Illawarra Steelers

[Joshuatheeel]

Did Houston come through the steelers junior system, or the Dragons?

Narooma product, so thats more the Raiders catchment area (Far South Coast).

Other lesser known Illawarra/South Coast products are Adam Docker, Keith Lulia, Josh Starling, Joe Vickery and then theres the one Ive never been to sure of, Luke O'Donnell, always listed as a Milton Ulladulla Bulldog, but played his rep footy for City.

LOD also played with albion park ( which is steelers territory) I think .

 

[Cumberland Throw]

Why aren't cutters called steelers ? 😥

 

[jonno_knights]

LOD also played with albion park ( which is steelers territory) I think .

Really, didnt know that.. Yeh AP is definitely Steelers territory, Group 7 Sth Coast.

 

[Prometheus]

The Cutters are a three-way joint venture between St George Illawarra, Illawarra District RLFC (the Steelers) and the Illawarra Rugby League. They are named the Cutters because their sponsor is Illawarra Coal.

 

[Red Bear]

Unfortunately the Steelers were broke in 1998 and there were no sponsors on the horizon, so they had no choice but to look for a partnership and St George were the sensible choice.

The history of Rugby League in the Illawarra is a proud one dating back to the 1920s. There have already been periods of greatness for the district, particularly against touring English sides. So to suggest the club just emerged overnight with the Steelers in 1982 is a something of a mistake.

An Illawarra side probably should have been admitted into the NSWRL first grade during the Sydney comp expansion in 1967, but I understand that this was blocked by the CRL at the time.

The long history of league in the illawarra is half the reason the Steelers failed tbh. 70 odd years of a very strong competition and, in particular, some pretty big leagues clubs (Dapto, Wests and Collies in particular) meant alot of people had their allegiances to licensed clubs already - and the Steelers Club has just never made much money (or more to the point has lost money) because putting another club in clubland was never going to be hugely effective.

Wollongong is not particularly good at uniting behind one team, because it's essentially alot of small mining communities that have been banded together. I work up north at the moment, they put scorn on people south of thirroul. It'll probably begin to change over the current generation but I think it's a bigh part of the reason our stand alone sporting sides have always either struggled/failed.

 

[newman]

The Cutters are a three-way joint venture between St George Illawarra, Illawarra District RLFC (the Steelers) and the Illawarra Rugby League. They are named the Cutters because their sponsor is Illawarra Coal.

So why arent they called the Steelers?

 

[Heisenburg]

So why arent they called the Steelers?

They were called the Steelers because they were heavily sponsored by BHP which is now Bluescope. Bluescope wanted nothing to do with sponsoring the new feeder team and Illawarra Coal became the major sponsor.

 

[newman]

BHP only came on board as a sponsor some time into the Steelers tenure, but hung around until the end. I read it on Wiki, thats gotta be true. But I know they were unsponsored in their first year then had Kaiser Stuhl.

They play in Steelers jerseys. It seems silly and petty to me that they are the Cutters.

Heisenberg is going to get it, dont you reckon? I hope poor Jessie doenst die.

 

[newman]

 

[Whoosh]

Arguably the greatest Steeler ever - Keith Cole

 

[Joshuatheeel]

You still see Michael bolt around the gong .

 

[muzby]

Keiser stuhl...

I miss cask wine...

It's the only drink that will get you blotto and then provide you with a pillow afterwards..

Glass bottles are damn painful to rest your head on..

 

[Heisenburg]

BHP only came on board as a sponsor some time into the Steelers tenure, but hung around until the end. I read it on Wiki, thats gotta be true. But I know they were unsponsored in their first year then had Kaiser Stuhl.

They play in Steelers jerseys. It seems silly and petty to me that they are the Cutters.

Heisenberg is going to get it, dont you reckon? I hope poor Jessie doenst die.

My bad. That's what I was told. I only ever remember them being sponsored by BHP. I agree Cutters is pretty stupid but I think the Illawarra leagues club were butthurt that Bluescope wanted nothing to do with it.

I hope Jesse is alright as well. Heisenberg is going down. the spelling mistake is going to haunt me.

 

[Prometheus]

So why arent they called the Steelers?

It's not a difficult concept to grasp newman. The Cutters aren't called the Steelers because they are neither owned, nor run, by the Steelers.

 

[jonno_knights]

Who runs the Illawarra Leagues Club and more to the point, why wasnt that just used as the official club of the Steelers in 1982?

Probably a very valid reason, just I was born in 1990, so dont know much about the Steelers other than sitting on the hill as a kid in the mid-90s a fair bit.

Illawarra Leagues is the 2nd oldest leagues club in the world isnt it? is that the main thing keeping it alive? cause I sure as hell havent been in there, whereas ive been in Collies, Wests and the DLC plenty of times.

 

[HowHigh]

Within around 5 mins walking distance of each other you've got:
Illawarra Leagues, Steelers, Collegians, Master Builders, City Diggers (plus about 4 or 5 pubs)

Then there's a lot of other clubs in different suburbs. Was always going to be tough for Steelers club to do well imo plus it's actually fairly small compared to some of the others..

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Who runs the Illawarra Leagues Club and more to the point, why wasnt that just used as the official club of the Steelers in 1982?

Probably a very valid reason, just I was born in 1990, so dont know much about the Steelers other than sitting on the hill as a kid in the mid-90s a fair bit.

Illawarra Leagues is the 2nd oldest leagues club in the world isnt it? is that the main thing keeping it alive? cause I sure as hell havent been in there, whereas ive been in Collies, Wests and the DLC plenty of times.

I believe the leagues club is related to league as a whole in the district. Not a bad club for a quiet drink and meal before hitting the gong's nightlife. I believe politics played a part in the clubs you mentioned not getting involved. The steelers I believe had the option of taking over cleos (I think that is the name) early in there existance but choose not to.

 

[Cumberland Throw]

f**k rugby league people are petty

Just f**k off the word cutters

 

[Prometheus]

The Illawarra Leagues Club is just a licensed club, who have nothing to do with the Steelers or the Cutters. I'm not sure if they've ever had an actual rugby league team.

 

[muzby]

I thought they were named the cutters to help attract fans from the emo community...