Sydney Roosters Juniors
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The Sydney Roosters Juniors base has a colourful and extensive history. Forming in 1907, the foundation clubs of the New South Wales Rugby League in Sydney, Australia were given boundaries aligned to local government areas. The Roosters boundaries included but were not limited to the suburbs of Bondi, Coogee, Paddington, Darlinghurst, Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick.
The Sydney Roosters Juniors is officially known as the Eastern Suburbs District Junior Rugby League, and currently boasts the following clubs;
- Bondi United File:Canberra colours.png
- Clovelly Crocodiles
- Paddington-Wollahra Tigers
- St Charles Waverley
These clubs play in a combined junior competition with the clubs in the South Sydney Junior district.
Some former Eastern Suburbs junior clubs include;
- Paddington (Paddo) Colts
- Dunbar United
- Nelson Hotel
- East Randwick
- Rose Bay
- Brothers
- Darlinghurst Devils Police
Turf wars
When the Sydney Roosters first entered the NSWRL competition as Eastern Suburbs in 1908, the tricolours would become neighbours to fellow city counterpart, the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Anzac Parade separated the territories for both inner-Sydney clubs when the boundaries were first established the previous year.
The areas would remain unchanged for nearly half a century until 1954 when the NSWRL decided to re-allocate club boundaries. In 1954, S.G. Ball in his capacity as the President of the NSWRL transferred the suburbs of Coogee and Randwick from the Eastern Suburbs District Junior Rugby League to the South Sydney Junior District Rugby League. These suburbs are now represented by the Coogee Dolphins and the Coogee-Randwick Wombats.
Rabbitohs stalwart S.G. Ball was a dual administrator within South Sydney Rabbitohs and the New South Wales Rugby League at the time. The Rabbitohs were in a highly successful period and had established South Sydney Juniors Leagues club in Kingsford, Roosters territory in recent times.
Debate still continues as to how and why Eastern Suburbs territory was given to South Sydney.
This was not to be the end of struggle for junior territory between the two inner-city clubs. In the 1980s several junior clubs within Roosters territory became dissatisfied with Roosters management and affiliated with South Sydney. These included the Coogee Dolphins, Moore Park Magpies, Coogee-Randwick, Coogee Wombats and the Paddington Colts.