Steve Rogers

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Nickname(s)
Sludge
Born
Saturday, 20th November, 1954
Died
Tuesday, 3rd January, 2006 (Aged 51 years and 44 days)
Place Of Birth
Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Rothmans Medal
1975
Dally M Captain Of The Year
1981
Dally M Lock Of The Year
1981
Dally M Player Of The Year
1981
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2008
NSWRL Hall Of Fame
2018

Known Family Links

Son
Mat Rogers

Biography

One of the greatest centres of the post-war period, Steve Rogers was a Cronulla junior who spent three seasons playing for Southport in the Gold Coast competition after his parents moved to Queensland in their retirement. Signed by Cronulla (and future ARL) official Bob Abbott, Rogers was graded with the Sharks as an 18-year-old in 1973 and played in the club's historic grand final loss to Manly. Gaining selection with the Kangaroos, he did not play a Test on tour (he broke his jaw in France). Rogers was clearly destined for a great career but he suffered a knee injury in 1974, requiring a cartilage operation. In 1975 he won the Rothmans Medal for best and fairest player and continued to set records with his goal-kicking and gifted running (his 10g against Wests in 1977 is still a club record). An integral member of Australia's World Cup squads in 1975 and 1977, he had to wait until 1978 to make his Test debut (against NZ prior to the Kangaroo Tour). Rogers captained Cronulla in the 1978 grand final, landing four goals in the 11-all draw with Manly, but the Sharks were soundly beaten in the replay. Rogers also spent time in the forwards that year, showing his prowess as a cover-defender at lock. After representing Australia in the Ashes series against Great Britain in 1979, he had the honour of captaining Australia against France in 1981. In 1980, Rogers played for NSW in the inaugural State of Origin match but interestingly, he should have played for Queensland because his first senior representative match was for Brisbane Seconds. His partnership with Mick Cronin in the centres was one of the most effective in international football and a third Kangaroo tour followed, in 1982. With Cronulla battling to pay their star players, and in pursuit of a personal quest to win a premiership, Rogers signed with St George in 1983. Despite representing Australia again, Rogers' stay with the Dragons was plagued with injury but his finest match for the club was in defeat in the 1984 final against P’matta (a week later he played in the club's unsuccessful reserve grade grand final team). Rogers’ return to Cronulla lasted only the one match after his jaw was broken in an illegal tackle. He was then reluctantly involved in a protracted court case against C’bury forward Mark Bugden and although he did not play again for the club, finished his career with the Sharks as the greatest point-scorer in the club’s history. In October 1995, Rogers broke his leg playing for Widnes and when the injury didn’t heal sufficiently, he was unable to fulfill his planned move to I’warra for 1986 and retired. Moving to the Gold Coast, he coached in Queensland and Darwin with some success, but pulled out of a joint coaching position with Arthur Beetson at Cronulla in 1992. After two seasons as football manager with the W’Reds, he rejoined Cronulla in that role when the Super League club folded, rising to the position of Chief Executive of the Sharks. Rogers tragically died in January 2006, aged just 51, after accidentally taking an overdose of medication prescribed for depression.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Additional Notes

Father of Mat Rogers.
Rogers holds the standing record for the most points ever scored for the Cronulla club

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 228 90 544   10 1376 126 93 9 55.26% List
Interstate Matches 15 7 6   - 33 14 1 0 93.33% List
NRL Finals 15 3 30   1 70 5 9 1 33.33% List
National Panasonic Cup 3 10 48   - 127 1 2 0 33.33% List
City vs Country Firsts 8 6 5   - 29 7 1 0 87.50% List
Tour Matches Australia 35 21 12   - 87 32 3 0 91.43% List
World Cup 3 2 -   - 6 2 1 0 66.67% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts 1 - 1   - 2 1 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 20 9 4   - 16 18 2 0 90.00% List
The Ashes 9 4 4   - 40 8 1 0 88.89% List
State of Origin 4 - -   - - 1 3 0 25.00% List
English Championship 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1975, 1978-79, 1981-83 26 12 4   - 45 23 3 0 88.46% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1975 3 2 -   - 6 2 1 0 66.67% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW Firsts 1973, 1975-81 16 7 7   - 35 15 1 0 93.75% List
NSW City Seconds 1975 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW City Firsts 1975-79, 1981-83 8 6 5   - 29 7 1 0 87.50% List
NSW 1980-82 4 - -   - - 1 3 0 25.00% List
Overall1973-1983 29 13 12   0 64 24 5 0 82.76% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Cronulla NSWRFL 1973 22 7 49   - 119 17 5 0 77.27% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1974 12 2 23   - 52 5 7 0 41.67% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1975 20 8 66   - 156 9 10 1 45.00% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1976 17 8 25   - 74 8 8 1 47.06% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1977 17 11 56   1 146 12 5 0 70.59% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1978 23 10 49   1 129 15 7 1 65.22% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1979 20 7 32   1 86 12 7 1 60.00% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1980 19 6 47   - 112 7 10 2 36.84% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1981 23 14 76   - 194 13 9 1 56.52% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1982 25 9 79   2 187 13 11 1 52.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1983 18 7 29   4 90 9 8 1 50.00% List
St George NSWRL 1984 10 1 13   1 31 6 4 0 60.00% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1985 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Cronulla 1973-82, 1985 200 82 502   5 1255 111 81 8 55.50% List
St George 1983-84 28 8 42   5 121 15 12 1 53.57% List
Overall1973-1985 228 90 544   10 1,376 126 93 9 55.26% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Widnes 1985/86 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Widnes 1985 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List

Your Say

  • Steve
    10/06/2011

    Man...this guy was the best

  • James
    30/08/2013

    An absolute legend as a player and a captain. Rogers was an exciting runner of the ball, a highly competent goal kicker, and the best player Cronulla has ever had. His brilliant play helped lead Cronulla to two Grand Finals. This is something that even ET never achieved.

  • Anonymous
    15/07/2014

    The prince of centres simply the best

  • glen
    24/09/2015

    Watching league since 1975,no one better ,all class,great sportmanship,he just glided around the defence.

  • karl
    04/03/2017

    absolutely loved the sharks team of late 70s/early 80s.
    greg pierce, the Sorenson brothers, the mullanes, rick bourke, steve Edmunds, hansard, haddock etc.
    best of all was this guy.
    along with Cronin the best centre of the era.

  • cosgrove
    13/11/2017

    for awards and accolades you could add:
    1981 tooth cup player of the series

  • DS
    07/03/2018

    Prince of Centres Sharks legend.
    X factor brilliance in attack. Superb defence. Future Immortal

  • Anonymous
    01/01/2019

    he had everything he is the greatest player I have seen.

  • Stephen
    27/07/2020

    Steve Rogers was my idol growing up and truly deserves the name Prince of centres.

  • Anonymous
    14/08/2020

    I used to drink with Changa Langlands at the Glenroy Hotel in Alexandria (where many former players used to gather) in the early 2000s and I asked him one day who he thought was the best centre since Reg Gasnier. He replied "Steve Rogers"
    A huge endorsement from an immortal of rugby league!

  • Estell
    22/10/2020

    I just wondering why Steve Rogers has never been nominated for the NRL immortals list. I would of thought he deserved to be up there.

  • Conrad
    12/11/2020

    Still the greatest Australian centre since Gasnier. Had a brilliant Dally M winning season at lock in 1981, made something happen every time he got the ball. Then starred on the 1982 Kangaroos tour in reality playing at five-eighth off of Sterling with Kenny running of him at centre. So excelled at the highest levels in three different positions, not many can do that.

  • Marcus
    15/08/2021

    Rogers also led Cronulla to their amco cup win in 1979 which was the only top-level title the Sharks held until their grand final win in 2016.

    In the 1981 tooth cup Cronulla again reached the final (losing to souths) and Rogers was named player of the series.

  • marvin
    12/03/2023

    He was without doubt my favourite player growing up...a few other things under "Awards and Accolades" that could be mentioned...1981 Leading Pointscorer in the Premiership...1981 Mid-Week Cup Player of the Series...he also holds the record for most points scored in a single game in the history of the Mid-Week cup, scoring 33 points against Central Queensland in the 1977 Amco Cup.

  • Ed
    31/12/2023

    As much recognition he got, it was never enough. He was the most gifted rugby league player I ever watched. Great attacking centre, rock solid in defence, great kicking game. Great leader. How he was never chosen as an immortal of the game is a disgrace.

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Contributions: Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Paul Carter, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, AJ Lucantonio, Bill Bates, Tim Costello

Sources: Newspapers, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1986-87