Sydney Roosters 36–8 Newcastle Knights — Qualifying Final, 2003 NRL Finals Series
13 Sep 2003 · Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 23,853
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2003 NRL finals series: Sydney Roosters 36–8 Newcastle Knights, at Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW on 13 Sep 2003.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found for this fixture. Newcastle's single goal-kicker (Daniel Abraham) is sourced only as "2/2 goals" without a conversion/penalty-goal split; since Newcastle scored just 1 try, arithmetic requires 1 conversion and 1 penalty goal, but which specific kick was which type could not be independently confirmed — shown here as inferred rather than directly sourced.
Scorers
| Sydney Roosters | Tries: Flannery; Flannery; Wing; Catic; Cross; Byrne Goals: Crocker (3/4 conversions); Fitzgibbon (3/3 conversions) |
| Newcastle Knights | Tries: Gidley Goals: Abraham (1/1 conversions, 1/1 penalty goals) |
Team sheets
| Sydney Roosters | Newcastle Knights | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Minichiello | Fullback | Robbie O'Davis | 1 |
| 2 | Todd Byrne | Wing | Craig Hall | 2 |
| 3 | Ryan Cross | Centre | Matthew Gidley | 3 |
| 4 | Shannon Hegarty | Centre | Adam MacDougall | 4 |
| 5 | Chris Walker | Wing | Anthony Quinn | 5 |
| 6 | Brad Fittler (c) | Five-Eighth | Sean Rudder | 6 |
| 7 | Brett Finch | Halfback | Kurt Gidley | 7 |
| 8 | Jason Cayless | Prop | Josh Perry | 8 |
| 9 | Craig Wing | Hooker | Danny Buderus | 9 |
| 10 | Adrian Morley | Prop | Matt Parsons | 10 |
| 11 | Michael Crocker | Second Row | Steve Simpson | 11 |
| 14 | Ned Catic | Second Row | Daniel Abraham | 12 |
| 13 | Luke Ricketson | Lock | Ben Kennedy (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 12 | Chris Flannery | Adam Woolnough | 15 | |
| 15 | Andrew Lomu | Reegan Tanner | 16 | |
| 16 | Craig Fitzgibbon | Luke Quigley | 17 | |
| 18 | Chad Robinson | Matthew Kennedy | 19 | |
| Ricky Stuart | Coach | Michael Hagan | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Sean Hampstead |
Match report
A one-sided demolition — Sydney led 30-2 at halftime and cruised, sending 2002 premiers Newcastle out in straight sets. It effectively confirmed the Roosters as a top-four form side heading toward a second straight Grand Final appearance.