The Weeks That Made Us | April 20

Here's a glance at how this week in history looked for the Sydney Roosters from April 20th to 26th.

April 20

1908: The opening day of club rugby league in Australia. Double-headers are played at Wentworth Park and Birchgrove Oval, with around 3000 people turning up to both venues. At Wentworth Park, Easts beat Newtown 32-16 and Glebe down Newcastle 8-5. At Birchgrove, Souths beat Norths 11-7 and Balmain whitewash Wests 24-0. On the same day, 23 members of the Western Suburbs Rugby Union club meet at the Horse and Jockey Hotel at Flemington to form a ninth premiership club, Cumberland.

1990: Despite floodwaters raging throughout North Queensland, Easts and Canterbury stage a successful Winfield Cup match at Townsville’s Sports Reserve. It finishes in a 12-all draw.

April 21

2000: The Sydney Roosters are resigned to losing Quentin Pongia for the rest of the season after the Kiwi front-rower is diagnosed with a torn bicep muscle.

2001: Sydney Roosters winger Jack Elsegood announces his retirement from rugby league after spending 18 months battling injuries.

2002: The Sydney Roosters bounce back from four successive defeats to thrash North Queensland 58-12 at Aussie Stadium. Cowboys prop Tim Maddison is sent off for striking Roosters halfback Justin Holbrook.

2003: Sydney Roosters grand final hero Luke Phillips is forced to retire due to a combination of extensive surgery on his shoulder and both groins and a calcified hamstring. Phillips required 11 pain-killing injections to remain on the field during the Roosters’ 2002 grand final win.

2008: Sydney Roosters Test forward Anthony Tupou accepts a $1.5 million four-year offer from Cronulla.

2009: Sydney Roosters trio Braith Anasta, Craig Fitzgibbon and Willie Mason are left out of a preliminary New South Wales squad of 40 players.

2012: New South Wales achieve a rare taste of State of Origin success when the Blues’ Under-20s team, captained by Roosters forward Boyd Cordner downs Queensland 18-14 in the inaugural Under-20s Origin match played at Penrith’s Centrebet Stadium.

2017: The Daily Telegraph reports that the Sydney Roosters have snared the prized signature of Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco. The signings are made official within days.

April 22

2001: The Sydney Roosters score a thrilling 23-22 victory over Melbourne at Colonial Stadium. Roosters centre Ryan Cross suffers a broken leg.

April 23

1993: Eastern Suburbs skipper Craig Salvatori stars for City Origin in their 7-0 defeat of Country Origin.

April 25

1938: The champion Eastern Suburbs side loses its first match in almost three years when beaten 21-14 by South Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

1996: South Sydney suffer a humiliating 62-0 defeat against neighbours Sydney City at the Sydney Football Stadium.

2002: St George Illawarra and the Sydney Roosters fight out a controversial Anzac Day clash before 20,588 fans at Aussie Stadium. 

2004: Sydney Roosters edge the Dragons thanks to some individual brilliance from skipper Freddy Fittler

2007: The Sydney Roosters record their 1,000th premiership victory with a comprehensive 18-4 defeat of St George Illawarra in the annual Anzac Day clash at Aussie Stadium. The victory followed a provocative sledge by Dragons rookie Richie Williams that his opposing five-eighth Braith Anasta was “not as good as he was”. Anasta, one of the Roosters’ best on the day, returns serve with interest: '“For someone who’s done absolutely nothing in the game, it’s a pretty big call,” he said. 

2013: A record Anzac Day crowd of 40,752 at Allianz Stadium pays tribute to the nation’s fallen heroes before watching the Sydney Roosters surge to a 34-10 win over St George Illawarra. Roosters lock Boyd Cordner is awarded the Ashton Collier Spirit of Anzac Medal as man of the match.

2014: Sydney Roosters thump St George Illawarra 34-14 at Allianz Stadium but lose five-eighth James Maloney with a grade two AC shoulder joint injury.

2017: Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce ends a horror run of 18 successive missed field goal attempts to sink St George Illawarra in a golden point Anzac Day thriller at Allianz Stadium. Pearce steps up as favourite to reclaim the NSW halfback jersey after the Roosters’ 13-12 win in front of 40,864 spectators.

2019: Sydney Roosters claim a 20-10 victory on Anzac Day. Roosters captain Boyd Cordner is awarded the Ashton-Collier Spirit of Anzac Medal for a second time. The annual clash draws a crowd of 38,414 to the Sydney Cricket Ground.

April 26

1998 Sydney City record a half century of points for the second successive week with a 50-16 defeat of North Queensland.

2019 Sydney Roosters hooker Jake Friend is ruled out for three to four months after scans reveal that he ruptured a biceps muscle in the Anzac Day clash with the Dragons. The injury ends his hopes of a State of Origin call-up for Queensland.