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1996 Illawarra Steelers season

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Illawarra Steelers
1996 season
CEOAustralia Bob Millward
Head coachAustralia Allan McMahon
CaptainAustralia John Cross
ARL14 (out of 20)
Reserve Grade8 (of 20), Preliminary Final
President's Cup3 (of 20), Preliminary Final
Top try scorerClub: Rod Wishart (14)
Top points scorerClub: Rod Wishart (160)
Highest home attendance9,744 (vs. Western Suburbs Magpies, 22 March 1996, at WIN Stadium)
Lowest home attendance4,883 (vs. South Queensland Crushers, 5 May 1996, at WIN Stadium)
Average home attendance7,434 (Total 81,778)
← 1995 1997 →

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

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Gains

Player Previous Club

Losses

Player Joined Club

Squad

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No. Position Player

Glen Air – HB Adam Bristow – LK Dean Callaway – HK Paul Carige – FB Wayne Clifford – WG David Cox – PR John Cross – LK (c) Maea David – PR Darrien Doherty – PR Scott England – PR Darren Fritz – PR Brad Hepi – HK Brad Mackay – LK Paul McGregor – CE Brendan O'Meara – FB

No. Position Player

Neil Piccinelli – SR Andrew Purcell – HK Brendon Reeves – FB Wayne Richards – SR David Riolo – FB Brett Rodwell – CE Fili Seru – WG Craig Simon – CE Craig Smith – PR Shaun Timmins – CE David Walsh – PR Josh White – HB Kyle White – PR Rod Wishart – WG

Draw and results

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Quick summary

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1996 Illawarra Steelers season summary
Round Home Score Away
1 Steelers 8-17 Wests
2 Auckland 18-10 Steelers
3 Brisbane 54-4 Steelers
4 Steelers 56-14 Souths
5 Chargers 28-20 Steelers
6 Steelers 20-30 Auckland
Round Home Score Away
7 Steelers 18-14 Sth Qld
8 Nth Qld 24-8 Steelers
9 Steelers 18-12 Dragons
10 Canterbury 12-0 Steelers
11 Canberra 16-14 Steelers
12 Steelers 14-6 Brisbane
Round Home Score Away
13 Nth Syd 48-18 Steelers
14 Steelers 8-16 Manly
15 Steelers 18-19 Reds
16 Eels 34-18 Steelers
17 Steelers 16-32 Sydney
18 Newcastle 22-34 Steelers
Round Home Score Away
19 Steelers 21-14 Sharks
20 Balmain 16-14 Steelers
21 Steelers 42-2 Penrith
22 Wests 12-8 Steelers

Regular season

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March

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Round 1: 22 March 1996
Optus Cup 		Illawarra Steelers (0) 8–17 (6) Western Suburbs Magpies 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 		Auckland Warriors (6) 18–10 (0) Illawarra Steelers Auckland, New Zealand
Tries:
Goals:
Tries:
Goals:
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

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Round 3: Saturday 6 April 1996
Optus Cup 		Brisbane Broncos (26) 54–4 (4) Illawarra Steelers Brisbane, Queensland
Tries:
Goals:
Tries:
Goals:
  • Rod Wishart 0/1
 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 		Illawarra Steelers (20) 56–14 (10) South Sydney Rabbitohs 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:
Goals:
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 		Illawarra Steelers (20) 20–30 (6) Auckland Warriors Wollongong, New South Wales
Tries:
Goals:
Tries:
Goals:
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

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Round 7: 5 May 1996
Optus Cup 		Illawarra Steelers (10) 18–14 (12) South Queensland Crushers Wollongong, New South Wales
Stadium: Steelers Stadium
Round 8:
Optus Cup 		North Queensland Cowboys (6) 24–8 (8) Illawarra Steelers Townsville, Queensland
Stadium: Stockland Stadium
Referee: Eddie Ward (Field)
Round 9: 18 May 1996
Optus Cup 		Illawarra Steelers (8) 18–12 (0) St. George Dragons Wollongong, New South Wales
Stadium: Steelers Stadium
Referee: Kelvin Jeffes (Field)
Round 10: Friday 31 May 1996
Optus Cup 		Canterbury Bulldogs (2) 12–0 (0) Illawarra Steelers Sydney, New South Wales
Stadium: Belmore Sports Ground
Attendance: 6,022
Referee: Graeme West (Field)

June

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Round 11:
Optus Cup 		Canberra Raiders (6) 16–14 (8) Illawarra Steelers Canberra, ACT
Tries:
Goals:
Tries:
Goals:
Stadium: Bruce Stadium

Reserve Grade: Illawarra defeated Canberra 22-16.

Round 12:
Optus Cup 		Illawarra Steelers () 14–6 () Brisbane Broncos Wollongong, New South Wales
Stadium: Steelers Stadium
Round 13:
Optus Cup 		North Sydney Bears () 48–18 () Illawarra Steelers North Sydney, New South Wales
Stadium: North Sydney Oval

July

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Round 14:
Optus Cup 		Illawarra Steelers () 8–16 () Manly Sea Eagles

Ladder

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Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Manly-Warringah 22 18 0 4 549 191 +358 36
2 Brisbane 21 17 0 4 607 263 +344 34
3 North Sydney 22 15 2 5 598 325 +273 32
4 Sydney City 22 15 1 6 521 321 +200 31
5 Cronulla-Sutherland 21 14 2 5 399 268 +131 30
6 Canberra 21 13 1 7 538 384 +154 27
7 St. George 21 12 1 8 443 360 +83 27
8 Western Suburbs 22 12 1 9 394 434 −40 25
9 Newcastle 21 10 1 10 416 388 +28 23
10 Canterbury 21 11 0 10 375 378 −3 22
11 Auckland 21 10 0 11 412 427 −15 22
12 Balmain 22 11 0 11 319 459 −140 22
13 Parramatta 21 9 1 11 404 415 −11 21
14 Illawarra 22 8 0 14 403 444 −41 16
15 Penrith 21 7 1 13 363 464 −101 15
16 Western Reds 21 6 1 14 313 420 −107 13
17 North Queensland 21 6 0 15 288 643 −355 12
18 Gold Coast 22 5 1 16 359 521 −162 11
19 South Sydney 22 5 1 16 314 634 −320 11
20 South Queensland 21 3 0 18 220 496 −276 8

Home crowd averages

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References

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