James Tedesco is about to so something Daley, Johns and Hayne couldn’t for NSW

In the weeks that followed James Tedesco’s NSW Origin debut, the fullback spoke about needing to lift his own game if he wanted to keep the No.1 jersey from previous owner Jarryd Hayne.

Hayne returned to the NRL after his NFL adventure at the back end of 2016, signing a $2.4 million two-year deal with the Gold Coast Titans.

Tedesco impressed in his first taste of Origin, a game-three dead-rubber. He remembers getting targeted most of the night by Queensland’s Greg Inglis.

But Hayne had been the NSW fullback when the Blues won the 2014 series before heading Stateside to chase his American football dream, and posed an obvious threat to Tedesco’s own Origin hopes.

“It’s exciting to see ‘Haynesy’ back; it will be a test for me to keep that Origin jersey and keep it from him because when he was there, he made it his own,” Tedesco said at the time. “He got a series win for the Blues. It will be a good test for me to lift my game up to his level.”

Tedesco retained the No.1 jersey the following year, and remained the Blues’ fullback for six seasons and game one of the 2024 series, when he was replaced by Penrith’s Dylan Edwards.

Now the Roosters veteran is back and set to play his 24th Origin game for the Blues, which will take him past the 23 games played by coach Laurie Daley, Immortal Andrew Johns and Hayne himself.

Paul Gallen punched out 24 games for the Blues, fellow Cronulla legend Andrew Ettinghausen played 27 games and Brad Fittler a record 31 Origins.

Tedesco has no plans to hand the jersey back to Edwards any time soon.

Daley shook his head when reminded about how many times Tedesco had now pulled on the sky blue, and told this masthead: “That’s unbelievable. The thing I’ve admired about ‘Teddy’ is he’s always had the passion to play for NSW. That’s never wavered, and he’s never given up on playing.

“What makes his achievement extra special is he plays in such a demanding position. You need to be highly energised at fullback, you need to be on the ball and doing a lot of things. He just keeps producing. It really is amazing what he’s been able to do.”

Tedesco was at The Star on Monday night with the rest of the Blues squad to watch Boyd Cordner and Peter Sterling inducted into the NSW Rugby League Hall of Fame.

Cordner, who led the Blues to series triumphs in 2018 and 2019 before being forced into retirement in 2021 due to concussion concerns, said the only time he missed rugby league was around State of Origin.

Cordner spoke glowingly of Tedesco, who took over the captain’s armband from his former Roosters teammate after he was knocked out in the first game of the 2020 series.

“I don’t think Teddy has ever had a bad Origin game,” Cordner said. “People are talking about him now and how he’s having his best season yet for the Roosters, but to those people who know him and are always around him, he’s still just the same Teddy.

“He’s still playing at an extremely high level, and when you do that, rep honours come. You never stop appreciating what he does for his club and his state. Hopefully, he can keep going.”

Fittler said Tedesco was playing as well as any player at this part of his career. He pointed out that Tedesco had played so many Origin games partly because he featured in some dominant Blues teams that won several shields, which meant it was hard to lose your spot.

Tedesco himself said he still remembered the first phone call from Daley all those years ago, and was just as nervous when he realised the coach was calling him again on Sunday night to tell him he was back in the team.

“I held that fullback spot for a long time, and by the end of it, after we had lost a couple of series, it was time for a change. I understood that,” Tedesco said.

“I remember Loz calling me at the time. I was a chance for game one that series [in 2016], but I got injured. NSW lost the first two games, and I was picked for game three. Matt Moylan was moved to the halves, and we won that night.

“Because it was a dead rubber, there wasn’t much expectation or pressure on me. My parents presented me with my jersey, and ‘GI’ [Inglis] smashed my nose.

“Loz could have picked me or Dylan. For me, even thought I had missed out the last couple of years, I was still happy with my footy. I’ve led from the front at my club, and won last year’s Dally M. To be back here is very special.

“I’m also looking forward to playing with Nathan Cleary and Mitch [Moses] as the halves for the first time.”

Tedesco would need to play all three games this season, as well as next year and 2028, to topple Fittler. His deal with the Roosters expires at the end of next year.

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