James Tedesco didn’t consider following some of his Roosters premiership-winning teammates into either retirement or different opportunities, and hopes to sit down with the club at the end of the World Cup to discuss playing on one final season in 2028.
Tedesco turns 34 in the new year, but remains at the top of his game. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for his performance in the Roosters’ grand final win over Newcastle, and even earned lavish praise from some of his younger Australian teammates, including fellow No.1 Reece Walsh.
The Roosters farewelled six players at the club’s Jack Gibson Medal during the week, which featured a surprise cameo by Manly premiership-winning coach Des Hasler, who spoke glowingly about England-bound Daly Cherry-Evans.
Spencer Leniu (Parramatta), Angus Crichton and Mark Nawaqanitawase (rugby), Connor Watson (St George Illawarra) and Daniel Tupou (retirement) have all exited Bondi, but Tedesco is backing the club’s collection of young stars to keep the premiership success going.
The Roosters have a lot of faith in homegrown fullback Rex Bassingthwaighte, who is likely to spend the next part of his career on the wing to help with the transition to first grade, a tactic the club has previously used with legendary No.1s Anthony Minichiello and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
There is also speculation about Englishman and Dolphins centre Herbie Farnworth signing with the club in 2028 to play fullback, even though the player in question insisted as late as last week his preference was to get a deal done with Redcliffe.
As for his own plans, Tedesco told this masthead he would give it serious thought once his World Cup commitments were finished.
“There’s no rush, I don’t think I’ll be chased by other teams for a contract — and I wouldn’t really go anywhere else,” Tedesco said.
“Ideally, if I can play 2027 and 2028, after that, I’d be pretty content. I’m getting on, but I’m still getting opportunities to wear jerseys like this [the Kangaroos], which is cool.
“It’s cool to be the older guy and having the younger guys coming through. I do feel old. How old is Reece? I felt old when Jack Bostock sent me a message in 2019, and he was only 15.”
The Roosters’ player drain has already raised questions about the club’s ability to go back-to-back. The biggest loss will be genuine X-factor Nawaqanitawase, whose aerial threat may prove impossible to replace.
“But we’ve gone through this before with guys leaving and new guys coming in,” Tedesco said.
“I’ve got so much confidence in these young guys we have at the club and the academy we’ve got set up. The future is really bright.
“A lot of things go into the success. It’s ‘Robbo’ [coach Trent Robinson], the board, the players; this year a big thing was the closeness of the team.
“We had a great balance of leaders and young guys – you can’t just have superstars, you need the young guys to come in and perform, and they did it all year. Yes, we have a few leaving, but I’ve got so much confidence in the guys who will replace them.”
Kangaroos incumbent Walsh said about Tedesco on Thursday: “I wish I could be half the player Teddy is … it’s hard to compete with ‘Clive’.”
When told about the praise he received from Walsh, Tedesco said: “This is the first time I’ve really met Reece and spoken to him. I thought the same thing about him last year watching him pretty much win the grand final for Brisbane, and what he was able to do [at] the back end of that year.
“I love watching him, and I’ve learned stuff from him, how he plays the game and attacks it.
“I don’t know what [coach] ‘Kevvie’ [Walters] is thinking and what it looks like this cup. I’m sure we’ll both get game time at some stage.”
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