A second Dally M Medal for Roosters captain James Tedesco adds to one of the most impressive CVs in modern rugby league.
MERE mortals can only dream of the rugby league resume James Tedesco has compiled.
Two NRL Premiership rings, two World Club Challenge crowns, 13 appearances for Australia and 23 for New South Wales, including the captaincy of the Kangaroos’ 2022 World Cup triumph and the Wally Lewis Medal for player of the 2019 Origin series.
And after this month’s Dally M Awards, a second Dally M Medal, a second Captain of the Year award and a fifth Fullback of the Year gong.
Receiving the game’s most prestigious award for a second time places Tedesco in truly elite company, level with the likes of Peter Sterling and Cameron Smith, and trailing only Andrew Johns (three) and Johnathan Thurston (four).
No one would dispute Clive Churchill is the greatest fullback in the history of rugby league. But among modern number ones, Tedesco is perhaps the closest challenger to Billy Slater.
Tedesco reached the peak of his powers in 2019, when he scored the late tries that clinched both the State of Origin decider and the NRL Grand Final over Canberra, and earned his first Dally M.
But critics queued up after Tedesco celebrated his 30th birthday. After a tough campaign in the Blues’ 2023 series defeat, he lost his NSW and Australian jumpers to Penrith’s Dylan Edwards in 2024.
Unburdened by representative duties, Tedesco has returned to top form over the past two NRL seasons, leading a young Roosters outfit.
“I’ve probably had a lot of critics, a lot of doubters, the last couple of years,” Tedesco told the crowd at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse after collecting his second Dally M.
“So to be back on this stage winning this medal is a proud achievement for myself. I’m just humbled to be up here, receiving this award.”
It feels like an eternity since Tedesco made his first-grade debut as a 19-year-old in the opening round of 2012 — an memorable bow for the wrong reasons.
A Wests Tigers junior who emerged through the lower grades with a big reputation, the teenager lined up at fullback against Cronulla in Round One.
But half an hour in, delivering a routine kick return, Tedesco went down without a hand laid on him.
A ruptured anterior cruciate ligament ended his maiden campaign moments after it began.
Tedesco returned to fitness and cemented his place in the Tigers’ line-up, when injury permitted. A cracked fibula hampered his 2013 season, before a fractured patella ended his 2014 early.
But while a fit Tedesco eventually blossomed into one of the NRL’s premier fullbacks, his club was addled by off-field instability.
In the coach’s box, Mick Potter replaced Tim Sheens in 2013. Jason Taylor replaced Potter in 2015. Then Ivan Cleary replaced Taylor just weeks into 2017.
Taylor feuded with captain Robbie Farah. Financial dramas and boardroom battles dominated the Sydney newspapers like a long-running soap opera. CEOs came and went as frequently as coaches.
The so-called ‘Big Four’ — Tedesco, Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks and Aaron Woods — all managed by the same agent, Isaac Moses, were continually linked with moves away.
And who could blame them. The Wests Tigers of the mid-2010s were a basket case.
After back-flipping on a move to the Raiders in 2014, Tedesco eventually leapt to the Roosters in 2018 — showing the immaculate timing he normally displays on the field.
He played all three games of the Blues’ interstate victory over Queensland — his first taste of interstate success.
He starred in the Roosters’ run to the premiership, claiming his first Jack Gibson Medal for the club’s player of the season — an award he has proceeded to win every year bar 2023.
And in October, with Slater calling time on his career, he inherited the green-and-gold number one jumper.
Tedesco’s 2019 was even better.
With 30 seconds remaining of the Origin decider in Sydney, the then-26-year-old finished a series-winning try that goes down in interstate folklore.
He romped to his first Dally M Medal as the Chooks charged into another play-off charge.
And with the scores locked as the clocked ticked down in the Grand Final, the man with the Midas touch raced away with the four-pointer that secured the Roosters’ second straight title.
He assumed the captaincy of his state in 2020, his club in 2021 and his country in 2022.
A brace and player-of-the-match honours in the 2022 World Cup decider at Old Trafford cemented his reputation as a man for the big stage.
His form may have cooled in 2023, but free of Origin duty, the past two seasons have been vintage Tedesco.
The past 15 years have been a golden era of fullbacks. Alongside Tedesco and Slater, the likes of Greg Inglis, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Tom Trbojevic, Kalyn Ponga and now Reece Walsh have constantly competed for the spotlight.
Tedesco may not have been the quickest, the biggest or the silkiest ball-player — but his consummate all-round game, his composure, his leadership and his professionalism over such a long period may make him the best overall player.
If he stays fit over the next 12 months, Tedesco is on track to bring up his 300th first-grade match next season.
And while he’s already guaranteed to go down in the history books among rugby league’s greatest fullbacks, the Roosters skipper would dearly love to captain the club to an NRL Premiership win before he hangs up his boots.
Tedesco appeared to be energised by the challenge of leading a young side in 2025.
Trent Robinson blooded a host of rookies — headlined by rugby union recruit Mark Nawaqanitawase, Maroons rookie Robert Toia and playmaker Hugo Savala — who looked right at home in first grade, while Sam Walker made a strong return from his long ACL layoff.
With Tedesco, Daniel Tupou, Angus Crichton, Connor Watson and Spencer Leniu providing the experience, Robinson has the building blocks of another title-threatening squad.
Tedesco will be 33 by the time the 2026 season — his 15th in the top grade — kicks off.
When you consider everything he’s achieved in that time, you like his chances of adding another line or two to an already bulging CV.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 514 (November 2025)