# 1996 Illawarra Steelers season

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 |
Losses
| Player | Joined Club |

## Squad

| 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
### Quick summary

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
#### March

O'Meara; Wishart, Rodwell, McGregor, Seru; C.Simon, J.White; Fritz, Callaway, England, Cross (c), Richards, Timmins. Cox, Hepi, Bristow.
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

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
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.
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.
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.

#### June

Reserve Grade: Illawarra defeated Canberra 22-16.

#### July
## Ladder

| | 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

| Round | Opposition | Venue | Crowd |
| Round 1 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 9,744 |
| Round 4 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 7,083 |
| Round 6 | Auckland Warriors | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 8,055 |
| Round 7 | South Queensland Crushers | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 4,883 |
| Round 9 | St. George Dragons | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 8,529 |
| Round 12 | Brisbane Broncos | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 6,121 |
| Round 14 | Manly Sea Eagles | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 9,638 |
| Round 15 | WA Reds | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 7,115 |
| Round 17 | Sydney City Roosters | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 5,247 |
| Round 19 | Cronulla Sharks | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 8,017 |
| Round 21 | Penrith Panthers | Steelers Stadium, Wollongong | 7,346 |
| Total | | | 81,778 |
| Average | | | 7,434 |