Illawarra Hawks: Saving the region's heart and soul

By Stuart Howie
Updated January 13 2018 - 8:02am, first published 7:00am
REMINISCING: Article author and former Illawarra Mercury editor Stuart Howie with some of the iconic front pages of the fight to save the Hawks.
REMINISCING: Article author and former Illawarra Mercury editor Stuart Howie with some of the iconic front pages of the fight to save the Hawks.

I still shake my head, amazed how the Wollongong Hawks did a Houdini two years running to survive imminent death - and go on to contest the 2010 NBL grand final. We shouldn’t be surprised. Over the 40 years of the competition, the Hawks have had a habit of turning on the extraordinary. When I moved to the Illawarra in December 2007 to become editor of the Mercury, the community faced a clear and present danger. With their major naming rights sponsorship ending, the Hawks were running out of cash.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

$0/

(min cost $0)

or signup to continue reading

See subscription options

Get the latest Wollongong news in your inbox

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.

We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.