The NRL 360 panel are divided on which superstar NRL fullback is under more pressure heading into 2024: James Tedesco or Tom Trbojevic.
Roosters skipper Tedesco was heavily criticised for his performances in 2024 before finding form late to lead his side into the second week of finals.
Trbojevic endured another season-ending injury after tearing his pec in Origin II. The Sea Eagles No. 1 has averaged just 11 games per season over the past five years.
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Both will play in the NRL’s historic season-opener in Las Vegas on Sunday.
“Tom Trbojevic is the man under pressure for me,” journalist Pete Badel said.
“I think Tedesco got a hard deal last year, I thought largely he was very good and he was outstanding at the back end. But you look at Tom Trbojevic and for me he’s the Ferrari that needs to get out of the garage every week.
“He is a superstar, he could have won the Dally M Medal a couple of years ago but if you look at his last five years, he’s played 55 games, he’s averaged 11 games a season. That is not enough for a guy of his ability, he needs to deliver.”
Trbojevic and Tedesco have been among the first players picked for NSW since 2018, but new Blues coach Michael Maguire has declared form will be the only selection criteria in 2024.
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Journalist Dave Riccio believes Trbojevic should skip Origin this year to focus on Manly, who have stuck by him through years of injuries.
“Tom should be sitting out the Origin series in my opinion and giving back to the Manly Sea Eagles,” Riccio said.
“That’s irrelevant,” Paul Kent hit back.
“Look, Tom’s had issues with his body. Tom has been so naturally gifted his whole life that he’s got through his career without doing the groundwork that a lot of those kids do at 16, 17, 18 years old. He just went past that because he was so talented and now he’s got to that level, his body has caught up with him.”
Riccio pointed out the club is paying Trbojevic more than $1 million per season, which averages to more than $90,000 per game for the past five years.
“I get that but he’s been doing the work and I believe he will play more games this year and his injuries have been so different every time, it’s not like he’s constantly breaking down with the same injury, every time it’s a different injury. It’s just bad luck,” Kent said.
The panel were also divided on the cause of Tedesco’s poor form last year.
Riccio: James Tedesco, we all know 2023 was a challenge and he will say it was because he struggled last pre-season with stem cell injections etc.
He has been able to put the work in this preseason, however we all know he’s under pressure to keep that Blues jersey.
Kent: I don’t think he’s under pressure for that. I think for Tedesco, and he wouldn’t come out and say this, but I think a big part of his problem last year was the service he was getting. He wasn’t getting quality ball from his halves and that impacted his game. I thought when he played Origin that he actually played quite well and that’s because he had halves delivering him proper ball. There’s no doubt he’s under pressure, but the problems he had last year were not because of his own doing. They were inside him. He was getting the ball in poor positions, he wasn’t getting the ball at the right time. The halves weren’t doing their job last year and that impacts the fullback who has got to get the ball from them.
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Anasta: It was the spine, it was the service from dummyhalf from Brandon Smith.
Riccio: It’s the same spine this year guys.
Kent: We had Robbo on last night and he spoke about how they’ve addressed that and said they’re going to change things slightly, he didn’t tell us exactly, but they’re going to change the way they play and that will help Tedesco.
Anasta: I think he’s had a word to Smith and it will have a lot do with how he plays and the times he runs the ball and when he doesn’t and the service has got to be sharp to the No. 6 and 7 they’ve got to have more time and space to cause havoc and then bring Tedesco into the game.
Kent: Smith gets out of dummyhalf and he looks himself first and if he’s got nothing he passes and that costs his halves two steps and that costs Tedesco three or four steps. He has to make the decision straight away to pass the ball, sometimes just give it to them and let them work it out. If he gets the ball to Tedesco early enough, his form last year was what was happening inside him which was impacting him.
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