Illawarra Steelers Captain Lily Rogan remains focused on this weekend’s local derby against the St. George Dragons in the final round of the regular season, despite her side’s upcoming finals campaign.
“Coming into the back end of the season, every game is important no matter who you face.
“I think it’s going to mean that little bit extra just because of it being the Dragons.
“We just need to continue extending our consistent string of games, and we know the Dragons will definitely stick it to us for a full 80 minutes,” Rogan said.
Lessons Learned
Entering preparations for the Dragons and their imminent finals campaign after locking up a top-two spot, the 20-year-old reflects on the lessons her side took away from their performance against the South Sydney Rabbitohs over the weekend.
“I think the Souths game was really good, and it’s prepared us for what the back-end of the season is going to look like.
“Teams aren’t going to fade in the first or second half; they’re going to stick it to us and make it really challenging.
“We need to be playing consistent throughout the game and Souths brought a really tough and physical game to us.”
Coach Jamie Szczerbanik seconded his captain’s words, also mentioning how his side had to graft out the second half and win ‘dirty.’
“36% possession in the second half. For us to put 16 points on in the second half and hold them to six was a gritty and determined performance.
“I’ve spoken over the last couple of weeks about learning how to play both pretty and dirty as well, so the girls they’ve got a little bit of that semi-final mentality already a couple weeks early,” Szczerbanik said.
Code Breaker
Coming from a household dominated by soccer fans, Rogan grew up with the ball at her feet. She only really took notice of Rugby League after making up the numbers for a school team.
Since then, she hasn’t looked back after quickly picking up a new code.
“My teacher actually asked me to play; they needed numbers for the school team, and he just asked if I wanted to play because I played with some of the girls outside of school at League Tag.
“I had to convince Dad and just played for the school team. Then I trialled for Steelers Lisa Fiaola at the November Nines comp. I played that, followed by Tarsha Gale, up until last year before playing Harvey Norman.
“Having my own thing in the spotlight was nice, and then when I played it I just really enjoyed it,” Rogan said.
Finals Fortunes
Rogan hopes to go deeper in the competition this season, having fallen one game short to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in their inaugural HNWP campaign last year.
Having played in last year’s final series, she also emphasised the importance of soaking up the moment and experience of finals footy for herself and her teammates.
“Just trying to reiterate, enjoying the moment and soaking up all the really cool experiences you get in finals because I know they do go by quickly.
“I remember last year; it feels like yesterday.
“So I think just slowing down and appreciating the weeks of finals is really massive, and it’s a super big achievement to make finals with only four spots up for grabs.”
Round 11, Saturday, 14 September, Rex Jackson Oval, Helensburgh, 4pm
- Illawarra Steelers v St George Dragons
Words: Joshua Houldin