Robbie Farah on why he couldn’t let James Tedesco leave Wests Tigers and the club's bright future

YOU want to know why Robbie Farah refused to sit back last year and let James Tedesco quit the Wests Tigers to join Canberra?

Ambassador for The March Change, Robbie Farah at Concord Oval. Picture: Craig Wilson

YOU want to know why Robbie Farah refused to sit back last year and let James Tedesco quit the Wests Tigers to join Canberra?

Farah remembers the first time he saw Tedesco play as a teenager. Right then, the Wests Tigers NRL captain rushed home to tell anyone who would listen how he had just witnessed the new Billy Slater.

“From the first day I saw him play I just knew the kid was a special talent,” Farah recalled at Thursday’s NRL launch.

“I know it is going to put pressure on him but that is what I think of him. That is how good I think he is.”

TIGER CUBS POISED TO RESTORE PRIDE

Robbie Farah says it was his responsibility as captain to keep Tedesco’s talent in Leichhardt.

Which is why when Farah found out last year during the State of Origin series that Tedesco had announced he was quitting the Tigers, Farah was furious.

“I thought it would have been a tragedy if he was lost to our club,” Farah added.

“I did everything I could to keep him here. I was just a shoulder to lean on. I could tell he wasn’t fully convinced in his decision.

“There were things going on at the club that he wasn’t happy with at the time.

“I know for a fact that he didn’t want to go but he felt like he was forced to go and I just said to him that wasn’t the case.

“I just think he needed to feel a bit of love and he wasn’t getting it at the time and as a captain I felt I needed to give it to him.

“It all happened when I was away in Origin camp. I don’t think it would have played out the way it did if I wasn’t away. He opened up to me.”

And after convincing Tedesco to stay, Farah is now predicting the flying fullback is ready to secure his place as a genuine superstar of the game.

Since making his debut in the opening round of 2012, Tedesco has only managed 28 NRL games all up after three seasons plagued by injury.

But in that time the now 22-year-old has also showed enough potential to justify Farah’s stunning comparisons to Slater.

“I have got a lot of time for the kid and I think he is going to be a superstar of this game,” Farah said.

“He already is in my opinion and I think he will show that this year.”

Farah believes Tedesco is set to become one of the game’s biggest stars.

And with the dramas of last year now behind them, Farah is also adamant the Tigers are finally ready to cash in on their wonderful potential.

Asked if the talent that also includes the likes of Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses and Curtis Sironen reminds him of the mix they had in 2005 when they won the comp, Farah was cautious, but optimistic.

“I am not even going to compare. It is a different side,” he said.

“Can we achieve what we did back then, who knows. Potentially we could. The talent is definitely there but talent is not everything.

“You need the hard work and we are working hard. But we need to turn that potential into success. It is in our own hands.”

Originally published as Robbie Farah on why he couldn’t let James Tedesco leave Wests Tigers and the club's bright future