The ominous two-word text that ignited NRL’s great fullback battle

James Tedesco has twice had other players looking to steal his leading fullback crown, but his lack of ego has kept him at the top.

James Tedesco and Tom Trbojevic.

Roosters superstar James Tedesco has twice had other players looking to steal his leading fullback crown this season, but it is his lack of ego that is keeping him at the top.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster revealed Tedesco sent a two-word text to Blues coach Brad Fittler after Ryan Papenhuyzen starred in the Storm’s season opening win over the Rabbitohs back in March.

“I’m rattled,” Tedesco’s text read.

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The Blues and Kangaroos fullback then came out and scored a hat-trick as the Roosters smashed the Sea Eagles, who they will meet in Friday night’s semi-final, 46-4 to kick off their 2021 campaign.

An injury to Papenhuyzen mid-season saw Manly’s Tom Trbojevic, who Tedesco opposes on Friday night, take up the race with Tedesco for the game’s best fullback.

While Trbojevic has gone on a remarkable run that has him favourite for the Dally M Medal, Tedesco has gone about his work leading the injury-hit Roosters to within 160 minutes of another grand final.

It is a remarkable achievement for a club that has had to endure the retirements of both captains Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend, while Luke Keary, Lindsay Collins, Brett Morris, Joseph Suaalii, Joey Manu and Billy Smith all suffered season ending injuries.

While others might be ready to crown Trbojevic as the game’s best player let a lone fullback, Roosters coach Trent Robinson is just grateful he has had Tedesco this season.

“None of this is possible, none of it, without Teddy,” Robinson told The Herald.

“I can talk about coaches, the club, all of that. But his ability to assume the weight of the situation is why we’re still standing.

“He knows it’s on him, but he doesn’t carry it like other guys. They can hunch, and it (the captaincy) can get heavier and heavier as the season goes.

“But Teddy has this remarkable ability to shed mental weight and attack the next game. We wouldn’t have done any of this without him.”

Tom Trbojevic has been superb for the Sea Eagles this season. Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images

Trbojevic’s numbers are remarkable in 2021 as he currently has 29 linebreaks, 116 tackle busts, 30 try assists and 25 tries in just 16 games.

However Tedesco’s stats match up pretty well with 17 linebreaks, 143 tackle busts, 27 try assists and nine tries to date.

But it is Tedesco’s leadership that has proved so crucial in a season where the Roosters have lost two captains and their chief playmaker in Keary.

“The ultimate leader without using words,” Robinson said of Tedesco.

“We’ve lost so much airtime. We had to rearrange our leadership group halfway through the year – because nobody was there. We started with 10 guys and we were down to four.”

However, as long as one of those players is Tedesco, the Roosters will consider themselves a chance to beat anybody and it could be Trbojevic and Manly that end up rattled tonight.

Originally published as The ominous two-word text that ignited NRL’s great fullback battle