Brave Steelers fight to the end as SG Ball season draws to a brutal close

Shaun Timmins' undermanned squad gave itself every chance of a boil-over early on, but finished the game with just 11 on the park as the injury curse that's plagued its campaign struck again.

Serious injuries to hooker Seth Pearman and Jackson Smith with no interchanges in the bank told the story of the year, as did the Steelers determination to see the clash through despite being two men down.

"We'd used all the interchanges so we only had 11 on there the last couple of minutes," Timmins said.

"They were thinking about calling the game off with three to go, but we said 'no, let's finish it'. To finish with two serious injuries in the last five minutes typified the year, really.

"We kept coming back in the second half and kept having a dig with what we had. I was proud of them and happy with how they had a crack.

"The first 20 minutes we were playing really well, we scored first, we just made a couple of errors and they went bang-bang with a couple of tries and got a bit of a roll on.

"In the end we just tackled too much and it took it out of us. They kept fighting in the Steelers way, but it just wasn't a be."

The Steelers were in the board first through Toby Rumble, but a flurry of tries late in the half saw the Knights take a 24-6 halftime cushion, effectively taking the game away.

While he couldn't have asked any more of his side, Timmins admits there was a sense of 'what could have been' about the finals exit after an impressive 4-0 start to the year.

"We knew we were up against it with who we had out, but I was still confident we could get a win," Timmins said.

"The most pleasing thing was how they kept fighting, but we were missing six starters so it played a part. At this time of year you need your best players playing.

"In any type of finals, when you've got your full squad playing and healthy at this time of year you're a big chance.

"I think we would have been. If we had all of them on deck it could have been a different story but that's footy.

"It gave all our blokes an opportunity where they probably weren't going to get one.

"We gave two young Harold Matt kids a go in Zane (Timmins) and Leeroy (Weatherall) on the weekend so it was good experience for them.

"Overall it was a successful year and an enjoyable year."

It was Timmins' first time as a head coach having held various assistant coaching and recruitment and development roles at St George Illawarra since retiring.

With much of the 2024 squad again eligible for SG Ball in 2025, he's confident the Steelers have a bright future in the key pathway competition.

"We created a real good environment there," Timmins said.

"I wanted to surround myself with some good staff and I had 'Piggy' Riddell and Brian Norrie who are both great fellas and played a bit of footy too.

"I know I had a really enjoyable year doing it. I had real good staff around me who enjoyed being there, the players love being there and learning off those type of people.

"It was good to see a lot of players get better and develop over the year and pleasing thing is there's a lot of kids in that side that can play again next year.

"I'm sure the kids all learned a lot of things about what it takes to go to that next level and I'm sure the kids took a lot out of it."

The Steelers remain alive in the post-season as a club, with the Tarsha Gale Cup minor premiers and top-two finishing Lisa Fiaola Cup side both in action this coming weekend.