THE Illawarra Steelers junior representative teams recently held their annual presentation evening to celebrate a successful year, in which all three teams made the finals in their respective NSWRL competitions.
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The evening was attended by players, staff, St George Illawarra Dragons coach Paul McGregor, representatives of the Steelers and St George Illawarra boards as well as an extremely large contingent of parents.
The Harold Matthews side (under 16 boys) made the finals and went out in a close encounter to the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs.
NRL player and Steelers junior Zac Lomax was on hand to present the awards alongside Coach Ben Linde.
The Coaches award was presented to dynamic half Talatau Amone.
This talented junior was also recently selected in the NSW CHS Open team, despite being two years younger than a number of other players.
The Harold Mathews player of the year went to hardworking front-rower Josh Coric.
Former Tarsha Gale Cup player Rikeya Horne attended to present the awards to the Tarsha Gale (under 18 girls) team.
Since playing Tarsha gale with the Steelers in 2017, Horne has gone on to represent NSW Country and the Jillaroos.
Horne and coach Daniel Lacey presented the coaches award to Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs’ Hannah England.
England has travelled from Ulladulla the last two seasons and her ongoing improvement and commitment to the team has been recognised by all those involved.
The Tarsha Gale player of the year trophy is named in honour of South Coast product Kezie Apps.
Apps unfortunately couldn’t be in attendance due to State of Origin commitments with NSW.
The player of the year was awarded to Maddison Weatheral, an explosive player who generally left a trail of destruction on her way to the try line.
Paul McGregor spoke with the crowd before assisting SG Ball (under 18 boys) coaches Jonathan Dallas and Matthew O’Brien with the presentations of awards for the 2018 season.
It was an honour to have McGregor in attendance and re-enforces the Dragons commitment to the juniors within the area.
The SG Ball coaches award recipient was Bailey Antrobus.
Antrobus filled a number of roles within the team and this was a great return season after missing all of 2017 with injury.
The Rick Posetti award for SG Ball player of the year was awarded to live-wire half Jayden Sullivan.
Sullivan was a standout player throughout the season, constantly sparking his teams attack and individually scoring a number of spectacular tries.
