Sydney Roosters 38–12 Newcastle Knights — Semi-Final, 2002 NRL Finals Series
22 Sep 2002 · Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 23,816
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 2002 NRL finals series: Sydney Roosters 38–12 Newcastle Knights, at Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW on 22 Sep 2002.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found for this fixture. Newcastle's halfback/wing pairing shifted from Week 1: Andrew Johns is not in this squad, John Morris (Week 1's starting wing) moved to halfback, and Julian Bailey (Week 1 bench) started on the wing — reported exactly as sourced. Both Roosters kickers' conversion/penalty-goal split is unconfirmed (see goals field).
Scorers
| Sydney Roosters | Tries: Byrne; Byrne; Minichiello; Minichiello; Fitzgibbon; Mullins; Robinson Goals: Crocker and Fitzgibbon combined for 5 successful goals (Crocker 3, Fitzgibbon 2) — the source does not distinguish conversions from penalty goals for either kicker in this match, so no split is asserted |
| Newcastle Knights | Tries: Kennedy; Tahu Goals: Peden (2/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Sydney Roosters | Newcastle Knights | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Flannery | Fullback | Kurt Gidley | 1 |
| 2 | Brett Mullins | Wing | Julian Bailey | 2 |
| 3 | Todd Byrne | Centre | Matthew Gidley | 3 |
| 4 | Justin Hodges | Centre | Timana Tahu | 4 |
| 5 | Anthony Minichiello | Wing | Anthony Quinn | 5 |
| 6 | Brad Fittler (c) | Five-Eighth | Sean Rudder | 6 |
| 7 | Craig Wing | Halfback | John Morris | 7 |
| 8 | Jason Cayless | Prop | Josh Perry | 8 |
| 9 | Simon Bonetti | Hooker | Danny Buderus | 9 |
| 10 | Peter Cusack | Prop | Matt Parsons (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Bryan Fletcher | Second Row | Steve Simpson | 11 |
| 12 | Craig Fitzgibbon | Second Row | Ben Kennedy | 12 |
| 13 | Luke Ricketson | Lock | Bill Peden | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Michael Crocker | Daniel Abraham | 14 | |
| 15 | Andrew Lomu | Clint Newton | 15 | |
| 16 | Chad Robinson | Jarrod O'Doherty | 16 | |
| 17 | David Kidwell | Adam Woolnough | 17 | |
| Ricky Stuart | Coach | Michael Hagan | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Sean Hampstead |
Match report
Level 6-6 at halftime, the Roosters ran away with it after the break, doubles to Todd Byrne and Anthony Minichiello sending Sydney into a preliminary final against Brisbane and ending Newcastle's title defence in straight sets.