Roosters met with Rabbi Eli Schlanger days before Bondi attack

Rabbi Yehoram Ulman (pictured) and Rabbi Eli Schlanger met with a group of Sydney Roosters players days before the Bondi attacks. ( ABC News: Berge Breiland )

On December 9, 2025, a group of Sydney Roosters players met with Rabbi Eli Schlanger and other leaders in the Eastern Suburbs Jewish community.

It was a Tuesday in the off-season for the rugby league club, months away from a ball being kicked or a tackle made.

They are a club on occasion tagged as well-oiled, representing the richest postcodes in Australia and lacking deep community ties.

But here were the Roosters, including Hugo Savala, Cody Ramsay and Billy Smith, eating kosher food, learning of Jewish customs at the Chabad of Bondi and walking along the beachfront and Bondi Pavilion.

Days later, metres away from that pavilion, the most devastating terror attack in Australian history occurred.

One of the 15 people killed in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach was Eli Schlanger.

Ten months on, and the Roosters are on the eve of a grand final against a Newcastle side almost universally cast as Sunday evening's community-minded underdog — but Easts' involvement and then support of their community during its darkest hour offers a glimpse into a story far more complex.

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