Captain James Tedesco has brushed off a disappointing performance on ANZAC Day and is looking ahead to what is a challenging but exciting upcoming month for the Sydney Roosters.
While the skipper was pleased with the fight his team showed in the second half against the Dragons - which saw them nearly complete a remarkable comeback victory - the focus for the Tricolours would be on sharpening their attack.
Tedesco: "It's On Us to Get Better"
“Our first half wasn’t good enough, for sure,” Tedesco stated.
“It was disappointing to come out and let in two soft tries. In the second half, we definitely fought our way back into the game and felt pretty comfortable.
"Our defence was on, our line speed was great and we had plenty of opportunities, but we made errors and didn’t execute, and that’s on us as a spine.
“We’ve had a good, solid meeting and review about that and it’s on us to get better. We’re seven rounds in now and we can’t just keep crossing our fingers and hoping it’ll get better.
“We’ve got to do something about it, and we’ve only got a short turnaround this week, but we’ve had some good discussions today to get on top of that.”
Despite the loss, Tedesco is excited for the challenge ahead for his side - starting this week against a new-look Bulldogs outfit who have been competitive throughout a majority of their matches.
We know there is some hard footy coming up, but the Bulldogs are our target this week and we know we can improve a lot on what we’ve been playing over the last month or so.
James Tedesco Sydney Roosters Captain
The custodian believes that the coming month is the perfect opportunity for his side to return to the exciting brand of football that the Roosters are renowned for.
“That’s a good challenge for us over the next couple of weeks to really execute our plays and go up a notch,” he said.
“We’ve sort of been hovering around and winning a couple of games here and there but it definitely hasn’t been our best footy. This next month of footy is important for us.
"We’re looking forward to the challenge for the next month or so and we know we can be a lot better, it’s about getting a little bit better every week.”
The ANZAC Atmosphere | 2022
“We know it’s going to be a tough game. Every team steps up against the Roosters and I know every team we’ve played has been a tough game for us.
“We know there is some hard footy coming up, but the Bulldogs are our target this week and we know we can improve a lot on what we’ve been playing over the last month or so.
“We’ve got to go in with our best attitude to play our best footy and to execute as best as we can.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Roosters footy.”
Following strong performances in his first few games of 2022, Tedesco was quick to praise teenage outside back Joseph Suaalii and was confident that the reinforcements could perform in the absence of Daniel Tupou.
“He’s looking good isn’t he?” Tedesco said of Suaalii.
“He probably hasn’t had many opportunities to show what he can do, and in the little glimpses, he’s shown he’s a great athlete.
“Joey’s been learning the craft of playing on the wing and he’s come in and taken those tough carries to put us on the front foot early. I’m really excited to see how he continues to develop over the year.
“I feel like we haven’t missed Toops for a while who backs up every game and plays so hard and tough.
“It is hard to replace him, but we have some experience in Kevvy Naiqama who has filled in a few positions this year and has done a good job.
“We definitely have a few guys that can fill in but it’s just one game so hopefully those guys do a good job and we can have Toops back when he’s ready.”
