‘It’s a club that’s very close to my heart’: Former Kangaroo, Blue Timmins to lead Illawarra SG Ball in first head coach position

With more than 200 first-grade caps and international honours, Shaun Timmins is set to bring some invaluable experience to his maiden head coach role at the Steelers. Hear from the new man at the wheel.

Shaun Timmins, new SG Ball coach for the Illawarra Steelers. Picture: Kevin Merrigan

For over a decade, Shaun Timmins was taking hit-ups and finding the try line for both the Illawarra Steelers and the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Now, he has his eyes set on the next generation to don the scarlet and white, as he returns to the Steelers as head coach of their 2024 SG Ball side.

Having been in and around a number of roles with the Dragons, ranging from recruitment to development to sponsorship, Timmins is starting a new venture as he takes the head coach reins for the first time.

“It’s a club that’s very close to my heart,” Timmins said.

“I sort of jumped at the opportunity, it’s probably one of those things that was always in the back of my head that I’d like to have a go at coaching myself.

Shaun Timmins, new SG Ball coach for the Illawarra Steelers. Picture: Kevin Merrigan

“With Flanno (Shane Flanagan) coming in this year, he said he’d be keen on me doing that role.

“I’m excited, we’ve got some great young kids in here so I’m looking forward to coaching them.”

It’s a full circle moment for Timmins, 47, who returns to the club that kick-started his professional footy career.

Timmins was just 17 when he made his first-grade debut for the Steelers in round 18 of 1994 against the Sharks at Wollongong Showground.

Shaun Timmins playing for the Steelers in 1997. Picture: Rugby League A/CT

From there he made 210 appearances between the Steelers and the Dragons, making a further 19 representative appearances between Australia, NSW Origin and NSW Country.

With all that experience under his belt, Timmins naturally has been under some of the very best coaches, no doubt influencing the coaching style he’ll be bringing to the Steelers.

“You do take little things from every different coach you have over time … I had Graham Murray early days, Andrew Farrar was a big influence on my career, Nathan Brown as well.

“Then in representative, guys like Wayne Bennett, Phil Gould, Chris Anderson.

One of his career highlights, Shaun Timmins kicks the winning field goal for NSW to win State of Origin Game 1 in 2004. Picture: David Kapernick

“So I’ve been fortunate enough to have some very good coaches, you take bits and pieces out of everyone, but you have to do it your own way as well.

“I probably won’t be the most technical coach, but I know I’ll just be big on effort and people competing, so hopefully I’ll bring that and a bit of passion to the club.”

Coming through the Steelers SG Ball side in his youth, Timmins is a testament to the strong pathways system existing within the St George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers.

Keeping strong lines of communication with the likes of Shane Flanagan at the top of the chain, Timmins is keen to approach his coaching gig with the mindset that the current crop of junior reps will continue to rise the pathways system all the way to the top-flight, looking to instil good habits in his players early on.

Shaun Timmins made 124 appearances for the Dragons.

“Flanno is keen on filtering everything from the top down through all our grades,” Timmins said.

“Last year we had kids in SG Ball that finished up playing Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup, so it makes it an easier transition when everything sort of flows the same through the grades, so when they move up everything is pretty familiar to them.

“We’ll just be trying to teach the younger boys how to train, how to prepare and the right way to do things if they want to go onto a career in the NRL.”

Mark Riddell and Bryan Norrie are set to be assistant coaches for the Illawarra Steelers SG Ball side in 2024. Pictures: Phil Hillyard, Brett Costello

Helping Timmins at the wheel this year will be former NRL players Mark ‘Piggy’ Riddell and Bryan Norrie, both former Dragons players and with 400+ first-grade caps between them, creating quite the all-star coaching line-up.

It’s still only a week into the pre-season with the Steelers, but Timmins is optimistic about the squad of emerging Steelers he’s assembled, believing now it’s just about putting in the hard yards before the action kicks off early next year.

“Right now it’s just about preparing the boys to be as fit and as strong as they can be … It’s a tough competition and a short one, so you have to be ready early to give yourself the best shot,” Timmins said.

“I’m excited with some of the talent we have, it’s a young side so a lot of them can play SG Ball for two years which is exciting.

“At the end of the day though, I obviously love winning, but the end goal is to get these kids ready and hopefully some of them go through to play NRL.”