Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco has praised his teammates after a hard-fought match on Friday night and is determined to improve his leadership skills through the season.
The three-time Jack Gibson Medallist says that he has been incredibly impressed with both players and coaches' determination and tenacity through what would normally be a turbulent period, and has stamped out the need to make any excuses despite the lack of personnel.
“It’s massive,” he said regarding the team’s resolve.
“The effort is huge, you can see in every game we play. The effort is there and there’s a lot of key positions where guys who hadn’t trained there all pre-season are coming in and doing a great job.
“It’s probably not the glitz and glamour of our team – it’s more the toughness and digging in, and our defence has been very good. We’ve lost a lot of leaders and guys in key positions but we’re still fighting and working hard for each other.
Round 10 Media - James Tedesco
“There’s probably a lot of reasons why we shouldn’t go too well, but we don’t think of it like that. We know that whoever is going to come into our team is going to do a good job for us and there’s no excuses. Yes, we have lost a lot of guys to injuries but we haven’t looked back on that, we’re taking it week to week.
“Fitzy and Robbo are doing a great job for us by coaching a lot of young guys who haven’t played many games and it’s pretty good to be a part of this team.
“We’re still a bit clunky with some of our combinations but with the heart and desire shown, I’m pretty proud to be captain of the team at the moment."
Taking over the captaincy role this season, Tedesco says he is looking to refine and evolve his game to keep up with the demands of a leadership role as he looks to inspire his troops as they face the challenging rigours of the NRL season.
“I just want to be the player and person I am,” he stated.
“I know the guys will get on the back of that, I don’t want to shoulder that expectation too much.
“I just want to try and lead by example like I have the past few years to get to where I am as captain. I just want to keep doing that and lead these young guys around. It’s awesome having young guys like Sammy Walker just playing footy and I’m just trying to get the best out of them and win games.
“I speak to Robbo weekly about how I can be a better captain and while I’d usually just let things go (in the past), I don’t like to get too animated. But as a captain, I have to I guess. I have to step into that role, talk to the refs more, talk to the boys more and lead with words more than actions.
“I’m enjoying the role, I just want to be a better player and a better captain.”
There’s probably a lot of reasons why we shouldn’t go too well, but we don’t think of it like that. We know that whoever is going to come into our team is going to do a good job for us and there’s no excuses. Yes, we have lost a lot of guys to injuries but we haven’t looked back on that, we’re taking it week to week.
James Tedesco Roosters Captain
Tedesco also confirmed that young five-eighth Lachlan Lam is in the running to feature in the side's Magic Round clash after successfully rehabilitating an MCL injury, and says he is looking forward to seeing a host of returning Roosters from their stints on the sideline.
“He’s good to go," Tedesco said.
“He trained yesterday and he’s going to get a full session in today and hopefully he’s good to go, we’ve missed Lammy for a while now.
"You get injuries here and there and people just slot in. He had a great pre-season, he was unfortunate to get an injury early in the year but he’ll come back ready to go.
“Our depth is pretty good, we’ve had guys come in and do a pretty good job so hopefully some guys will be starting to come back as well.”
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