2010 Sydney Roosters season

The 2010 Sydney Roosters season was the 103rd in the club's history. Having finished with the 'wooden-spoon' (last) in 2009 they competed in the National Rugby League's 2010 Telstra Premiership, finishing 6th (out of 16). The Roosters went on to play in the 2010 NRL Grand Final, losing to the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

The Sydney Roosters pre-season schedule begun with a "thank you" testimonial for Todd Carney the club that kept him playing Rugby League, the Atherton Roosters. A match was also scheduled against the New Zealand Warriors in Rotorua one day later. Coach Brian Smith sent a 22-man squad to each destination, with Smith and one of his assistant coaches, Rohan Smith heading to Rotorua and his other assistant coach Trent Robinson taking the other 22-man squad to Atherton.

The team that headed to Atherton won quite convincingly. This match saw Todd Carney score 6 points in the 68-18 win for the Roosters, in which JP Du Plessis scored a hat-trick including a try from his very first touch of the football. The team that flew out to Rotorua, on the other hand, under the leadership of Anthony Minichiello, had much tougher opposition and were well beaten 26-8 under the watchful eye of almost 10,000 supporters.

The following week, the Sydney Roosters are due to play their annual Foundation Cup match against the Wests Tigers. This will be the fourth edition of the match, with the Roosters being victorious on all of the 3 previous occasions.

The Sydney Roosters pre-season schedule concluded with a win against the Parramatta Eels at Central Coast Stadium.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Tries	Goals	F. Goals	Attendance
12 February	Trial 1	Atherton Roosters	NQ Hardware Stadium, Atherton	68 - 18	Du Plessis (3), Peters, Littlejohn, Unknown (n/a)	Carney (3con), Unknown (n/a)		3,000
13 February	Trial 2	New Zealand Warriors	Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua	8 - 26	Takairangi, Tuigamala			9,600
21 February	Foundation Cup	Wests Tigers	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	28 - 10	Carney, Cherrington, Kenny-Dowall, Perrett	Carney (4con, 2pen)		10,281
27 February	Trial 4	Parramatta Eels	Central Coast Stadium, Central Coast	40 - 14	Minichiello (2), Guerra, Carney, Pearce, Symonds, Tuigamala	Carney (6con)		18,111

The Roosters' season was highlighted by several periods. Firstly, the Chooks made a bright start winning two from two but were flogged by the Canterbury Bulldogs and during the middle of the season the Roosters seemed destined to continue with a win–loss-win-loss pattern. They also won five in a row towards the end of the season, then lost three before coming back to convincingly beat Manly, 30-14. Despite a clear run through the finals, including the almighty 100 minute epic against the Tigers, they lost the Grand Final, 32-8, against St. George Illawarra.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Tries	Goals	F. Goals	Attendance
14, 15 Mar:00	Round 1	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	36 - 10	Pearce (2), Kenny Dowall (2), Guerra, Perrett	Carney (5con, 1pen)		23,149
21, 15 Mar:00	Round 2	Wests Tigers	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	44 - 32	Graham (2), Pearce (2), Guerra (2), Minichiello, Aubusson	Carney (6con)		19,021
28, 15 Mar:00	Round 3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	14 - 60	Anasta, Pearce, Jones	Carney (1con)		19,738
2, 20 Apr:35	Round 4	Brisbane Broncos	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	25 - 6	Aubusson, Carney (2), Minichiello	Carney (4con)	Carney (1fieldgoal)	17,106
11, 15 Apr:00	Round 5	Penrith Panthers	CUA Stadium, Penrith	6 - 28	Aubusson	Carney (1con)		14,023
17, 19 Apr:30	Round 6	Canberra Raiders	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	36 - 6	Carney (2), Minichiello, Kenny Dowall, Kouparitsas, Nuuausala	Carney (4con) Anasta (2con)		9,308
25, 16 Apr:00	Round 7	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	6 - 28	Aubusson	Carney (1pen)		36,213
2, 14 May:00	Round 8	Wests Tigers	Campbelltown Stadium, Campbelltown	12 - 8	Nuuausala, Carney	Carney (2con)		19,901
10, 19 May:00	Round 9	North Queensland Cowboys	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	14 - 32	Kouparitsas, Carney, Graham	Carney (1con)		6,478
15, 19 May:30	Round 10	Newcastle Knights	Bluetongue Stadium, Central Coast	18 - 34	Aubusson, Anasta, Minichiello	Carney (3con)		10,018
	Round 11	BYE
31, 19 May:00	Round 12	Gold Coast Titans	Skilled Park, Gold Coast	30 - 16	Kenny Dowall (2), Nuuausala (2), Anasta, Minichiello	Carney (3con)		13,235
5, 19 Jun:30	Round 13	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	18-42	Graham, Kenny Dowall, Carney	Carney (3con)		7,934
14, 19 Jun:00	Round 14	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park, Melbourne	38-6	Masoe, Graham (2), Linnett, Minichiello, Nuuausala, Perrett	Carney (5con)		10,449
	Round 15	BYE
27, 16 Jun:00	Round 16	New Zealand Warriors	AMI Stadium Christchurch	18 - 20	Pearce, Carney, Kenny-Dowall	Carney (3con)		20,721
4, 14 Jul:00	Round 17	Canberra Raiders	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	22 - 12	Carney, Perrett, Kenny-Dowall, Friend	Carney (3con)		10,767
9, 19 Jul:35	Round 18	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	18 - 14	Aubusson, Carney, Perrett	Carney (3con)		18,424
18, 15 Jul:00	Round 19	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	36 - 32	Leilua (2), Carney (2), Minichiello, Aubusson	Carney(6con)		19,129
26, 19 Jul:00	Round 20	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	34 - 30	Kenny-Dowall (4), Carney, Leilua	Carney(5con)		26,486
31, 17 Jul:30	Round 21	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta	48 - 12	Aubusson, Kenny-Dowall, Minichiello (2), Graham (2), Linnett, Nuuausala	Carney(8con)		19,824
8, 15 Aug:00	Round 22	St George Illawarra Dragons	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	12 - 19	Carney, Minichiello	Carney, (2con)		37,994
13, 19 Aug:35	Round 23	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Toyota Stadium, Woolooware	12 - 18	Anasta, Kenny-Dowall	Carney (2con)		8,911
23, 19 Aug:00	Round 24	Gold Coast Titans	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	14 - 23	Kenny-Dowall, Minichiello, Anasta	Carney (1con)		9,113
29, 15 Aug:00	Round 25	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	30 - 14	Kenny-Dowall (3), Carney, Perrett	Carney (4con, 1pen)		18,962
4, 19 Sep:30	Round 26	North Queensland Cowboys	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville	18 - 8	Kenny Dowall (2), Pearce	Carney (3con)		12,033

2010 NRL season v t e
Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Illawarra Dragons (P)	24	17	0	7	2	518	299	+219	38
2	Penrith Panthers	24	15	0	9	2	645	489	+156	34
3	Wests Tigers	24	15	0	9	2	537	503	+34	34
4	Gold Coast Titans	24	15	0	9	2	520	498	+22	34
5	New Zealand Warriors	24	14	0	10	2	539	486	+53	32
6	Sydney Roosters	24	14	0	10	2	559	510	+49	32
7	Canberra Raiders	24	13	0	11	2	499	493	+6	30
8	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	12	0	12	2	545	510	+35	28
9	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	11	0	13	2	584	567	+17	26
10	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	0	13	2	508	535	−27	26
11	Newcastle Knights	24	10	0	14	2	499	569	−70	24
12	Parramatta Eels	24	10	0	14	2	413	491	−78	24
13	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	9	0	15	2	494	539	−45	22
14	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	7	0	17	2	354	609	−255	18
15	North Queensland Cowboys	24	5	0	19	2	425	667	−242	14
16	Melbourne Storm	24	14	0	10	2	489	363	+126	01

¹ Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.^[1]

The Sydney Roosters reaffirmed their 'New Beginning' motto by announcing their new major sponsor, Steggles. As a part of the agreement, the clubs 'New Attitude' of Community Engagement would be embraced through a new initiative, the Charity Nest. The three-year deal could see up to $250,000 donated to charities in the 2010 season.

For every point the Sydney Roosters beat their opposition by in the 2010 season, Steggles would donate $1,000 to Charity Nest, with an extra $250 contributed by the Roosters.^[2]