NSW coach Michael Maguire explains call to dump James Tedesco
There was one topic axed skipper James Tedesco didn’t want to discuss in a “tough” phone call with the NSW coach.
Among the multitude of decisions facing first-year Blues coach Michael Maguire, the call to axe incumbent captain James Tedesco must have been among the toughest.
Maguire named his 20-man squad on Sunday night and the absence of Tedesco’s name was among the most stark omissions.
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Tedesco had played 22 consecutive matches in Sky Blue since his debut in the third game of the 2016 series and he is the equal-seventh most capped player for his state.
The 31-year-old had captained the side since midway through the 2020 series and is a record three-time recipient (2018, 2019, 2022) of the Brad Fittler medal for best NSW player, introduced in 2005
But Maguire opted instead for 28-year-old Dylan Edwards at fullback, rewarding the Panthers custodian who the coach labelled “one of the most consistent players that I’ve seen for a long, long time”.
Maguire has been sounding players out since taking on the role and told media in his press conference on Monday he had a difficult conversation with Tedesco on Sunday.
“It was tough, but I understand why James is the person he is, he was excellent actually,” Maguire said.
“I’ve got the utmost respect for ‘Teddy’, he’s done everything in the game and I’ll hold what he said to me.
“But I can understand why he’s going to go down as one of the champions of the game and he’s still got plenty of footy in front of him too.
“But it was a real credit to that conversation and obviously moving forward now.”
Maguire was pressed on the phone call, asked if he had spoken to the Roosters skipper about his possible desire to win back his Sky Blue No. 1 jumper.
“We didn’t get into those details and as I said I’ll keep those things to myself,” he said.
“As I said, he’s a champion of the game and he’s playing some good footy.
“So it was a big decision and a great decision and obviously when you come to Dylan, he’s a player that’s been playing at the highest level, he’s played in four grand finals, we all know the stats, he’s won three.
“I think he’s probably one of the most consistent players that I’ve seen for a long, long time, over a long period of time.
“And I just felt in my gut it was the right time to give Dylan an opportunity to play and I’m really happy and confident that he’s going to come in and do really well.”
Maguire was also asked about Nicho Hynes, the injury troubled Sharks halfback who has been selected despite managing a calf issue.
Hynes was ruled out at halftime of Cronulla’s heavy loss to Penrith last weekend, but the NSW coach appeared supremely confident the star Shark would be in the No. 7 jersey come kick-off in Game 1 on June 5.
“I’ve got some really good staff obviously with me and they’re having continual conversations with the Sharkies’ staff as well,” Maguire said.
“He had a scan yesterday, it looks really good, there’s no further damage, I think it actually looked better.
“So I think he’s got through that now and obviously I’ll talk to my staff over the next couple of days and work out how we go about his training.”
Amid news Latrell Mitchell’s chat with Maguire led to the Bunny missing out on the squad, the coach relished his chat with Hynes.
“The conversation I had with him yesterday, one being extremely excited about the fact he was in the team, which was a pretty special phone call in itself,” he said.
“He’s ready to go and I’ve spoken to a lot of players over the last couple of months and albeit you’re faced with many different scenarios of what the team may or may not be.
“I’m really super confident with how Nicho’s been and just listening to his conversations of what he’s actually faced over his career and what he’s learnt, I’m really looking forward to how he comes into camp and he’s a leader.”
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There had been talk of Hynes being managed in the NSW training camp, but Maguire doesn’t expect any hurdles with his halfback as he prepares his side.
“I reckon he’ll hit the ground running on day one. That’s what we’re working towards,” he said.
“But we’re really confident where he’s at, he’ll be able to train from day one.”
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