NRL News: James Tedesco wins most Captains Challenge calls

When it comes to the Captains Challenge one club gets it right far more than others, some are hit and miss and one club in particular is truly terrible. FULL STATS

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – JULY 15: Referee Todd Smith signals time off during the round 18 NRL match between the Parramatta Eels and the New Zealand Warriors at CommBank Stadium on July 15, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

James Tedesco has staked his claim as rugby league’s smartest skipper, with the Roosters No. 1 winning more Captains Challenges than any other player.

But as for the rest of the field?

Um, there’s some ugly in there.

Like, say, Canterbury losing 60 per cent of every Captains Challenge attempted this year.

Or the Wests Tigers, more again since 2020.

Elsewhere, Brisbane may be the most improved of all NRL clubs under new skipper Adam Reynolds, however fellow top five teams North Queensland and Cronulla will be hoping their own records are far more successful during the September playoffs.

Despite sitting second and third respectively on the NRL ladder, Cronulla have won just 43 per cent of all challenges this year, to place eleventh, while the Cowboys are two spots lower again, having won just six of 15.

Yet the worst?

Warriors.

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James Tedesco of the Roosters (R) is the master of picking up referee errors. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

With the Aucklanders so woefully inept when it comes to challenging NRL whistleblowers – both this year, and overall – their numbers are not dissimilar to Australian Test batsman Shane Watson versus DRS during an Ashes series.

But first, Teddy.

According to figures provided by the Fox Sports Laboratory, Tedesco not only boasts a Captains Challenge success rate of 65% this year, but has earned it while also challenging more times than any other team bar Gold Coast.

The revelation comes as Roosters coach Trent Robinson also heaped praise on the NSW Origin star, describing him as the greatest player he has ever coached when it comes to not only backing up after an Origin series, but starring no matter the expectation.

“He’s rare,” Robinson said of the 29-year-old.

“A rare player.

“I’ve been lucky enough to coach a lot of really good players over the years, but he’s the rarest I’ve seen at being able to carry an enormous amount of weight – both emotional and physical, with the way he plays – from game to game and then shed it, recover and move on to the next one.

“And he’s built that year on year.

“He walked in here a really high talent, and also nailed that first year for us.

“But his ability to improve it too, to take each step whether it’s been representative footy, bigger finals that he came to play, captaincy roles … he’s got lighter the heavier the weight has got.

“And I’ve seen that same bloke walk back in here (this past fortnight).”

Outstanding for the Blues during this year’s series, Tedesco must now maintain the rage if his Roosters, not for the first time, are to overcome a tough run with injuries and play finals footy.

Importantly, the Roosters skipper has also proved an undeniable knack of knowing when to challenge a referee’s call and – just as crucially – when to stay quiet.

Coming into Round 19, the Kangaroos fullback owned the best Captains Challenge numbers ahead of Parramatta co-captains Clint Gutherson and Junior Paulo, whose own success rate heading into Thursday Night Football against Brisbane was 63 per cent.

Clint Gutherson (R) boasts a strong Captains Challenge success rate. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Next best is Brisbane, whose recruitment of South Sydney favourite Reynolds has coincided with them becoming the competition’s biggest improver when it comes to winning a Captain’s Challenge.

Back in 2020, when the rule was first introduced, the Broncos were the most unsuccessful club on challenges.

Yet under the leadership of Reynolds -- plus interim skipper Kurt Capewell -- the Broncos are now third.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, reigning premiers Penrith sit first overall through three years, and fifth this year under captain Nathan Cleary.

Yet the Warriors?

Unfortunately, their plight seems hopeless when it comes to challenging referees.

This year, the Aucklanders have won just two of 12 challenges, for a success rate of 17 per cent.

A figure so low, coincidentally, it dips worryingly close to that realm held by Aussie Test batsman Watson who, while an undeniable star, and champion fella, famously struggled with DRS during Ashes campaigns – challenging nine LBW calls, and succeeding just once.

Shane Watson had just one success from nine DRS attempts against LBW decisions in the Ashes.

Elsewhere, both Newcastle and Canberra have lost more than 60 per cent of Captains Challenges made this year, while five Sydney clubs have also dipped below the 50/50 range – St George, Wests Tigers, Manly, Cronulla and Canterbury.

Of those, the Bulldogs (41 per cent) are worst in 2022, while Wests Tigers (37 per cent) are worst since the rule’s inception.

Overall, however, teams are improving.

While eight teams finished with a Captains Challenge success rate of less than 40 per cent in year one, this season there are just three.

Still, nobody gets it more wrong than the Warriors.

Quizzed on his own DRS struggles several times since retiring, Queensland favourite Watson conceded that “in the end I just gave up”.

The former ODI and T20 superstar also revealed: “The backlash I got (was immense), and I copped it all the way, because at the back-end of my career the crowd and everyone just gave it to me for referrals.

“The hardest thing was using up a review, it going against me, and then your mate, who was batting lower down the order who actually had a decision to review, didn’t have any to use.

“I was doing the best I could with what was in front of me.

“I didn’t do it that well, I learnt the hard way in front of a few million people and I get reminded of it very regularly.”