Knowing how personally his good mate takes a loss, James Tedesco warns Manly star Tom Trbojevic will be burning to get his hands on the ball more in Friday night’s sudden death NRL semi-final.
Melbourne shot through to the NRL preliminary finals with a dominant 40-12 win over the Sea Eagles on Friday night but the win was largely credited to Storm’s tactical approach to keeping Trbojevic quiet.
But Tedesco defended his fellow NSW Blues teammate, saying Trbojevic didn’t have any room to move.
And he admits it makes the Manly No.1 all the more dangerous this week.
“I know he probably feels like he could have done more and I’m sure he’ll go out and do everything he can to prove that,” Tedesco said.
“Not just himself personally, but just losing in general he wouldn’t like that.
“I know he and Jake (Trbojevic) take that very much to heart so I’m sure they’re going to come out and do everything they can to win.
“I’m sure that means more touches for Tommy and more involvements so it’s a big job for us to keep him quiet again.”
It’s a line call to say which one of the pair is the best fullback in the game, but Trbojevic has undoubtedly been the form player of the competition to get Manly into a top-four finish.
From 16 NRL games this year he’s been held scoreless in only three for an incredible 25 tries and 27 try-assists heading into Friday’s semi-final in Mackay.
“The consistency of playing for him has been huge, just staying healthy, he hasn’t been worried about his body so much, he’s just been going out and playing footy,” Tedesco said of his rival custodian.
“That’s been a big bonus for him.
“He’s realising how big and strong he is and he shows that in how he plays, he just dominates teams.”
They won an Origin series together earlier this year but Friday’s semi-final will be the first time Tedesco and Trbojevic have played against each other since round two in 2019 when Manly scored a gritty 9-8 win at Leichhardt Oval.
“We’ve been wishing each other luck all through the year and now we come up against each other to knock each other out in the finals,” Tedesco said.
“Tommy’s been in such great form all year and it’s been good to watch and now we’re up against it.”
AAP
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