‘I played my best footy last year’: James Tedesco says he’s still available for rep teams, explains how the new-look Roosters will play in 2025

The stats show that James Tedesco didn’t deserve to lose his rep jerseys last year, and the Roosters veteran hasn’t given up on winning them back.

James Tedesco says he hasn’t closed the door on a potential rep return after he lost both his Kangaroos and Blues jerseys last year despite statistically having the best season of his glittering club career.

The former NSW and Australia captain was outstanding for the Roosters, with Tedesco putting up better numbers than in 2019 when he won the Dally M Medal.

The Roosters skipper finished the year with the most tackle busts in the league, while he was second in run metres, fourth in try assists and set new career highs in three major attacking categories.

But those numbers weren’t enough to impress everyone, with the former Blues skipper dropped for the series opener, only to be recalled after Dylan Edwards got hurt.

Tedesco didn’t play the final two games of the series and was then overlooked for the Pacific Championships having led the side in 2023 when they lost the final, with Edwards and Tom Trbojevic now seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.

James Tedesco was dropped from the Australian side on the back of their heavy defeat to New Zealand in 2023. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

“I hadn’t heard anything before that so it wasn’t a shock,” he said after finding out that he hadn’t made the team.

“Usually, there are calls before that, so I knew that it wasn’t looking great because I hadn’t heard anything, which is all right.

“I played my best footy last year, so that’s all I can hold myself to. I know that’s a high standard for me and I want to keep chasing my best every year, every week, every game.

“I’m not going to get down based on someone’s opinion of me making a team or not. If they want me to play, then I’m 100 per cent available because I’d never say no to a chance to represent NSW or Australia.

“You always want to play for your country because it’s the pinnacle of rugby league, but having that extra time off and having that time with the family and going to Hawaii is something I’ll always cherish.

“You don’t always get those opportunities with a young family, so I definitely saw it as a positive where I could unwind and relax, which has made me really fresh going into the pre-season.”

No rep footy at the end of the year meant Tedesco could spend more time with his young family. Picture: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous

Tedesco will again be the main man in a Roosters team that’s lost attacking weapons Joseph Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Luke Keary, which has led to some people predicting them to slide down the ladder.

Injuries to Sam Walker and Brandon Smith won’t help either, but Tedesco has been impressed by veteran halfback Chad Townsend, who has communicated well at training and played square to give Tedesco space out the back.

While it’s easy to focus on what they’re missing in attack, Tedesco says the bigger issue this pre-season has been fixing their defence that went missing at crucial times.

“Our attack last year was really good. I think we were first in tries and points scored, but our defence wasn’t up to scratch to win a premiership, and that’s what showed against the big teams,” he said.

“We lost because we leaked too many points, and to win those big games you can’t let in too many tries, regardless of how many points you score.

“That’s been a big focus for us. If that means we don’t score as many points in the first 6-8 weeks, then so be it. I’d rather win games on our defence, so that’s been the focus.”

The Roosters must find a way to beat the Storm and Panthers in 2025. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

That defensive resolve has been the backbone to their premiership wins, with the Roosters holding opponents scoreless six times in 2013, while they were held to single digits in attack four times in the first eight rounds in 2018 but found their groove when it mattered most.

“We’ve had superstars in the past – and we still have them – who could score points and we’d rely on them, but we’ve lost a few of them,” Tedesco said.

“In 2018 and 2019, our attack wasn’t great at the start of the year so we were winning games on the back of our defence. That got better and better so we started to score more tries, and I think that’s a similar vibe this year.

“We’ll be judging ourselves on our goal-line defence because it wasn’t where it needed to be last year.”