100 and counting: Red hot Roosters channel Class of '35

If Trent Robinson’s rampant Roosters are seeking inspiration to rack up a third monster win on the trot, they need look no further than the pages of their own history books.

The Roosters’ effort to pile on 60 points against the Dragons on ANZAC Day and 40 on the Broncos in Round 9 represented the ninth time in club history they have tallied 100 points or more in successive weeks.

The previous occasion was in 2022 in the midst of an eight-game winning streak that catapulted them from 10th on the ladder to sixth and into the finals.

In Round 22, 2022 the Roosters beat the Cowboys 32-18 before smashing Wests Tigers 72-6 in Round 23 to give them 104 points across the two games.

They kept the roll going in Round 24 with a hard-fought 18-14 win over the Storm and rounded out the regular season with a 26-16 win over the Rabbitohs in Round 25.

When it comes to most points in consecutive games, the record belongs to the legendary Eastern Suburbs side of 1935, which flogged University 61-5 in Round 5 and backed up a week later with an 87-7 demolition of Canterbury, with Immortal Dave Brown scoring 45 points from five tries and 15 goals.

Remarkably, the Roosters smashed Norths 57-9 in their next match to ensure they hold top spot with 148 points (Rd 5 and 6) and second place with 144 points (Rd 6 and 7).

“Eastern Suburbs were merciless against competition newcomers Canterbury and also a University club in its death throes but they weren’t the only clubs to feel the Roosters’ wrath,” said league historian David Middleton, author of the official annual of the NRL.

“They topped 50 points in a game five times during the season, including two massive wins over Canterbury by 87-7 and 65-10, results that remain first and second in magnitude between the clubs.

“At the heart of the scoring was the incomparable Brown, who set benchmarks that season that may never be approached, let alone replicated.

“Anyone scanning the record books for the first time will invariably double take at his 45 points in one game (5 tries and 15 goals) against Canterbury and 38 tries for the season (from just 15 games).

"It’s also important to note that Easts’ stunning scoring efforts that year were achieved when tries were worth three points. Brown’s 45 points would be equivalent to 50 in the modern day."

The 1935 Roosters won 15 of 16 games during the regular season before going on to claim the first of three successive premierships, averaging 38.47 points per game in the process.

Wind the clock forward nine decades and the 2024 Roosters lead the NRL in points per game with 28, just ahead of the Sharks (27), Broncos (26), Sea Eagles (26) and Dolphins (26).

And in an ominous warning for an out of sorts Warriors side who confront the Roosters on Sunday, Robinson believes there is still plenty of room for improvement in his team’s attack.

“There’s definitely more to come, we can see the areas where have improved and other areas we still want to add to,” he said after the win over Brisbane.

“We are very clear about how we are playing and how we’re attacking - both out of yardage and in good ball, but there’s constant refinement to that.

“I really liked the balance between the hardness that we played with and also the freedom.”

It’s eerily similar to the coach’s summation of a rollicking 59-0 demolition of the same opponent back in Round 4, 2020 as the NRL returned from the enforced COVID-19 shutdown.

The Roosters hit the ground running after the 10-week lay-off, winning five games on the bounce and tallying 101 points across Round 4 and 5 against Brisbane and the Bulldogs (42-6).

“We don’t get too carried away, we’re two games in [after COVID return], we’ve got 16 games to go, we’re just getting started, we’re not going to be jumping for joy on the way home,” Robinson told the assembled media on May 4, 2020 at Suncorp Stadium.

“We’re going to be content about our performance and seeing some things that we improved on last week that was really good, but you don’t rise and fall with those performances each week otherwise you don’t build what you want to build.”

The Roosters and Rabbitohs were the only teams to score 100 points or more in successive games during the 2020 season before some key rule changes led to more free-flowing football in the ensuing three seasons.

During 2021 there were six instances of teams racking up a century across two games, in 2022 it occurred four times and last season three times, courtesy of the Sharks, Cowboys and Knights.

The biggest tally across two weeks was 105 points by the Cowboys, who beat the Rabbitohs 31-6 in Round 17 before putting the cleaners through Wests Tigers to the tune of 74-0 in Round 18.

The Sharks' ton came via a 48-10 win over the Bulldogs in Round 16 and a 52-16 defeat of the Dragons in Round 18 with a bye in between.

The Knights hit their straps late in the season as they strung together 10 wins on the trot, including a 66-0 hammering of the Bulldogs in Round 18 and a 34-18 win over Wests Tigers.

“The prevalence of teams compiling a century in two weeks has accelerated since 2020, a by-product of the six-again rule which has tilted the balance in favour of attacking football and has led to more points being scored in general,” Middleton said.

"The number of points per game has increased from 39.3 per game in 2019 to 43.9 after nine rounds of the 2024 season."

So buckle up for a wild ride of attacking football across the rest of the 2024 season as more centuries are raised, but don't expect Mr Brown and his Class of '35 to be knocked off their perch any time soon,