Nicholson joined the then fledgling Steelers committee in 1981 as statistician and remained involved in various capacities until the St George Illawarra merger.

He was also heavily involved as secretary of the Illawarra Carlton League for many years and was made the fourth life member of the Steelers.

"He came on as a statistician which was something new then and was a great support, particularly to our coaching staff," fellow life member Bob Millward said.

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"He did an outstanding job and we still rely on a lot of those stats today. He filled various other roles and was the fourth life member of the Illawarra Steelers, that's how highly he was thought of."

Nicholson's son Clinton said service the to game, particularly seeing local products don the Steelers jumper, was one his father's great passions.

"He started off as a statistician and worked his way through all the managerial roles," Clinton said.

"He was just so passionate about the Steelers, particularly in the early days and just loved seeing the local boys do well, the Neil Pincinelli's, Paul McGregor, Rod Wishart, the Simon brothers.

"In those first days it was the Marty Cavill's, Sean O'Connor, Michael Bolt. I lived with him through that time and I saw all the hours put in there.

"It was all voluntary and you don't see that too much these days, it was all for the love of the game and to see it thrive in the Illawarra."