James Tedesco tips West Tigers will rise to new level against Parramatta Eels after golden-point loss

WESTS young gun James Tedesco has forecast the Tigers will learn from the scars of their golden-point loss to Canterbury-Bankstown ahead of their Easter Monday showdown against Parramatta.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 27: James Tedesco of the Tigers makes a break during the round four NRL match between the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on March 27, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Renee McKay/Getty Images)

WESTS young gun James Tedesco has forecast the Tigers will learn from

the scars of their golden-point loss to Canterbury-Bankstown ahead of

tomorrow’s Easter Monday showdown against Parramatta.

Cruising towards victory leading 24-6 with 15 minutes remaining, the

Tigers inexperience saw them implode against the Bulldogs.

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But Tedesco has backed his combination with Tigers playmakers Robbie

Farah, Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses to improve sharply as a result

of the harsh lesson.

Robbie Farah during Wests Tigers training at Concord Oval. pic Mark Evans

Tigers captain Farah and the three generation next cubs have only

played four NRL games together, with the quartet set to try and

dismantle the Eels in the ANZ Stadium blockbuster.

This time last season, Tedesco was forced to watch from the sidelines

as the Tigers and Eels submitted a roller-coast ride of a match in

front of more than 53,000 fans.

Tomorrow, Tedesco will continue his quest to feature all 24 of the

Tigers NRL matches this season as his slightly-modified running

technique continues to improve with every game.

“It was one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever been involved in last

year, unfortunately I was sitting on the sidelines,” Tedesco said.

“It was disappointing not to be out on the field but I’ll get my turn on Monday.

Tigers James Tedesco celebrates after scoring against the Bulldogs. Pic: Brett Costello

“The Tigers and Parramatta have built a great rivalry with both teams

based out of western Sydney and we both tend to play a similar style

of footy so it should be a decent game.

“Getting through four rounds of footy and playing 80 minutes in all of

those games has got me feeling confident.

“I worked a lot in the off season with our strength and conditioning

staff on building up all the muscles around my ankles and joints my

knee joints, a lot of injury prevention stuff.

“That’s all really helped. In terms of my running style you probably

haven’t noticed much difference but I did work hard on placing less

stress when I’m running and less force on my lower limbs when I’m

taking off.

“All those things have definitely helped and I’m feeling really confident.”

While Tedesco may not have rated a mention in terms of NSW coach

Laurie Daley’s short list of candidates for the vacant Blues No. 1

jumper, there is no question if he continues his form it will be a

matter of when, not if.

Realistically, the Tigers fullback is probably a better chance of

cracking into the Blues next year, when he’s had another 12 months of

football under his belt.

On the key position combination of Farah, Brooks and Moses, Tedesco

indicated the Tigers were thinking big.

“We’ve only really played four games together so hopefully it’s going

to keep improving. The more games we play the better it’s going to

get,” Tedesco said.

“It’s definitely exciting for the three of us getting to play

alongside a player with Robbie’s experience.

“Me and Brooksy have a pretty good combination going at the moment

where his kicking game is one of the best in the business and then I’m

just working off the back of that.”

Wests Tigers coach Jason Taylor with players.

Since the appointment of new coach Jason Taylor, Tedesco said the

Tigers had improved immensely as a side but would learn from the scars

of last weekend’s one-point golden point loss to the Bulldogs.

“JT’s been awesome. All the boys are rapped with the direction he’s

got the team going and the style of footy he’s got us playing,”

Tedesco said.

“To be honest, being up 24-6 we probably felt a little bit comfortable

with 15-20 minutes to go.

“That’s where we probably dropped our guard a bit and the Bulldogs got

on a roll. We’ll learn from that and next time we’ve got the foot on

the throat we’ll keep it there.”

Originally published as James Tedesco tips West Tigers will rise to new level against Parramatta Eels after golden-point loss