 and the Steelers were in for a rough ride. The good work in becoming a credible force in the competition went out the window and the sacking of Graham Murray was the only incident where anyone in the competition lost their job because of Super League. Murray was organising meetings between Illawarra players and Super League officials, as Super League had intentions of either getting the Steelers or possibly a new Illawarra club. Local club Wests Illawarra were reported in the Illawarra Mercury as being a potential Illawarra Super League club. Local league fans reacted angrily and nothing came of it. Illawarra and its supporters remained loyal to the ARL, though boardmember and then speaker of the house of representatives, Dr Stephen Martin, resigned from the club citing the need to join Super League for the club to survive. Martin would be proved right within less than three years.

In 1997's stand-alone Australian Rugby League competition, the Steelers finished sixth, again qualifying for the Finals series, only to bow out in the first week. 1998 saw the Steelers come agonisingly close to the finals, only missing out because of other results going against them. During season 1998, Illawarra approached St George and initiated joint venture talks. Western Suburbs (whom Illawarra were rumoured to be merging with in the 1980s) and Cronulla both expressed interest in talking with Illawarra but Steelers CEO Bob Millward claimed that the club's preferred partner was St George.

The Illawarra Steelers produced some brilliant playing talent, most notably International representatives Rod Wishart and Paul McGregor. Former Steelers players Trent Barrett, Shaun Timmins and Craig Fitzgibbon have gone on to represent their country since the Steelers' final stand-alone season in 1998.

Joint Venture

The Illawarra Steelers decided to form a joint venture with the St. George Dragons for the 1999 NRL season to form the St George Illawarra Dragons. The Illawarra and St George contingents are equal stakeholders in the new club, and as such half of the new team’s home games are played at the Steelers' former home ground, WIN Stadium. The Illawarra Steelers have at times provided the bulk of St George Illawarra's squad, including internationals Matt Cooper, Luke Bailey, Jason Ryles, Shaun Timmins, Trent Barrett and Ben Creagh.

Some supporters, however, feel that the Illawarra is not appropriately acknowledged in St George Illawarra, as the logo and main jersey were taken directly from those of St George (albeit with the addition of "Illawarra" to the bottom of the emblem). More recently, however, St George Illawarra has taken steps to appropriately acknowledge both St George and Illawarra as equally as possible. One example of this is that, in 2006, St George Illawarra introduced an alternate jersey which was predominantly red (with white stripes), this being recognisably similar to the former Steelers' jersey. This replaced the "blood and bandages" jersey of red-and-white horizontal stripes, which was also a former St George jersey.

While Illawarra is still represented in the NRL and New South Wales Rugby League by the St George Illawarra Dragons (in First Grade and Jersey Flegg Cup competitions), the Illawarra Steelers still participate as a single entity in junior competitions, most notably S.G. Ball Cup and Harold Matthews Cup.

In early 2006, WIN Television Network bought a 25% share in the St. George Illawarra club for $6.5 million (half of Illawarra's share), erasing most of the debt Illawarra had to St. George. This formalised the strong support the network has shown for the Steelers in years gone by and ensured that Wollongong will continue to host world class rugby league matches. WIN Corp can only sell their stake back to the Steelers, should they wish to withdraw their involvement, thus ensuring Illawarra are properly represented in the joint venture.

In 2008, Illawarra's debt to St George was paid off, with the 20% sale of the Steelers Club building to a Bermuda based company owned by Illawarra billionaire Bruce Gordon.

Jersey and Colours

The original Steelers jersey was all scarlet with two white stripes on each sleeve. The alternate design was the same colours in reverse. The club kept this design until 1997, adding a third stripe on each sleeve and three hoops around the middle of the jersey. The Steelers simplistic design compared well with the many "space-aged" designs of several other clubs that came and went each season. In 2005, the Dragons wore an Illawarra heritage jersey, which was the same as the original Steelers jumper, on Steelers heritage day, proving popular amongst former Illawarra fans.

Many of the current NRL clubs are reverting to more simplistic jerseys, such as Illawarra's fellow 1982 entrants Canberra.

The colours scarlet and white were automatically chosen as they were long worn by Illawarra representative teams in several sports. Local miners uniforms in the early 20th century were scarlet and some associate this with the reason for it becoming the region's sporting colours. It is also the colour of the Illawarra Flame Tree, another symbol of the region.

Club Name

The name "Steelers" was chosen in reference to the local Port Kembla Steelworks, which was the Illawarra region's largest employer. Other names considered were "Lions" and "Steelies".

Home Ground

The Illawarra Steelers played all of their home games at the Wollongong Showground (currently named WIN Stadium). The ground for many years was also named Steelers Stadium, which many still affectionately call the ground.

Team Song

Taste of Steel (1984)

Come on, mighty Wollongong,

We're the Illawarra Steelers.

You can't go wrong with the men so strong,

Gonna give 'em the taste of steel.

We mean it,

We're gonna make it happen right.

And when the whistle blows,

We're gonna get out there and fight.

It's our best game,

It's our own name,

It's our red crusade.

Come on, mighty Wollongong,

We're the Illawarra Steelers.

You can't go wrong with the men so strong,

Gonna give 'em the taste of steel.

We're gonna tackle,

We're gonna shake 'em to the ground.

Gonna keep on scoring tries,

Gonna keep on winning games.

We're out to play,

We're out to stay,

It's our red crusade.

Come on, mighty Wollongong,

We're the Illawarra Steelers.

You can't go wrong with the men so strong,

Gonna give 'em the taste of steel.

Notable fans

The future

Recent speculation suggests that the Steelers may rise again and stand alone in the NRL.[citation needed] Supporters[who?] of this theory claim that the club will dissolve the joint venture at the end of the current joint venture contract (2010) and build towards an eventual return, with the backing of a "white knight" or a major consortium. Others claim that this push may be a ploy to pressure St George into making further concessions to the Illawarra, as St. George can not afford to lose the flow of Illawarra juniors. However, some in the St. George side of the venture argue that they could stand alone in the NRL for the long term without drawing on the Illawarra juniors for players. Currently, both views would seem unlikely and the joint venture would appear safe for now.

Of note, the Illawarra Steelers club members voted unanimously to allow the sale of 20% of the club premises to a company owned by Bermuda based Wollongong billionaire Bruce Gordon. The sale fetched the club $2.6 million, allowing Illawarra to clear all debts to St George[3]. Whilst the Steelers Club is improving its financial position, and now trading profitably, the club still finds itself struggling against the larger and more popular of other Leagues Clubs in Wollongong such as Collegians, The Builders Club, Wests Illawarra and Illawarra Leagues, and also Shellharbour Workers Club in Shellharbour.

Records

Club

  • Biggest win: 45 - 0 against Canberra Raiders at Wollongong on 25 April, 1982
  • Worst defeat: 0 - 51 against Newtown Jets at Henson Park on 2 May, 1982
  • Longest winning streak: 4 matches
    • 4 July - 25 July, 1993
    • 25 June - 17 July, 1997
  • Longest losing streak: 11 matches, 1988
  • Largest home crowd: 17,527, against St George Dragons at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on 21 May, 1993

Individual

  • Most tries in a match: 5 by Alan McIndoe against Gold Coast Seagulls at Steelers Stadium on 4 May, 1991
  • Most goals in a match: 10 by Rod Wishart against Parramatta Eels at Steelers Stadium on 16 July, 1995
  • Most points in a match: 22 (1 try, 9 goals) by Rod Wishart against Western Suburbs Magpies at Steelers Stadium on 27 August, 1995
  • Most tries in club history: 68 by Rod Wishart, between 1989 and 1998
  • Most goals in club history: 386 by Rod Wishart, between 1989 and 1998
  • Most points in club history: 1,044 (68 tries, 386 goals) by Rod Wishart between 1989 and 1998

Players

Team of Steel

In 2006 the Illawarra Steelers celebrated their 25th anniversary and named a "Team of Steel", including the best players of the club's history.

Fullback
John Dorahy (c)

Wing
Rod Wishart
Alan McIndoe

Centre
Paul McGregor
Shaun Timmins

Five-eighth
Trent Barrett

Half
John Simon

Lock
Ian Russell

Second Row
Neil Piccinelli
Bob Lindner

Front Row
Chris Walsh (vc)
Craig Smith

Hooker
Dean Schifilliti

Reserves
Brad Mackay
Brett Rodwell
Wayne Springall
Michael Carberry

Coach
Graham Murray

Representative players

Main article: List of Illawarra Steelers representatives

Coaches

Average Attendance

Season Average Attendance
1998 9248
1997 8695
1996 7434
1995 9651
1994 11911
1993 12321
1992 13750
1991 12244
1990 9968
1989 7253

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Lester, Gary, ed. (1984). Rugby League: Action '85. Sydney: Fairfax Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 0-909558-83-3.
  2. ^ Weidler, Danny (1999-03-14). "Athletes told to fake it". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Digital. p. 119. Retrieved 2009-10-06. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/steelers-club-approves-26-million-bailout/1344484.aspx
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