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| Full name | Steven Frederick Rogers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1954-11-20)20 November 1954 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 3 January 2006(2006-01-03) (aged 51) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre,Lock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Relatives | Mat Rogers (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Steven Frederick Rogers (20 November 1954 – 3 January 2006) was an Australian professionalrugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks andSt. George Dragons teams in theNew South Wales Rugby League premiership competition and forWidnes in the EnglishChampionship, usually in the position ofcentre. Rogers representedNew South Wales and Australia captaining thenational team once in 1981.
After his retirement, Rogers was named as one of the five "immortals" of the Cronulla club.[3] He became involved in the administration of rugby league, and held the position of Cronulla'sCEO at the time of his death.[4]
Rogers died after swallowing a combination of prescription drugs and alcohol on 3 January 2006. In April 2006, the NSW state coroner ruled that the death was accidental.[5]
Steve Rogers was born on theGold Coast and played his first senior game for theSouthport Tigers.[6]In the 1972 Gold Coast Group 18 competition 17-year-old centre Steve Rogers helped aGold Coast Tigers outfit to victory in the Grand Final againstTweed Heads Seagulls.[7] The following season he moved to Sydney to play in theNSWRFL Premiership.
Rogers began playing first grade rugby league at the age of eighteen for theCronulla-Sutherland club in 1973. Playing the position of centre, his talent did not go unnoticed. He was described by the club's captain/coach,Tommy Bishop as a "rare, rare talent – the greatest all round centre three-quarter I have seen." In that year, he played in his firstGrand final, which Cronulla lost to theManly-Warringah Sea Eagles and made the first of threeKangaroo Tours.
Rogers led Cronulla to the grand final as captain, in 1978, once more against the Sea Eagles. The match was a tie, and Cronulla lost a replay in the following week. During that season, he was often switched to lock forward and was effective in that role. Three years later, he won the Dally M Lock of the Year award.
In 1975 Rogers won theRothmans Medal for best and fairest player in the NSWRFL. He played forNew South Wales in1980's first state of origin match. He was named player of the series in the1981 Tooth Cup tournament and also won that year's Dally M Award.
Rogers was selected to tour with theAustralian national rugby league team on the 1973Kangaroo Tour. National honours continued when he was selected in the Australian squad for the1975 Rugby League World Cup,1977 Rugby League World Cup,1978 Kangaroo tour, 1980 Tour of New Zealand and was a centre in all three tests againstGreat Britain and the two tests againstFrance on the 1982Kangaroo Tour, as well as playing in the pre-tour test againstPapua New Guinea. Rogers would captain the Kangaroos in the two 1981 home tests againstFrance.
As a result of Cronulla's serious financial difficulties, Rogers signed for 1983 with Cronulla's local rival, theSt. George Dragons. He played with them for two seasons, culminating in playing five-eighth in the Saints 1984 reserve grade Grand Final (a side which featured others such asMichael O'Connor), which the Dragons lost.[8]
Rogers returned to Cronulla in 1985, but only played nine minutes in the season after breaking his jaw in his first game of the year against theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, in a tackle from Mark Bugden.
In 1986 Rogers signed withWidnes in the English competition, but only played for 13 minutes before breaking his leg in his first game of the year againstWigan. This was the last game of his career.
After retiring from the playing field Rogers remained involved with rugby league coaching. He coached for a time in Queensland, and worked in administrative roles for theAustralian Rugby League inDarwin andPerth. After an unsuccessful business venture running a hotel atLennox Head, Rogers became involved once more with the Cronulla club, becoming the football manager and later, Chief Executive Officer of the club.
His personal life was marred by tragedy. After losing his father (Don) and mother (Marj) to cancer, his wife Carol also died from the disease on 11 May 2001. Rogers' brother also committed suicide.[9]
On 3 January 2006, Rogers was found dead outside the door of his Cronulla unit. Initial reports of a heart attack soon turned to suggestions of suicide as the existence of three letters—apparently suicide notes to his three children—was revealed.His son Mat also confirmed that his father had been suffering from depression: "He was suffering from some depression and, as a person of his stature and a public figure, he found it really hard to talk about it to other people and therefore exacerbated the problem," he said. Police believed that he had swallowed a cocktail of alcohol and prescription drugs. There has been some speculation that Rogers may have attempted to make an emergency telephone call in the moments before his death.[10]
In February 2008, Rogers was named in the list of Australia's100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by theNRL andARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[11][12] While playing football, Rogers also served in theNew South Wales Police Force and in 2008, rugby league's centennial year in Australia, he was named at five-eighth in a NSW Police team of the century. Also in 2008 Rogers was named in New South Wales' rugby league team of the century.[13]
TheOpen Rugby inaugural World XIII was revealed in June 1978:Graham Eadie,John Atkinson, Steve Rogers,Jean-Marc Bourret[1],Green Vigo,Roger Millward,Steve Nash,Jim Mills,Keith Elwell,Steve Pitchford,Terry Randall,George Nicholls andGreg Pierce.
| Games | Tries | Goals | F/G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 311 | 129 | 582 | 10 | 1571 |
| Team | Matches | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Cronulla Sharks | 202 | 1973–1985 |
| Widnes[14] | 1 | 1986 |
| New South Wales (residents) | 17 | 1973–1979 |
| New South Wales (state of origin) | 4 | 1980–1982 |
| Australia (Tests) | 21 | 1973–1981 |
| Australia (World Cup) | 3 | 1975, 1977 |
| Australia (tour matches) | 27 | 1973, 1978 |
| This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(January 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Preceded by | Australian national rugby league captain 1981 | Succeeded by |