Mr Consistent: The Numbers Behind Tedesco’s Rapid Rise to Stardom

Earmarked as a player for the future, James Tedesco battled through a slew of career-defining injuries to rise from the ashes and become one of the most thrilling fullbacks we’ve ever seen.

Here’s how he’s done it for the first 200 games of his glittering career. 

Fledgling Hardships

Beginning at the Wests Tigers, the fledgling career of James Tedesco very well could have ended before it could have truly started.

An ACL rupture just half an hour in his debut in Round 1, 2012 was a heartbreaking setback, but the tenacious youngster returned the following season to make 19 appearances, averaging a solid 117 metres per game, touching down eight times and playing much of the year with a cracked fibula.

Recovering in time for the 2013 World Cup, Tedesco represented Italy alongside Club Legend Anthony Minichiello.

A leg break in 2014 reduced him to just eight matches, but still managing to score six times, setting up twelve tries and breaking the line fourteen times, with his best average so far of 152 running metres.

Season 2015 proved to be a breakout year for Tedesco, leading the competition in tackle breaks, while landing third place in the try-scoring ranks (seventeen) and fourth in total run metres (3637).

Rep Honours

While a shoulder injury disrupted the early parts of season 2016, Tedesco made his long-awaited State of Origin debut for the Blues in Game III of the series – and it was no surprise to see him not only top the running metres with 258, but also help guide NSW to victory.

Recovering from a broken jaw, he added to his representative honours with a place in the Prime Minister’s XIII, finishing as the Dally M Fullback of the Year with fourteen tries in his seventeen appearances.

Playing 21 NRL matches and featuring in all three Origin matches for NSW in 2017, Tedesco’s trajectory continued to rise after being voted the RLPA’s Player of the Year, as well as representing Italy in the end-of-year World Cup.

But it would be Bondi where we would see the best of the dynamic no.1.

Teddy’s a Rooster

Season 2018 would arguably be the coming-of-age of James Tedesco – playing 25 matches for the Roosters in his debut year for the Club, winning seventeen while scoring nine tries, setting up fifteen and cracking the 4000-run metre mark at an average of 193 per game.

Winning the Brad Fittler Medal as NSW Player of the Series, he contributed heavily to the Blues’ first series win since 2014, with his form helping the Roosters to a Minor Premiership and ultimately, the Club’s 14th title.

Awarded his first Jack Gibson Medal as the Roosters’ Player of the Year, and a debut in the green and gold of Australia was a just reward – and the following year would be arguably his best yet.

The Best in the Game

With 34 votes, James Tedesco was crowned the Dally M Player of the Year following a stellar season for the Roosters – which also saw him awarded the Wally Lewis Medallist as Player of the 2019 State of Origin series.

The fleet-footed fullback made every touch count, scoring the match-winning try in Game III with just seconds to spare, culminating in one of the greatest Origin moments in history, before doing the same for the Tricolours in their Grand Final victory against the Canberra Raiders.

The following year in 2020, Tedesco backed up his efforts with fifteen try assists and linebreaks in just nineteen matches, with eleven tries, another monumental 4000 metres at his highest average of 230 per game as his side reached the second week of finals.

Our Captain, Our Leader

Thrust into the Captaincy role with the mid-season retirements of Premiership-winning teammates Jake Friend and Boyd Cordner, Tedesco rose to the occasion in 2021, guiding an injury-hit side through to the finals.

Making 22 appearances and scoring nine tries, Tedesco developed as a leader and as a playmaker; forcing nine line drop outs and contributing 22 of the side’s tries, cracking the 4km mark for the fourth consecutive season.

The new skipper stood up in a defensive aspect as well, making 100 tackles at a career-high 81.30% efficiency – so it was no surprise to see him become the first Rooster in history to earn a fourth successive Jack Gibson Medal.

His duties as Captain also bled into the Origin arena, succeeding Cordner and guiding the Blues to a third series victory in four years, lifting the shield in one of the most dominant series in history.

His leadership has propelled the Tricolours back into top eight calculations following an unprecedented patch of injuries and retirements, while his individual brilliance has shone through, claiming his 100th first-grade try and making his 100th appearance for the Sydney Roosters throughout the season.

The Stats That Matter: Tedesco’s Rise in Red, White and Blue

• Only once has Tedesco played less than 20 games in a season for the Roosters, which happened in 2020 – but it should be acknowledged that the season was cut to 20 regular season matches due to covid-19.
• In Roosters colours, Tedesco has had no less than a 58% winning rate in a season, spiking to 75% in 2019 while averaging a 64% winning rate overall in Red, White and Blue.
• Tedesco has not made less than thirteen try assists in his five years at the Roosters, he is currently on twelve with his highest amount in 2021 with 22 assists.
• In each of his five seasons at the Roosters, Tedesco has equalled or bested his highest tally of linebreaks at the Tigers, which was fifteen.
• The marathon man has run more than 4000 metres in each and every season at the Roosters, a far cry from his highest of 3675 at the Tigers – in three seasons he has averaged more than 200 metres (2019, 2020 and 2022).
• In 2022 so far (as of Round 21) Tedesco has played nineteen games, scoring eleven tries, setting up twelve, has made an incredible 140 tackle breaks and has broken the line on fifteen occasions, averaging 217 metres in the process.
• In the last ten rounds, he has notched up twelve tries, which included his hat-trick against the Gold Coast Titans in Round 9 where he became the 76th player in history to notch up 100 tries in the NRL.
• With 58 tries in his 109 matches in the Tricolours, Tedesco has a strike rate of 0.53, guaranteeing him an average of one four-pointer every second match. Tom Trbojevic is the only other player who has played more than 100 games at fullback that averages more tries.