NewsLocal looks at the 15 biggest and best sporting moments from 2022 in Illawarra
2022 was yet another year of sporting excellence for the Illawarra region, both locally and on the international scene. NewsLocal takes a look at some of the top 15 sporting moments that defined 2022.
Illawarra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Illawarra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE Illawarra region had a 2022 that can be looked back on fondly under the sporting microscope.
At a local level there was thriving competition and individual brilliance, and at a national and international level the star exports of the region were dominating worldwide.
2022 had it all from gold medals, to records broken, to rivalries won, to superstars being born.
Check out our top 15 Illawarra sporting moments, and don’t forget to leave a comment letting us know what your favourite sporting moment was and if we missed anything.
Emma McKeon continues to dominate
Wollongong’s prized export had another staggeringly successful year in 2022.
Riding the high of her dominance at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, McKeon entered the Commonwealth Games as a favourite, despite it being her first pool action since the games the previous year.
And there was to be no signs of pressure on the shoulders of the former Illawarra Grammar School student, coasting to a record-breaking medal tally at six golds, one silver and one bronze at the one games.
McKeon also cleaned up four gold medals and three silvers this December in FINA World Short Course Championships, including two world records for Australia in relay events.
The queen of the pool just keeps on giving.
Ben Hunt finds career-best form
A diamond in the rough at the St George Illawarra Dragons.
Ben Hunt went into the Dally M award ceremony as a hot favourite to take out the game’s major prize, having been a standout weekly performer for a Dragons side that ended the season in 10th place.
Hunt was on top of the Dally M standings when the voting went behind closed doors in Round 12.
Nico Hynes would take out the top prize in the end, also snagging the halfback spot in the Team of the Year, leaving Hunt with only the memories of a stellar campaign.
Perhaps he will be most remembered for that runaway try for Queensland in the Origin decider, or his history-making kicking performance against the Raiders where he nailed a 40/20 and a 20/40 in the same game.
Perhaps the best news for the Dragons will be Hunt’s re-signing until 2025, meaning there is a few more years of Hunt magic at the Red V’s.
Local junior smashes 20+ year golfing record
A rising star in the golf scene is 15 year old Sam Cascio.
He made Wollongong Golf Club his stomping grounds in 2022, winning both the Club Championship and the Junior Club Championship on the same weekend.
In doing so, he became the youngest golfer to win the Club Championship in Wollongong since 1995.
An incredible achievement and a name to watch for the future.
Read more about the youngster’s victory.
Exciting teen footballing sensation signs Villarreal scholarship
An excellent story to come out of the Illawarra in a tumultuous time for Australian football.
Local Illawarra footballer Liam Hoyn was offered a season-long scholarship deal at Villarreal CF in Spain for their Juvenil C side, with the possibility of rising further up the ranks after this initial season.
Hoyn had been at the Villarreal Academy in Sydney, which presented him with the opportunity to travel overseas to the club in Spain, where he was then offered his scholarship.
The former Cringila Lions player is the first to receive an offer like this from a Villarreal Academy around the world.
Good luck to you Liam!
And still your UFC Featherweight Champion!
Raised in Wollongong, fighting and defending his title all over the world.
Unquestionably the Illawarra’s greatest combat export, Volkanovski remains the UFC Featherweight Champion, a reign he has held since December 2019.
Volkanovski retained his championship in April via TKO in the ‘Performance of the Night’ against Jung Chan-Sung, and a second time by unanimous decision against Max Holloway in July.
Only Jose Aldo of Brazil has held the belt longer than the vicious Australian striker now.
Volkanovski’s next scheduled fight is scheduled as a main event bout at UFC 284 in February against Russian born Islam Makhachev.
World Cup call-up for Joel King
A wonderful moment from 2022 for the former Shellharbour junior.
Joel King’s selection put him in the same elite group of Illawarra juniors to have made World Cup squads for Australia, including Mile Sterjovski, Luke Wilkshire and Scott Chipperfield.
King made his A-League debut for Sydney FC in 2019 against the Newcastle Jets, before transferring to Danish side Odense Boldklub in 2022.
The left-back didn’t manage any game time in Qatar, but being a part of that historic Socceroos squad would have been an experience King will never forget, and he’ll no doubt have ambitions to get on the field for the 2026 World Cup.
Read more about the meteoric rise of the Shellharbour junior.
Hawks struggle to take flight
It’s been a season to forget for the Illawarra Hawks.
Coming off a 2nd place table finish in the 2021-22 season, at the time of writing the Hawks now sit in dead last on the NBL ladder, with just two wins from 17 games played.
A double-overtime loss to the Cairns Taipans in Round 10 of the NBL season was an appropriate summary of the Hawks’ heartache this season.
Co-captain Sam Froling has publicly defended coach Jacob Jackomas despite the poor season from the Hawks, saying the coach has built a positive culture at the club and assuring followers the results will improve.
But for the time being, it’s a tough run of results for the Hawks.
Shellharbour JFC triple victory in Champion of Champions
A great day in the history of Shellharbour Junior Football Club, with three out of three teams returning from the Champion of Champions tournament victorious.
The U14 boys picked up a dramatic victory over Pitt Town FC with two goals in the last five minutes from Richard Niyukuri and Daniel Robinson to snag a clutch 2-1 victory.
The U15 boys were successful as well against Bankstown Sport Strikers, sealing a 1-0 victory in extra time thanks to a Matias Valenzuela penalty.
The Shellharbour trifecta was completed with the U16 girls, who comfortably dispatched of Terrigal United 4-1, with braces from Jessica Bell and Ariana Fleming.
A dominant day for Shellharbour and encouraging signs coming into the 2023 season.
Best in Australia for UOW Motorsport
A superb underdog story that came out of the University of Wollongong’s motorsport team.
In a sea of engineering teams extendings across all of Australia and across Asia, the UOW Motorsport team managed to finish in 2nd place overall, and 1st in Australia at the Formula SAE-A 2022 championships in Victoria.
A mix of solo driving heroics, combined with excellent behind the scenes teamwork and late nights in the garage all culminated in a massive trophy haul for the small team.
Wollongong Olympic end 37 year IPL drought
Wollongong Olympic ended a 37 year drought by winning the Illawarra Premier League final in late October.
To make the occasion even sweeter, they defeated cross-town rival Wollongong United to secure the trophy.
Chris Price opened the scoring with a header off a corner, before a Wollongong United own goal proved pivotal, with the game ending 2-1 to Olympic.
Justin Pasfield made a crucial penalty save and Harry Callahan put in a Man of the Match performance to ensure the trophy went to the Olympic side of Wollongong.
Eyes on Wollongong for 2022 UCI Road Championships
In 2022 Wollongong was host to the UCI Road World Championships.
The annual event is the pinnacle of road cycling and attracted major audiences to the coastal town of Wollongong for eight days in September.
The event has only been held in Australia once before in its 95 year history, being in Geelong in 2010.
The event was a great success, with cyclists taking to the scenic heights of Mount Pleasant and Mount Keira for a number of different events.
There was a total of 11 different race formats that took place over the championships, in which Great Britain topped the medal tally.
Australia took two silver and two bronze medals
Warilla Lake reign supreme in year-long local tussle
There was a great local tussle in Illawarra this year between Warilla Lake Gorillas and Gerringong Lions in the South Coast Group 7 first grade.
The two finished on joint points at the top of the ladder after the regular season, with Gerringong edging the minor premiership on point difference.
Interestingly, both meetings between the two sides during the regular season were blowouts, one being a 44-8 win to Gerringong, the other being a 32-10 win to Warilla.
Come the grand final, it was a much tighter affair, with two tries from fullback Justin Jones edging the tie to the Gorillas 16-14.
A great back and forth between two strong Illawarra sides.
Darts Wollongong
Another global attraction to hit Wollongong shores was the hosting of the NSW Darts Masters at the WIN Entertainment Centre in August.
Some of the finest darts professionals on the planet touched down on Wollongong soil to compete for boomerang-style trophies, as a tribute to the late Australian darts player Kyle Anderson.
The event would prove to have no traces of home-soil advantage for Australia however.
Eight Australians competed in the first round of the tournament against an array of international darts talents, with Simon Whitlock the only one of the eight to progress any further in the tournament, with this progression ending one round later.
The Masters would be taken out by Jonny Clayton, with the Welshman defeating Englishman James Wade in the final.
Luke Pople leads his side to gold
Dapto resident Luke Pople was pivotal in Australia’s gold medal performance in wheelchair basketball at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
The 3x3 basketball format made its debut at the 2022 games, and Pople was one of the first to stamp his mark on the new format.
After defeating England in the semi-finals, Pople and his teammates Lachlin Dalton, Jake Kavanagh and Kurt Thomson defeated Canada in the final, with Pople headlining the victory with 6 points.
Pople and his teammates would go down in history as the inaugural winners of the event.
Sheridan Ghallager captains her nation in Costa Rica
An immensely proud moment for former Illawarra Stingrays forward Sheridan Ghallager as she was named captain of Australia at the U20s World Cup in Costa Rica.
The World Cup, which took place in August, was Australia’s fourth appearance at the tournament and their first since 2006.
This was a major moment in the young career of Ghallagher, who signed for the Western Sydney Wanderers in 2021.
Australia would fail to make it out of the group stage consisting of Spain and Brazil, but did pick up a win against hosts Costa Rica.
Harold Matthews Cup: Every club previewed ahead of 2025 season
The race to hoist this year’s Harold Matthews Cup once again promises to be unpredictable. Loaded with under-17s talent, we preview all 17 teams in the running for the prestigious competition.
NRLW gun Keeley Davis keeping close tabs on future teammates – and rivals
She is one of the pioneers of NRLW but now this rugby league talent is playing a hand in the development of her future teammates - and potential rivals.