‘Ruthless’ James Tedesco call must be made to avoid Origin disaster

COMMENT: Michael Maguire will make some harsh calls to fix the NSW Blues - but this ruthless axing has got to be the first on his list.

Dane Eldridge

3 min read

May 10, 2024 - 10:07AM

(L-R) James Tedesco, Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo of the Blues line up for the national anthem. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

COMMENT

If you think NSW pick-and-flick players so callously that we’d axe James Tedesco with nothing more than a phone call, then you’d be 100% wrong.

We’d actually do it by text message, and probably from a blocked number too.

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Ending careers is the only aspect of Origin where the Blues show ruthlessness, and this strength must be exploited to coldly abandon our skipper for Dylan Edwards.

Tedesco will never be forgotten for his time as the heart and soul of this state, but the time has come for him to take a hike in favour of the ironman Panther.

Why?

Not only has Edwards quietly brained the NRL for years, he brings the hardened willpower Michael Maguire needs if we’re any chance of burying this state’s indictable shambles of years past.

Sure, Tedesco ain’t no bum- but Edwards’ recent history leaves the Rooster dead in his vapour trail.

James Tedesco’s time is up for the Blues. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The Panther has more run metres, more tackle breaks and more Clive Churchill Medals, and best of all, more headspace unhaunted by six years strolling on cooch with Brad Fittler.

Edwards even holds a joint lead in this year’s Dally M Medal Count - but we shouldn’t hold that against him.

Despite votes being awarded to unused bench forwards and bar staff, the Panther has been one of those truly deserving of his rank after a grandiose opening nine rounds.

Add his eons of combination appeal with Nathan Cleary, Isaiah Yeo and Api Koroisau and his burgeoning slew of big game experience, and it’s time he was awarded his rightful position on the Origin stage.

Provided it’s not a token spot on the wing.

This is no time for some kinda half-pregnant Nico Hynes project, selectors must show the chutzpah to put the incumbent skipper out to pasture and Edwards in to his number one jersey.

Dylan Edwards has been dominating the competition in 2024. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Until now, Edwards has never been seriously discussed as NSW fullback despite being central to Penrith’s dynasty, and that’s because he’s been emphatically unsexy.

The Panther was pigeonholed as a guy who’d outlast before he’d outsmart, which is valuable if you’re enduring a Graham Annesley briefing but not in Origin’s fog of war.

But now he’s a must-have after pimping-out his supreme fitness with dynamic running and the reliability of a paranoid ox at the back.

Tough, tireless, and aggressively bald, Edwards is the new breed of steed Madge needs if he’s serious about restoring factory settings on the Blues pungent culture.

As such, as the face of the Fittler era, this means Tedesco must be left behind as collateral damage.

This doesn’t change the fact he’s served with distinction, and let’s be honest, you’d go a long way to find someone who delivers a better runners-up speech.

Dylan Edwards was used as a winger for the Kangaroos in 2023. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

But the 22-gamer’s form has waxed and waned in tandem with the Roosters frustrating existence all while Edwards pocketed premierships and medals like they were raining from the sky.

And it makes the choice clear.

But before you Queenslanders start baisting in a foamy tub of your own righteousness, let’s be clear:

Opting for Edwards doesn’t mean we’ll prematurely dump Tedesco in an undignified manner.

The captain has been a peerless servant who deserves the best, and that’s why in true NSW fashion, he’ll get four weeks notice and something nice on social media.

- 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.