Without captain Robbie Farah heading into Saturday’s match against the North Queensland Cowboys, Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco says he has full confidence in the Club’s halves to step up and handle the added pressure this week.
Tedesco, who has been billed as one of the future stars of Wests Tigers along with halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses, said that while there’s talk of more pressure and significance on the young halves this week, there’s no doubt in his mind that the duo are more than ready to stop the Cowboys’ impressive seven-game winning streak.
“I don’t think there’s too much pressure on them this week,” Tedesco reflected.
“You know, Broosky and Mitch, they’re both level-headed guys and they don’t let the pressure get to them. They’re not cocky in that sense, they’re great guys, and I think that they sort of take all that talk on as a challenge, and they take it on 100 percent.
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“We’ve got some experienced guys in the middle like Dene Halatau there to steer us around, so I think those two halves take on what responsibility is put on them great, and they all me to just work off the back of it. I think they’re handling it all really well.”
The Camden Rams junior, who has scored or assisted more tries than any other Wests Tigers player in 2015, said that while expectations on the dynamic trio continue to remain, he’s confident that the group is moving forward and progressing in their combinations together.
“We do lack experience… but I think if we can have a whole year together, that’s when we can start to hit our full potential — both individually and together,” he emphasised.
“There’s signs there that the little things we’re doing are working and we’re getting better every week, so if we can just keep staying on the park together, we’re going to improve.
“We’ve definitely improved over the first 10 games, so [if] we stay positive and together, there’s no doubt that it’s going to keep improving as it has done already.”
Having played just three of the opening 10 games of the year at home, Tedesco also said he was looking forward to playing back at home this weekend, and kick-starting a block of home games that sees the Club play just one away game between now and Round 19.
“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to being back at home this Saturday,” he said.
“We’ve had an up and down first 10 games for the year, so it’s I guess crucial for us now that we pretty much play the next two months of football at home.
“We had a good win in Campbelltown in Round 2, so hopefully we can have another good consistent performance this week against the Cowboys, who are going great.
“We’ve got a lot of home games coming up, so hopefully we can have a good turnout this week and the fans can really come out and back us for a win in the next few weeks.”
