It was almost a perfect Day of Steel for all the Illawarra Steelers junior rep sides at Collegians Sporting Complex on Saturday.
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Three of the sides involved in the Steelers quadruple-header recorded wins in their respective season openers.
The only downside came in the Harold Mathews competition, with the Steelers beaten 52-6 by the Rabbitohs.
But there was better news for the Steelers' SG Ball, Tarsha Gale Cup and Lisa Fiaola Cup sides, who all recorded opening round wins.
Dragons great Shaun Timmins' celebrated his first game coaching the SG Ball side by guiding the Steelers to a 26-12 win over the Rabbitohs.
The Steelers were actually down 6-4 at halftime before outscoring the visitors 22-6 in the second half.
Hayden Buchanan, Daniel Meafou, Jarrah Gala Treweek, Kade Reed and Isaac Laughton scored a try each for the Steelers, with Reed adding three conversions.
Timmins said it was always good to start the season off with a win.
"It's always good to get a win in round one," he said.
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"It was a pretty tough game actually. We weren't great in the first half, we had to do some tackling, but we hung in and went in at 6-4 down at halftime and then came out and played much better in the second half.
"It was quite pleasing how we played in the second half. It was still a bit clunky and we have to improve in some areas of our defence but winning your first game is always good.
"It was also good to win at home in front of all our fans. There was a good crowd on hand, so it was good to win for them."
Timmins said moving forward his team would need to hold the ball better and reduce the number of "cheap penalties" they gave away, especially in the first half.
"As a result we had to defend a lot, which took a lot of energy out of us. But I was proud of how well the boys defended. They hung in well and we were only 6-4 down at the half," he said.
"We had a good breeze behind us in the second half and completed a lot of our sets and we've got some guys in our team that can score points.
"Even though there's still plenty to improve on it worked out well and we'll take the win at home first up."
The 210-game NRL veteran Timmins, who will combine the SG Ball coaching gig with a role with the Dragons top 30, added it was a great day for the Steelers.
"We won three from four games. There was a great crowd there watching all the young talent in the early Lisa Fiaola Cup girls and then to watch us.
"I'm just very happy for the players to get a win in front of their fans.
"Obviously, the Mats had a bit of a disappointing loss, but all in all, it was a great day for the Steelers."
This view was shared by Brad Reh, who coached the Steelers' Lisa Fiaola Cup side to a hard-fought 14-12 win over the Rabbitohs.
The Steelers were pushed all the way by the visitors, with the teams locked at 12-all at halftime.
The Steelers points came from tries to Ella Greatz and Tori Shipton which were converted by Maddalyn Bullock.
A Bullock penalty goal midway through the second half secured the win for the Steelers.
"To win the first game was very important for us," Reh said.
"I was especially pleased with how well we defended considering we leaked a fair few points in our last trial game.
"I'm looking forward to the girls improving next week when we travel to play Central Coast. That should be another tough game."
Meantime, the Steelers also beat the Rabbitohs 30-12 in the Tarsha Gale Cup.
The Courtney Crawford-coached Steelers side were never headed, crossing for six tries to their opponents two.
Evie McGrath, Chelsea Savill Mia-Rose Walsh, Teagan Smede, Kasey Reh and Maria Paseka were Illawarra's tryscorers.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
