Farewell to a Fortress: Behind the Roosters' Dominance at the SCG

Since 2019, the Sydney Roosters have called the SCG home, and with the final match at the hallowed ground this weekend, we look back on the 31 times we've played at the historic venue in the last four years. 

Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground (2019-2022)

A Red, White and Blue Fortress

While it might not be the hostile suburban ground that teams dread going to in the midst of the winter chill, the Sydney Cricket Ground has become a fortress for the Tricolours.

That season the side won all but one match –  coincidentally their first – en route to the Club's 15th Premiership, scoring an incredible 65 tries in their eleven appearances in the process. 

On 15 occasions, Trent Robinson’s men have breached the 30-point mark in almost half their total games, while also appropriately racking a cricket score (over 50 points) twice against the Gold Coast in 2019 and Brisbane in 2020 respectively.

Daniel Tupou is currently the highest try-scorer with eighteen to his name, while former dual Premiership-winning centre Latrell Mitchell is the highest point-scorer with 158 accrued during the dominant 2019 campaign.

Despite the slow start to 2022, the men from Bondi have since recorded big wins over the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys, and overall, with 22 wins from 31 appearances, the Roosters have a dominant 71% winning record when at Moore Park.

A Theatre of Dreams (and Milestones)

The grandeur of the Sydney Cricket Ground has provided a multitude of memorable moments including first-grade debuts and personal milestones while also playing host to the final game of a handful of famous careers. 

That all began with Grand Final hero Cooper Cronk’s 350th NRL appearance in Round 1 of the 2019 season, before Captain Boyd Cordner’s inspiring ANZAC Day performance netted him the Ashton-Collier Medal in Round 7. 

Latrell Mitchell bagged a 26-point haul the following week against the Wests Tigers, with Nat Butcher scoring his first NRL. Veteran winger Brett Morris became just the twelfth player in history to notch his 150th four-pointer in the Red, White and Blue’s biggest-ever win over the Titans in Round 20, as Cronk scored his 100th.

It took ten weeks for the Roosters to take the field at home in 2020 due to covid-19 protocols, and while it was a slow start in their return to the SCG, they announced themselves with a 58-12 thumping of the Broncos, before Daniel Tupou completed a century of tries in a big win against the Newcastle Knights.

Beloved clubman Mitchell Aubusson recorded two personal milestones at the venue in 2020, firstly with his record 303rd NRL match, jumping former teammate Anthony Minichiello against the Cronulla Sharks in Round 19.

The second came in what would be his 306th and final game in the NRL during the second week of finals, which would also be the last Roosters appearance for fellow legend Boyd Cordner in a bittersweet end to both careers. 

Season 2021 began with a historic outing on the ground, with the Roosters recording their biggest-ever Round 1 victory in their 46-4 demolition of Manly, a fitting way to send off inspirational hooker Jake Friend.

Young guns Sam Walker took the field for the first time against the New Zealand Warriors before Angus Crichton notched up his 100th career appearance one week later.

The venue also marked the return of the Club’s Wartime Jersey that ANZAC Day, with Walker claiming the Ashton-Collier Medal with a thrilling performance that rubber-stamped him as a future star.

As the Club celebrated the career of Friend in Round 11, another career began as the SCG crowd witnessed the much-anticipated debut of then-seventeen-year-old Joseph Suaalii before the NRL’s relocation to Queensland.

The opening round of the 2022 NRL season doubled as a milestone for the women’s game as the NRLW side played their first-ever match at the venue, recording the milestone with an emphatic 28-4 thumping of Newcastle to kick-start their campaign.

The 20th Anniversary celebrations of the Club’s 2002 triumph saw Easts don a replica jersey against the New Zealand Warriors in Round 6, with Luke Keary making his 100th appearance in Roosters colours.

In Round 21 against the Brisbane Broncos the Roosters claimed their 200th win at the venue in a dominant 34-16 win, while the most recent match saw Captain James Tedesco hit the 200-game milestone.

Building on Foundations

Prior to 2019, the Club enjoyed a fruitful tenure at the SCG with plenty of success – including seven Grand Final victories.

From the 1923 Premiership, Dave Brown’s dominance in the 1930s, Dick Dunn’s Day and of course the Arthur Beetson-led Roosters recording one of the greatest victories in the Club’s deep and rich history in 1975, the Sydney Cricket Ground has been a focal point around the Roosters’ success.

Overall, since their first match at the venue in 1913, the Tricolours have played 351 matches with 200 wins, 139 losses, 12 draws and an impressive 57% winning record at the venue.

And although the Roosters will be playing their home games at Allianz Stadium from Round 25, the history and success created in the walls next door won’t be forgotten any time soon.