NRL 2023: James Tedesco, Joseph Suaalii dominate amid showdown speculation, Roosters Vs Warriors


If this is how they play when the contract showdown is hanging over their heads, the Roosters may well hang this contract showdown over the heads of Joseph Suaalii and James Tedesco for some time to come.

The Roosters opened their account for the 2023 season with a 20-12 win over the New Zealand Warriors.

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While it wasn’t an explosive win for the Roosters, it was just what the pre-season premiership favourites needed to get their season underway.

But Tedesco and Suaalii have starred for the Roosters after discussions the pair would be battling it out for the No. 1 jersey at the club from 2025 onwards.

Both men put their best foot forward against the Warriors, with Tedesco running 186m in 18 runs as well as putting on a line break assist, a try assist and a try-saving tackle in the three tries to two win.

“I think James Tedesco worked himself into the game,” Greg Alexander said on Fox Sports.

“In the last 10 minutes of that first half he was very dangerous on kick returns.

“Every time he touched the ball they were just getting him. I loved his final 10 minutes. He was looking extra dangerous.”

Suaalii would not be outdone though, running a game-high 232m in 17 runs as well as making two linebreaks and a try assist to the Sam Walker for the match-deciding try.

But he also missed four tackles and had two errors, as well as landing on report for a late hit in the back of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

Tedesco has been one of the best players in rugby league, having been a State of Origin rep for seven seasons and leading the Roosters, Blues and Kangaroos as captain.

Although he’s at the peak of his powers, at 30 years of age, he already has plenty of footy under his belt.

Meanwhile, at just 19 years of age, Suaalii has already had huge money thrown at him from NRL clubs and Rugby Australia, having made the most of prodigious talent.

He’s considered a once in a generation superstar and was already on the cusp of NSW selection last season and helped Samoa to a remarkable World Cup final run.

It comes after a warning last season that the man who helped Suaalii chose league over union Steve Nasteski warned in September last season that “(Tedesco) has to leave the Roosters next year or Joseph will be gone”.

Suaalii has also triggered a player option that will see both Tedesco and Suaalii come off contract at the end of the 2024 season.

Reports earlier in the week suggested the Roosters had denied Tedesco a contract extension to the end of the 2025 season, meaning the club is heading for a massive call.

Speaking on WWOS’ Immortal Behaviour during the week, Andrew Johns believes Suaalii would win the standoff.

“No one manages their roster better than the Roosters,” he told Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behaviour.

“They’ve got a big decision to make because I’d imagine the management of Joseph would’ve pretty much said, ‘If he’s staying here we’d like to see him play fullback’.

“I have no idea (how they’ll manage it) but the top clubs make the tough decisions.

“Me personally, I would keep Teddy on for a while, but we’ll see. The really top teams manage it well and they move the player a year before their use-by date, so there’s some big decisions to make on Teddy.

“I think Teddy can be at the top of his game until he’s 34-35. It might sound silly, but what will extend his career is all the injuries he had earlier in his career, he had those knee problems so he missed about two years of footy.”

Johns said Tedesco would have no shortage of suitors, saying the Tigers, Bulldogs and even Sharks would be bound to be interested.

However, he believes Suaalii would be a revelation as soon as he donned the No. 1 jersey.

“He’d be fine (at fullback) next week,” he said.

“I was talking to someone at the World Cup … (they were told) Joseph is one of the most professional players they’ve seen.

“After a game he likes to meditate on the field, so he goes down somewhere and thinks about his game. After a (World Cup) game in England – as usual it was p**sing down rain – he went down after the game, sat on the field under the goalposts and mediated and went through his game.

“You can see he’s a real pro and he’s going to be at the top of his game for another 15 years.

“If you see the way he treats his body and the way he prepares, it reminds you of Sonny Bill (Williams), and he played at the top level for so long with the All Blacks and then the Roosters.”

The SMH’s Andrew Webster also told SEN he believed Suaalii would have the final say in the decision of whether to stay with Tedesco or move on to the youngster.

“In their haste to get Suaalii from the Rabbitohs and agreeing to those get-out clauses every year on his deal, they have put themselves on a collision course,” Webster said.

“They have to make a decision between the Australian captain or the best fullback coming through.

“It comes down to Joseph and whether he is prepared on how much he wants to be at the Roosters and stay there.

“As long as there is a Lions tour and a Rugby World Cup here in 2027, that carrot is going to be there.”

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