Dally M medal winner? Check. NSW State of Origin back-to-back series winner? Check. Back-to-back NRL grand final winner? Check. Billy Slater’s successor as the Kangaroos’ starting fullback? Check. You could say life is pretty good for James Tedesco right now. Widely regarded by many as the best player in the world, Tedesco heads into the 2020 season living a charmed life.
Of course, it wasn’t always that way. The Wests Tigers junior who broke into the NRL back in 2012 at the age of 19 had a disastrous debut, tearing his ACL in just his first half of first grade. He recovered and came back, playing the next season with a cracked fibula, and then in 2014 he fractured his patella and spent six months on the sidelines.
There were doubts the fullback would ever reach his full potential, calls that he was injury-prone and overrated. A move east at the end of 2017 away from the Tigers to join the Roosters attracted further criticism. But it is in Bondi where Tedesco has shone brightest and gone to another level.
“It’s been all part of it,” he tells Guardian Australia. “It probably wasn’t the ideal start – how I did the ACL and the fibula. No one would wish that upon anyone. I sort of had to go through those tough runs at the start of my career and I stayed positive. I had a lot of people around me, a lot of friends, family who helped me with my body and my mind. To think where I am now, I’m pretty proud of how I got here, considering that start.”
Tedesco’s latest challenge lies in the north of England, as the Roosters prepare to take on Super League side St Helens in the World Club Challenge, which they won last year at the DW Stadium against Wigan. On Saturday night (Sunday morning AEDT), Trent Robinson’s men have the chance to claim a record fifth World Club title since the tournament’s inception in 1976 – one more than Wigan. Coincidentally, it was 44 years ago that Jack Gibson’s Eastern Suburbs beat Saints 25-2 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the very first World Club Challenge.
This time around, wind, rain and a temperature of around 6C is expected to greet the NRL club along with a hostile pro-St Helens crowd at Totally Wicked Stadium. With captain Boyd Cordner rested, Cooper Cronk retired and Latrell Mitchell defecting to rivals South Sydney, the Tricolours are an evolving beast.
But Tedesco insists his team will be ready for the test, despite the high-profile omissions and playing no warm-up games. “It’s not going to be easy as it’s our first game of 2020, but also it’s the last piece of the puzzle for 2019 as well,” he says.
“[We] have that motivation to finish off that year well. We know it’s not going to be ideal conditions but we’ve trained in these sort of conditions before we left Australia and preparing ourselves for what could be over here. We’ve all prepared through the pre-season as best we can to play this game. It’s always been on the front of our minds that it’s a big test for our first game of the year.”
Collecting more silverware seems to be Tedesco’s modus operandi these days. His club side made history last year, while NSW are gunning for a hat-trick of Origin series wins this season. An Ashes series is also on the horizon, as is a first World Cup with the Kangaroos next year. But at his heart the 27-year-old has not changed, despite stardom seeming to sit so easily on his shoulders.
“I still stick really close to a lot of my friends outside of footy, that sort of keeps me grounded,” he says. “That’s how I am, I don’t really like to brag or big-note myself. I still feel like I’m a normal kid from Camden. That’s how I’ve always been and I don’t think that will ever change.”
The fullback still believes his best is yet to come, and becomes animated by discussion about the Kiwi phenomenon and current Golden Boot holder, Roger Tuivisa-Sheck. Like Ali and Frazier, the two freakishly-talented fullbacks have a growing rivalry that is set to delight fans for years to come.
Tedesco getting better remains a scary thought for opponents who have nightmares about his crab-like runs that break defences open at will and usually end in tries. St Helens will get the first look at the modest but majestic outside back this weekend.
“The last two years of the Roosters have been really successful and I’ve been playing some really good footy on the field,” he says. “But I still think there’s room for improvement. I can still get better. Obviously I’m really happy and proud of what I’ve been doing, but I’m still excited about what I can improve on and get better at in the coming years.
“I’ve just turned 27 so I still think I’m in my prime and still working hard on the field to get better every day.”