Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues incumbent and Sydney Roosters fullback James Tedesco’s Man of the Match showing turned heads as the tri-colours recorded their first win of the 2018 season in a 30-12 success over the Bulldogs.
Though ‘Teddy’s’ performance was no shock to those at the club who are privy to the 25-year-old's abilities, day-to-day.
Combining with Roosters’ halfback Cooper Cronk for a play dubbed by commentators as a ‘$2M try’, Tedesco displayed the form that has him held as the state’s premier No. 1 in the 18-point win in Round 2.
The high-profile recruit – whose move to the Roosters was overshadowed only by the arrival of the club’s new playmaker Cronk – ran for 186 metres, crossed for a try and assisted for two others.
“It was great to see them combine on that play, I think that Cooper’s pretty well known for his support play through the middle,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
“It was nice to see James move like he did around the play. We just had better combinations. We got on more what of what we wanted to do this week.”
Stunned in the side’s Round 1 defeat at the hands of his former club, Tedesco bounced back in a big way against the Bulldogs – giving fans a glimpse of what’s to come throughout the 2018 season.
“We came out with the right attitude, we trained hard all week to get what we needed to do. We got it done, we knew we had that in us,” Blues Origin and Roosters captain Boyd Cordner said of the win.
“We’re confident in our group and in how we’ve trained throughout the pre-season… it’s a good start for us to get going now.
“[Tedesco] was awesome. We see it every day at training, it wasn’t a surprise to us. It was really good to see [Tedesco and Cronk] connect.”
