Inaugural Illawarra Steelers captain John Dorahy recalls club’s NSWRFL debut

John Dorahy was the first person to lead out the Illawarra Steelers 40 years ago. The former league icon reflects on that day four decades on — and the club’s merger with St George.

The Illawarra had been rumbling for decades for a rugby league team to call its own and 40 years ago this week the Illawarra Steelers ran out onto the Wollongong Showground for their first ever match in the NSWRFL competition.

The Steelers joined the league for the 1982 season alongside the Canberra Raiders with the two clubs the first from outside Sydney to join the world’s premier rugby league competition since the Newcastle Rebels of 1908 and 1909.

Illawarra’s inaugural coach was former Balmain player Allan Fitzgibbon who coached Dapto to four Illawarra Rugby League premierships between 1971 and 1981.

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The Steelers needed a captain and that came in the form of a centre from Manly-Warringah with international and Origin experience. He was also Wollongong born and bred — he was John ‘Joe Cool’ Dorahy.

Dorahy, who is now a councillor for the City of Wollongong, reflected on his move from Sydney’s northern beaches back to the coal city he had grown up in and being asked to captain the side.

“The crux behind it was I was a Wollongong boy,” Dorahy told The Illawarra Star.

“I was approached by Allan Fitzgibbon and [Steelers CEO] Bob Millward to see if I was interested in coming down. We had three meetings, the first two were about getting used to the idea and discussing the makeup of the squad because I wanted to be competitive. The third one was to decide if I would go to the Steelers or try my hand in Brisbane with Brisbane Souths or Redcliffe who were coached by Arthur Beetson.

“In the end Wollongong was closer to Sydney where the in-laws live which made it more comfortable for my wife.

“To be the inaugural captain was a huge position and I am very grateful for the opportunity. I felt blessed to be offered it.”

The Steelers maiden competitive game came on Sunday, February 28, 1982 at the Showground against the Penrith Panthers.

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Dorahy recalled the historic afternoon without missing a beat, with the Wests Illawarra junior able to rattle off the full list of part-time footy players he led out across the Showground’s dog track.

However, the momentous occasion got off to a rough start for the two-time Kangaroo thanks to an incredibly diligent security guard.

“The first memory from the day was at the northern gates where the gateman asked for my pass,” Dorahy said.

“I told him I had forgotten it and he said he couldn’t let me in. I said, ‘I am playing today,’ and he said, ‘I can’t let you in even if you’re the Queen without a pass’. I was like holy dooley and drove out to Figtree to get my pass — fortunately I wasn’t running late, but it revved me up to have a good game.

“I went down into the old Showground change rooms and Fitzy had a chat with us and we talked to the players about the occasion. Fitzy being Fitzy didn’t make it too big of an occasion and said we would do pretty well if we stuck to our guns. Allan was a fantastic coach and mentor.

“We warmed up on the old number two ground and then we walked out across the dog track, it was quite exhilarating and one moment in my career I feel really proud of.

“It was a remarkable day. It was wonderful for the crowd who came along because they knew they had an Illawarra team that they had been hearing about for all the years finally come to fruition. Hats off to Bob Millward and his fellow directors who were all voluntary, but they just wanted to see it happen.”

Penrith went on to win the match 17 to 7 with Greg Cook scoring the Steelers’ first-ever try and Dorahy kicking two conversions in front of around 10,000 exuberant Illawarrians.

The Steelers were handily beaten the following weekend by Eastern Suburbs, but in round three the club recorded their first win, beating South Sydney 20 to 10 in Wollongong.

Illawarra finished second last in the 14-team competition with fellow newcomers Canberra propping up the rest.
Dorahy ended the year as the fifth-highest individual point scorer with the Steelers skipper scoring 159 points in 25 matches.

The joint venture

The Steelers were always battling near the bottom of the table during Dorahy’s four seasons and 74 games with the club.

He would finish out his playing career with spells in England, as well as three seasons with the North Sydney Bears sandwiched between.

The Steelers fortunes didn’t improve drastically post their early years apart from a couple of finals appearances and reaching the final of the 1989 Panasonic Cup - NSWRL’s midweek competition - where they lost 22 to 20 against Brisbane.

In the wake of the Super League war, the Steelers were one of the clubs struggling for cash with rumours swirling of a merger with one of Cronulla, Western Suburbs or St George.

In the end, Illawarra merged with the Dragons which was Steelers CEO Bob Millward’s preferred pick, with St George stumping up the cash and the Steelers bringing the junior base that had produced the likes of Paul McGregor, Shaun Timmins and Craig Fitzgibbon — the son of the club’s inaugural coach.

St George Illawarra players Shaun Timmins (L) and Trent Barrett (R) with John Dorahy at the unveiling of the Dragons’ 2004 heritage jersey. The photo was ironically taken at the St George Leagues Club in Kogarah.

Dorahy, who was coaching in the UK at the time of the merger, said it’s impossible to know if the Steelers could have gone it alone and described the joint venture as a ‘marriage made in purgatory’.

“That’s a tough question, as far as the merger is concerned I wasn’t a fan,” he said.

“[The Steelers] were average [on the field] as best, they made the midweek cup final against Brisbane, but they were never able to go to the next level and play finals football year after year.

“Had we been able to do that during my time or after it would have led to greater participation by the public and more local corporate sponsorship.

“I was with North Sydney [between 1987 and 1989] and they would be involved in a marriage made in hell [with Manly to form the Northern Eagles], so I guess [St George Illawarra] was a marriage made in purgatory.”

Despite his reservations over the merger, Dorahy said he still wants to see the Dragons represent the region with distinction on the national stage.

“They’ve done their best,” he said.

“Financially they have struggled over the years as St George Illawarra and like the Wests Tigers where you hear the Tigers, but hardly the Wests, you hear St George, but hardly the Illawarra.

“I wish them with Anthony Griffin all the best and they have started alright [winning the Charity Shield]. I am an Illawarra boy so I always hope the local team can perform successfully and that should be the goal for the players.”

Call to upgrade Win Stadium

St George Illawarra play around a handful of their games at Win Stadium (formerly the Showground) with six regular season games heading to the 23,000-seater in 2022.

Dorahy wants to see a greater presence in the Illawarra from the Dragons and he said that should go hand-in-hand with upgrades to the Win Entertainment Centre precinct which hosts the club as well as the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL.

Illawarra Steelers icons Michael Bolt (L) and John Dorahy at Win Stadium ahead of the 2010 NRL Grand Final.

“At least half of the games should be in Wollongong,” the Liberal councillor said.

“I know clubs try to take games away from the area for regional funding, but at the same time I think they should be looking at the Illawarra.

“Venues NSW needs to stump up and consider Wollongong’s facility as in the Win Entertainment Centre as something they need to put more capital into and pull it down and rebuild it for what it should be for the third largest city in NSW.

“I look at Geelong for example in the AFL and the facility they have. The government, be it Liberal or Labor, state or federal, needs to get this up and running.”