As Roosters skipper James Tedesco prepares to step foot onto the hallowed turf of the SCG for his 200th NRL game, his place among rugby league’s great fullbacks is assured.
A story that had a harrowing beginning in 2012 with a torn ACL in his debut game, has blossomed into a modern-day masterpiece, and there’s plenty more chapters to be written yet.
At 29, Tedesco is at the peak of his powers, both as a leader in his craft and a leader of men, so more glory at club, state and international level is well within his grasp.
One aspect of his game that occasionally gets overlooked in the blur of dancing feet, meter-eating exploits and an unbreakable work ethic is Tedesco’s ability to find the tryline.
When talk turns to gun number ones with a penchant for four-pointers, the names Billy Slater and Brett Stewart roll off the tongue, followed in quick succession by Matt Bowen, Rhys Wesser and 302-game Rooster Anthony Minichiello, who scored 102 of his 139 career tries at fullback.
Ever since the ‘Little Master’ Clive Churchill changed the fullback’s focus from defense to attack, the man at the back has been evolving from try-saver to try-scorer and try-creator, chiming into the backline to deliver sweetly timed cut-out passes to grateful wingmen.
From the time the young Tiger Tedesco chased down a Robbie Farah grubber to bag his maiden try in round five, 2013, to career try No.108 courtesy of a Joseph Suaalii assist against the Knights three weeks ago, he has been a constant threat to opposition defences.
Tedesco finishes blindside raid by Roosters
Like Stewart and Slater before him, Tedesco has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time, knowing where to run and who to run off to make best use of his sublime skills and speed.
After notching eight tries in 19 games in his first full season in 2013, Tedesco found the stripe in 12 of his next 16 matches, eventually finishing with 50 tries in 90 games for the Tigers before hopping aboard the bus to Bondi in 2018.
The Roosters had made it to a preliminary final in 2017 and the addition of Tedesco and Cooper Cronk proved to be a master stroke as they powered to back-to-back premierships in 2018-19, the 14th and 15th titles in the foundation club’s proud history.
Tedesco’s first year at the Roosters yielded him nine tries as he found his feet and established combinations with Cronk and Luke Keary in the halves and the gifted Latrell Mitchell at left centre.
Come 2019, and ‘Teddy’ was ready to explode, peeling off 15 tries in 21 regular season games before scoring in each of the Roosters’ three finals, against the Rabbitohs, Storm and Raiders.
On the grandest of stages on grand final night, with the scores locked 8-8 and eight minutes to play, Keary launched a short side raid from the Roosters’ 40-meter line… an all or nothing play born of unwavering confidence in his own ability and that of the men around him.
Rd5: Storm v Wests Tigers (Hls)
As he hit the halfway line, Keary found Mitchell who delivered an audacious flick pass to Daniel Tupou, the giant winger seemingly covering 20 meters in four strides before looking inside and finding Tedesco, looming in support as he had done all season long.
With a tense and tight decider in the balance, four of the defending premiers’ big guns had stood tall, conjuring a try for the ages, the 77th and possibly most cherished of Tedesco’s glittering NRL career.
A career that already has him being spoken of as one of the great fullbacks, to which you can most certainly add great tryscoring fullbacks.