1996 Illawarra Steelers season
1996 season | |||
CEO | ![]() | ||
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Head coach | ![]() | ||
Captain | ![]() | ||
ARL | 14 (out of 20) | ||
Reserve Grade | 8 (of 20), Preliminary Final | ||
President's Cup | 3 (of 20), Preliminary Final | ||
Top try scorer | Club: Rod Wishart (14) | ||
Top points scorer | Club: Rod Wishart (160) | ||
Highest home attendance | 9,744 (vs. Western Suburbs Magpies, 22 March 1996, at WIN Stadium) | ||
Lowest home attendance | 4,883 (vs. South Queensland Crushers, 5 May 1996, at WIN Stadium) | ||
Average home attendance | 7,434 (Total 81,778) | ||
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The 1996 Illawarra Steelers season was the fifteenth in the club's history. They competed in the Australian Rugby League's 1996 Optus Cup season, finishing in 14th place on the ladder, missing out on the finals for the fourth year in a row. The Reserve Grade and President's Cup teams both missed out on their respective Grand Finals by one game, whilst the junior Steelers - the S.G. Ball and Harold Matthew's sides both won their competitions.
Player movements
Gains
Player | Previous Club |
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Losses
Player | Joined Club |
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Squad
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Draw and results
Quick summary
1996 Illawarra Steelers season summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season
March
Round 1: 22 March 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (0) 8–17 (6) | ![]() | Wollongong, New South Wales | |
Tries: Goals:
| Tries: Goals:
| Stadium: WIN Stadium Attendance: 9,744 Referee: Kelvin Jeffes (Field) |
O'Meara; Wishart, Rodwell, McGregor, Seru; C.Simon, J.White; Fritz, Callaway, England, Cross (c), Richards, Timmins. Cox, Hepi, Bristow.
Round 2: 31 March 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (6) 18–10 (0) | ![]() | Auckland, New Zealand | |
Tries:
| Tries:
| Stadium: Ericsson Stadium Attendance: 17,246 Referee: David Manson (Field) |
O'Meara; Wishart, Rodwell, McGregor, Seru; C.Simon, J.White; Fritz, Callaway, Richards, Mackay, Cross (c), Timmins. D.Walsh, Piccinelli, England, Carige.
Reserve Grade: Illawarra Steelers defeated Auckland Warriors 18-12.
April
Round 3: Saturday 6 April 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (26) 54–4 (4) | ![]() | Brisbane, Queensland | |
Tries:
| Tries: Goals:
| Stadium: ANZ Stadium Attendance: 24,577 Referee: Kelvin Jeffes (Field) |
O'Meara; Wishart, Rodwell, McGregor, Seru; C.Simon, J.White; Fritz, Callaway, Richards, Mackay, Timmins, Cross (c). Carige, Walsh, Doherty, Hepi.
Reserve Grade: Brisbane defeated Illawarra 24-14
Round 4: Sunday 14 April 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (20) 56–14 (10) | ![]() | Wollongong, New South Wales | |
Tries: Goals:
| Tries: Goals:
| Stadium: Steelers Stadium Attendance: 7,083 Referee: Rob Alexander (Field) |
Riolo; Wishart, Timmins, McGregor, Seru; Mackay, Air; Fritz, Hepi, Walsh, Cross (c), Doherty, Rodwell. Richards, England, Cox, J.White.
Souths forward Martin Masella was sent-off after 35 minutes for an illegal use of the elbow. Steelers hooker Brad Hepi was cited for a high tackle, but later exonerated.
Reserve Grade: Illawarra defeated Souths 18-2.
Round 5: 20 April 1996 Optus Cup | Gold Coast Chargers | (16) 28–20 (10) | Illawarra Steelers | Gold Coast, Queensland | |
Tries:
| Tries: Goals:
| Stadium: Carrara Stadium Attendance: 7,251 Referee: Graeme West (Field) |
Riolo; Wishart, Timmins, Simon, Seru; Mackay, Air; Fritz, Hepi, Walsh, Doherty, Cross (c), Rodwell. Cox, Richards, O'Meara, J.White.
Gold Coast Chargers winger David Baildon was sent-off after 39 minutes for striking and was later sentenced to six weeks on the sideline. The Steelers, however, could not use the extra man advantage in the second-half to win the game. They were able to peg the score back to 16-all early in the second-half, but were unable go on with it. Two tries to the Chargers assured victory for the home team.
Reserve Grade: Illwarra defeated Gold Coast 20-10.
Round 6: Sunday 28 April 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (20) 20–30 (6) | ![]() | Wollongong, New South Wales | |
Tries:
| Tries:
| Stadium: Steelers Stadium Attendance: 8,055 Referee: Rob Alexander (Field) |
Riolo; Wishart, Timmins, Simon, Seru; Mackay, Air; Fritz, Hepi, Walsh, Doherty, Cross (c), Rodwell. K.White, Richards, O'Meara, Purcell.
The Steelers coughed up a 20-6 lead at half-time with some sloppy handling and disastrous defence to give away 24 unanswered second-half points to the boys that travelled from across the Tasman.
Reserve Grade: Illawarra defeated Auckland 29-10.
May
Round 7: 5 May 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (10) 18–14 (12) | ![]() | Wollongong, New South Wales | |
Stadium: Steelers Stadium |
Round 8: Optus Cup | ![]() | (6) 24–8 (8) | ![]() | Townsville, Queensland | |
Stadium: Stockland Stadium Referee: Eddie Ward (Field) |
Round 9: 18 May 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (8) 18–12 (0) | ![]() | Wollongong, New South Wales | |
Stadium: Steelers Stadium Referee: Kelvin Jeffes (Field) |
Round 10: Friday 31 May 1996 Optus Cup | ![]() | (2) 12–0 (0) | ![]() | Sydney, New South Wales | |
Stadium: Belmore Sports Ground Attendance: 6,022 Referee: Graeme West (Field) |
June
Round 11: Optus Cup | ![]() | (6) 16–14 (8) | ![]() | Canberra, ACT | |
Tries:
| Tries: Goals:
| Stadium: Bruce Stadium |
Reserve Grade: Illawarra defeated Canberra 22-16.
Round 12: Optus Cup | ![]() | () 14–6 () | ![]() | Wollongong, New South Wales | |
Stadium: Steelers Stadium |
Round 13: Optus Cup | ![]() | () 48–18 () | ![]() | North Sydney, New South Wales | |
Stadium: North Sydney Oval |
July
Round 14: Optus Cup | ![]() | () 8–16 () | ![]() | ||
Ladder
Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
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1 | ![]() | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 549 | 191 | +358 | 36 |
2 | ![]() | 21 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 607 | 263 | +344 | 34 |
3 | ![]() | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 598 | 325 | +273 | 32 |
4 | ![]() | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 521 | 321 | +200 | 31 |
5 | ![]() | 21 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 399 | 268 | +131 | 30 |
6 | ![]() | 21 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 538 | 384 | +154 | 27 |
7 | ![]() | 21 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 443 | 360 | +83 | 27 |
8 | ![]() | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 394 | 434 | −40 | 25 |
9 | ![]() | 21 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 416 | 388 | +28 | 23 |
10 | ![]() | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 375 | 378 | −3 | 22 |
11 | ![]() | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 412 | 427 | −15 | 22 |
12 | ![]() | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 319 | 459 | −140 | 22 |
13 | ![]() | 21 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 404 | 415 | −11 | 21 |
14 | ![]() | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 403 | 444 | −41 | 16 |
15 | ![]() | 21 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 363 | 464 | −101 | 15 |
16 | ![]() | 21 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 313 | 420 | −107 | 13 |
17 | ![]() | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 288 | 643 | −355 | 12 |
18 | ![]() | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 359 | 521 | −162 | 11 |
19 | ![]() | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 314 | 634 | −320 | 11 |
20 | ![]() | 21 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 220 | 496 | −276 | 8 |
Home crowd averages
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References
External links
- v
- t
- e
Current | |
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Past |
- John Dorahy
- Allan Fitzgibbon
- Chris Walsh
- John Cross
- Graham Murray
- Paul McGregor
- Rod Wishart
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competitions
Current | |
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Past |