There’s an old saying: you never knock a champion.
And we saw exactly why when James Tedesco starred in the Roosters’ season-opening win over the Broncos in Las Vegas.
Brad Fittler made some comments about Tedesco last year when the Roosters were really struggling. He said when the team is not going well, Tedesco tries too hard. He stands at first receiver and tries to play like a half, he’s taking hit-ups like a front-rower. He’s trying so hard to find a glimmer of space he runs across the field and can cramp his support men.
I agree with everything Freddy said.
But in Las Vegas, the first thing I noticed was how fit Tedesco looked. They cut to vision of him in the sheds and you could see the Roosters’ strength and conditioning changes over summer have had the desired effect.
And when he went out on the field, he didn’t overplay his hand. He linked up with his halves beautifully and then chose the right time to be a support player around the middle of the ruck.
Roosters captain James Tedesco.Credit: AP
He will be fighting it out with Tom Trbojevic for the NSW No.1 jersey come State of Origin time.
If you watched Trbojevic closely in the Sea Eagles’ upset win over the Rabbitohs last weekend, I think there was one big difference to last year: he was accelerating through contact. I didn’t see that last year.
The Las Vegas moment I knew James Tedesco was back
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06.03.2024
There’s an old saying: you never knock a champion.
And we saw exactly why when James Tedesco starred in the Roosters’ season-opening win over the Broncos in Las Vegas.
Brad Fittler made some comments about Tedesco last year when the Roosters were really struggling. He said when the team is not going well, Tedesco tries too hard.........
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