Huge James Tedesco Origin call Brad Fittler will never make

New South Wales coach Brad Fittler is confronting the frightening reality the form of the state’s biggest star has “festered to a new low”.

James Tedesco speaks at a press conference

COMMENT

Brad Fittler doesn’t have the courage to axe James Tedesco even though it could cost him his job and thrust Dylan Edwards into a lifetime of drab regional TV ads.

A groundswell of opinion has grown in recent weeks urging Fittler to overlook Tedesco for the series opener after the skipper’s form for the Sydney Roosters festered to drastic lows.

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With a suite of alternatives in better nick – namely Latrell Mitchell, Edwards and arguably even Tom Trbojevic and his prosthetics – the pressure on Fittler to opt for an alternative has never been hotter.

Usually as slippery as a blowfly on ice skates, Tedesco’s tackle-busting has been blunted in season 2023, with his involvements and running metres slumping to “I just signed a five year deal” levels.

Fittler wouldn’t dare drop his fellow Rooster. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Not only has this raised questions over his frenetic style and whether it’s finally cooked him dry, its tragically massacred a heap of SuperCoach teams.

But like a pimply fantasy addict, would coach Fittler ever flick him for a cheaper keeper?

Sensationally dumping Tedesco would contradict the coach’s selection principles of incumbency and Hindu astrology, plus stymie his obligation of picking at least seven fullbacks in the back five.

Plus, of course, there’s the small contractual obligation tying Tedesco to the Blues of being captain and GOAT, and most undeniably, a Rooster.

On the other hand, if Fittler doesn’t have the bottle to pull the trigger on this most controversial issue, it could spark a series of events that will change our lives as we know it.

With game two at Suncorp Stadium, Fittler’s side for the Adelaide opener will need to be, in building parlance, a matter of ‘measure twice, cut once.’

Is Tedesco really the man to lead New South Wales in the game two cauldron at Suncorp? Source: Supplied

NSW can’t afford to risk Dylan Edwards. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Put simply, he can’t afford to screw this up.

Otherwise, we’re off to Brisbane for a nauseating Queensland coronation ceremony, a result that would edge Freddy perilously close to the scrap heap.

How would he react to this futile must-win predicament?

Like all coaches in the gun, he would panic and do something rash.

This would begin with a reckless ban on bonding sessions, before swinging the axe for wholesale changes that include the dumping of his underperforming fullback for someone else ripe for the picking.

Imagine a volatile Latrell at fullback in the fire-pit of Suncorp, or even more worrying, Edwards?

Even considering he’s the most underrated two-time premiership-winning Clive Churchill Medallist in history, pitching the baby-faced Panther to the feral cauldron of Suncorp for a must-win Origin would be like feeding fresh Chum to the piranhas- and I’m not referring to the Queenslanders.

Tom Trbojevic is another option Fittler should consider over Tedesco. Picture: NRL Photos

As we all know, if there’s one thing New South Wales loves more than a sacrificial goat, it’s a sacrificial goat after a Maroons win. If the Blues fail, our lynch mob will turf Edwards in to obscurity like Jarrod Mullen, Terry Campese, Jamie Buhrer and Nathan Merritt, and all those other good men solely blamed for failing at their first attempt to reverse this state’s collective failure to not ‘get’ Origin.

Mired in representative purgatory, this would send Edwards’ promising career on a downward trajectory from which he’d never recover.

Instead of marketing for Adidas and courting rich offers from rugby union, he would end up the face of a nondescript Katoomba mechanic, or worse, Lowes.

Dumping our best player and captain in Tedesco might be insane, plus it will fuel Queensland’s moral superiority about ‘picking and sticking’- but who cares? If you want loyalty, get a German shepherd.

And besides, it wouldn’t be the end of his glittering representative career. Knowing this state’s manner – and our penchant to sack everyone and pick anyone – I’m sure he’d return sooner rather than later.

Especially if replaced by Turbo. We might need him by halftime.

- Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.