Rogers 'an immortal of the game'
Obituary by Glenn Cullen
January 03, 2006
HE may not have become a rugby league Immortal but that didn't stop people in the Sutherland shire calling Steve Rogers "God".
It was one of the many sobriquets that Rogers had.
Contemporaries and media pundits also labelled him "the prince of centres" while mates just called him "sludge".
Everyone else that followed rugby league in the 1970s and 80s simply knew him as a great footy player.
A Cronulla junior, Rogers was earmarked early for greatness, making his debut with the senior Sharks side as an 18-year-old in 1973.
He'd already had two seasons under his belt with the Gold Coast Tigers in the Queensland competition and that experience would serve him well as he went on to feature in a grand final and Kangaroo tour in just his first year in the top flight.
Rogers would never celebrate a grand final victory; that `73 experience ended in a 10-7 loss against Manly.
Further heartbreak was to come five years later as the Sea Eagles again proved Cronulla's bogey side, drawing 11-11 with the Rogers-led Sharks in the grand final before beating them soundly 16-0 in the replay.
But it was one of the few checkboxes not ticked in an exceptional career that included three Kangaroo tours and a first grade record of 1,253 points for Cronulla.
At the height of his powers in the mid 1970s to early 80s, Rogers was more impressive than simple statistics.
His sense of balance, athleticism and versatility enabled him to play centre, five-eighth or lock with equal aplomb with a game that was both aesthetically pleasing and productive on the scoreboard.
"He was dominant in any position that he played," recalled Kangaroo teammate Mick Cronin, who formed one of Australia's great centre combinations with Rogers.
"He was an athlete and a footballer. There wasn't anything in the game he couldn't do."
Rogers also enjoyed a beer.
"He was knockabout bloke and a legendary card player," recalled St George and Kangaroo teammate Rod Reddy.
"Socially, he liked a great time and in his early years I suppose he played hard off the field and on the field also."
Injury, too, played its part in Rogers' career and it often struck at the worst possible time.
In 1974, he suffered his first major knee injury and missed likely national honours.
He controversially crossed the Shire divide to join St George as the game's highest-paid player in 1983 but battled a series of physical complaints and never really reached his peak again.
Rogers re-joined Cronulla in 1985 but had his jaw broken by Canterbury forward Mark Bugden in his return match. The incident resulted in a protracted court course case with Rogers suing for assault.
His stint with Widnes was equally unproductive, breaking his leg in a debut outing with the English club.
It ended his career.
Rogers took on various administration and coaching roles but his heart belonged with Cronulla and he returned to the club in 1998 and had been there ever since, desperately but ultimately unsuccessfully trying to deliver the side to a premiership he never saw as a player.
An affable, media-friendly executive, Rogers also passed on many of his on-field skills to son Mat, who would forge a successful career with Cronulla before turning to rugby union in 2002.
That move came shortly after another Rogers family tragedy with Steve's first wife - and Mat's mother - Carol dying from a long battle with cancer the year prior.
With Rogers' passing today, the debate over rugby league immortals is sure to re-emerge.
Just seven players officially where the label: Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson, Clive Churchill, John Raper, Reg Gasnier and Bob Fulton.
Rogers was considered closely for inclusion when Beetson became the last player inducted in 2003.
But Cronin put the issue into simple perspective today.
"These are things I don't buy into," he said.
"If you put all the footballers down on paper, he'd be there on his day with the best of them."
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