Sydney Roosters recruit James Tedesco back at work early as he prepares to bond in Bondi
JAMES Tedesco will cut short his annual leave in order to hit the ground running at the Roosters as he reveals his plans to forge a killer one-two punch with fellow new recruit Cooper Cronk.
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JAMES Tedesco hopes a Queenslander will take his game to the next level — and help retain the NSW No. 1 jersey.
Tedesco has had little to do with his new Sydney Roosters teammate Cooper Cronk, but said he would love to enjoy the kind of success the star halfback had with Billy Slater during his career at the Melbourne Storm.
As Tedesco enjoys the last few weeks of his holiday with housemate and Parramatta Eels halfback Mitchell Moses, another potential Blues fullback, Tom Trbojevic, is helping Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos prepare for Saturday’s World Cup final against England.
Barring injury, Tedesco and Trbojevic will fight it out for the NSW No.1 jersey, especially with Matt Moylan expected to play five-eighth for new club Cronulla.
Tedesco was a standout in a beaten Blues team this season, and is banking on improving further with the help of now former Maroons No.7 Cronk.
“He’s one of the best halves in the world, and the way he and Billy combined for so many years, and how well they looked together, it’s pretty exciting for me to know I can learn a thing or two off Cooper,’’ Tedesco said last night as he modelled the new NSW strip from 11 floors up at The Star casino.
“He’s got a big footy brain, so I’m keen to learn off him and excited about what he can do for my game.
“The way he speaks on and off the field, it will be exciting to learn off him. I think he can take my game to the next level.
“Watching Billy over the years and how they combined was exciting, and hopefully we can replicate that in the Roosters colours.”
When Darius Boyd was ruled out of the World Cup through injury, Meninga chose Trbojevic, not Tedesco, as his replacement.
Tedesco, 24, immediately made himself available for Italy, and will officially start training with the Roosters on December 11.
He said there was excitement when he made the trek to Bondi a few weeks ago to try on the playing strip for the first time, an image that will be hard to take for plenty of Wests Tigers fans who are still shattered about his departure.
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“It was exciting wearing those colours again that I wore for Camden, and it brought back a lot of memories,’’ Tedesco said.
He rubbed shoulders with new Blues coach Brad Fittler last night and praised the man who mentored him during a City Origin camp.