Photo courtesy of Roosters website
Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues skipper James Tedesco’s record-breaking fifth Jack Gibson Medal came as no surprise to his Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
The medal is voted on by Roosters players with Tedesco making a clean sweep of the coveted award since he arrived at the club in 2018.
That’s five in a row and has now put him one higher than Craig Fitzgibbon (2001-02, 2006, 2009).
“For James to be recognised by his peers for the fifth straight season is a testament to his capacity to go from a talented fullback, to a game-changer, to a leader in the team, to a captain,” Robinson told nswrl.com.au.
“He’s the first player to win the award five times and it’s a reflection of the hard work he put in to be a better player and person every day.”
It has been another huge year for the 29-year-old who played in all but one of the Roosters’ 25 matches scoring 13 tries, making 12 try assists and 17 line-breaks. That all added up to averaging 212 metres a game and a competition-high 169 tackle-busts.
Tedesco, the captain of the NSW Blues, won all three major Origin awards for 2022 – the Brad Fittler Medal, True Blue and Daily Telegraph People’s Choice awards – becoming the first player in NSWRL history to scoop the pool in the same season.
He has scored seven tries in 19 games for the Blues and been part of three Origin series wins – one as captain (2021).
Tedesco also reached some personal milestones this year – played his 200th NRL games with 90 as a Wests Tiger (2012-02917) – and scored his 100th career try in first grade (50 with the Tigers).
