- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Opinion
The Roosters are the only team to have played in every season since rugby league kicked off in Australia back in 1908, and they’ve had a host of champion players represent the club over the years, including Immortals in Dally Messenger, Dave Brown, Bob Fulton and Arthur Beetson.
Throw in the likes of Kevin Hastings, Mark Harris, John Brass, Ian Schubert, Ray Stehr, Bill Mullins and Russell Fairfax and their greatest ever team would probably be unbeatable, but who makes their greatest team of the NRL era?
Here’s my team, showing the number of games they played for the Roosters in the NRL era, and the only selection criteria is that they must have played a minimum of 50 top grade games for the club from the 1998 season on.
1. James Tedesco (161*) – One of the best fullbacks of the modern era, won two premierships with the Roosters, and has been an inspirational leader at club, state and national level.
2. Daniel Tupou (271*) – A very consistent player who does his job to perfection week in and week out without fuss or drama and deservedly ranks among the top 10 all-time try scorers.
3. Latrell Mitchell (97) – Mitchell debuted as an 18-year-old and quickly proved himself to be a top-flight centre with the Roosters, playing a big part in their back to back titles in 2018 and 2019 before choosing to join the Bunnies.
4. Joey Manu (184) – Rated at various times as the best player in the world, Manu is impossible for the defence to handle when he’s in the mood.
5. Anthony Minichiello (303) – Squeezed out of the number one jersey by Tedesco, Minichiello must be in the side somewhere and he was a very effective winger for both the Roosters and Australia before he settled into the number 1 jersey.
6. Brad Fittler (c) (175) – He achieved everything there is to do in the game, won every personal award going, and would arguably rank as one of the greatest players to ever play for the club.
7. Cooper Cronk (50) – Cronk just makes the cut with the bare 50 games but what a strike rate. There’s no way the Roosters would have won back to back titles in 2018 and 2019 without Cronk.
Cooper Cronk. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (313) – JWH isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but he’s certainly one tough hombre and has led the Roosters’ pack into battle with distinction for a long time.
9. Jake Friend (268) – Friend was both tough and resourceful, won three premierships with the Roosters, was a natural leader and a player you’d want beside you in the trenches.
10. Siosiua Taukeiaho (171) – The big Tongan international was arguably the best front rower in the game towards the end of his time with the Roosters and played a big part in their premiership successes in both 2018 and 2019.
11. Boyd Cordner (183) – Cordner gave his heart and soul to the club in a decade of service, and prior to his early retirement due to concussion fears he was the captain of his club, state and country.
12. Craig Fitzgibbon (229) – An automatic pick for both NSW and Australia for much of his career, Fitzgibbon was a tireless worker in both attack and defence and was also a prolific goal kicker, finishing his career as the club’s highest ever pointscorer.
13. Luke Ricketson (301) – A Rooster through and through and one of the club’s greatest servants, sitting in equal second place on the list of most games for the Roosters.
14. Craig Wing (186) – Wing is the ideal bench player in this outfit and has played nearly every position on the field at some stage of his stellar career, except for front row and second row.
15. Mitch Aubusson (310) – Another extremely versatile player who was equally at home in the second row or at centre, Aubusson played a key role in the club’s premiership successes in 2013, 2018 and 2019.
16. Adrian Morley (114) – Who better to bring on to maintain the rage when JWH is having a rest than the mad Englishman. Big, mobile and fearsome, Morley was both a great ball-runner and a weapon in defence.
17. Frank-Paul Nu’uausala (156) – The Kiwi enforcer was an important cog in the Roosters’ machine during his time at Bondi and the opposition rarely got the better of him.
Now that’s a side as good as any we’ve seen in the NRL era. Did I leave anyone out?
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.