Illawarra Steelers kicked off 30 years ago

It's 30 years ago today since the Illawarra Steelers made their debut in the NSW Rugby League competition.At last Illawarra were in the ‘‘Big League’’ after a massive amount of hard work from club secretary Bob Millward and his off-field team.Their vision became a reality.The Steelers had been admitted into the Sydney competition on December 14, 1980, as the league spread its wings outside the state capital for the first time to bring Illawarra and Canberra on board.Two of Illawarra’s favourite sons were in charge of the Steelers - Allan Fitzgibbon as coach and John Dorahy as captain.Prop forward Darryl Brohman led the Panthers and John Peard was coach.All four men - Fitzgibbon, Dorahy, Brohman and Peard - remain closely associated with rugby league.Last year Fitzgibbon was a member of the Illawarra Centenary of Rugby League committee and Dorahy was the league’s centenary ambassador.Nowadays Brohman and Peard are always welcome guests in the Illawarra when they visit for speaking engagements, when they sometimes like to remind those present that the Panthers got the chocolates in the Steelers’ first game in the NSWRL competition.Turning back the clock 30 years to the day, almost 10,000 fans packed Wollongong Showground (now WIN Stadium) on Sunday, February 28, 1982, for the Steelers’ first competition match.Dorahy led Illawarra onto the showground to a loud ovation from the excited crowd. But the Panthers led 6-0 after 13 minutes when halfback Craig McAlpine kicked three penalty goals against a sometimes over-keen home team.Sure they were enthusiastic, but after all, this game had been a long time coming.Illawarra in the Sydney comp. Who would have thought it when the first games of rugby league were played in the district way back in 1911?Now they were in the Sydney competition.The players were giving everything they had - and then some.Out on the field Penrith stretched their lead to 11-0 with a converted try to teenage centre Brad Izzard. A try was worth three points back in those days.Rival hookers Barry Jensen (Steelers) and Royce Simmons (Panthers) were sin-binned just before the interval and in that time a try to Penrith centre Eddie Flahey made it 14-0 at the break.Into the second half and Dorahy kicked a penalty goal as the Steelers fought back, followed by the conversion of a try to prop Greg Cook off a Jensen pass to trim the margin to seven points.A try to Penrith winger Ken Wolffe in the 68th minute wrapped up the game 17-7.Earlier in the day, happy hooker Michael Bolt, who went on to carve out a memorable playing career with the Steelers and become one of the most popular players to wear the scarlet and white, was the first player to lead Illawarra onto the field for the third-grade match.Illawarra went down 21-6 to Penrith, whose young halfback was none other than future Manly, NSW and Australian star Des Hasler.Peter Gavin was the Steelers’ first try-scorer in a premiership match.The Steelers scored their first win when Peter Dickenson’s second-grade side downed the Panthers 17-7, ironically the same score as first grade.Captain Paul Thompson and halfback Mal Creevey were the Steelers try-scorers in the club’s initial win.The Steelers played in what became the NRL until 1998 when Illawarra formed a joint venture with St George to become the St George Illawarra Dragons in 1999, reaching the grand final in their initial season.While the Steelers may not have won a premiership, during their time in the big league they created their own special place in the code’s history - a ‘‘nursery of champions’’.Let us salute the Steelers who took on the Panthers at Wollongong Showground on this day 30 years ago, those who continued that legacy and those off-field people who made it all happen.