‘We told him to go to England’: Tedesco’s brother urged fullback to skip his wedding

As James Tedesco was weighing up whether to put footy or family first, his big brother tried to put his mind at ease.

Matthew Tedesco had selected James to be the best man at his November wedding, a date that had been locked in for the best part of two years. At that time, not even his family could have predicted that the Roosters captain would have a breakout season that would catapult him into Dally M favouritism and earn him a place in a preliminary 23-man Australian squad for the first Ashes tour in more than two decades.

But as the chances of clash become more likely, Matthew and fiancee Jemma assured James that they were fully behind him skipping their big day to again don the green and gold.

“I thought more about it for a while and people started saying ‘he’s going to get picked’,” Matthew Tedesco said.

“I’m like yeah, but you’re saying it like it’s a negative thing, that he gets selected and will miss the wedding.

“We want him to go. It’s always been reiterated that we’re proud of him. Even to get called back in after being dropped [is amazing].

“I wasn’t going to say anything and my partner said, ‘You should tell him, so he’s not worried about it. You don’t want him stressing, give him the confidence and the push that we want him to go.’

“It’s hard having that chat during the season when he’s so focused on the Roosters. It’s tough, it’s just one of those things.

“When I rang him a couple of weeks ago, his voice dropped, he was ‘I’m a bit up in the air.’

“I could tell in his voice he was torn about what to do. Then he talked to Maria [James Tedesco’s wife] and factored in other things with his decision.

“There were other factors arising and he was getting second thoughts, so maybe it wasn’t for the best.”

Ultimately, James Tedesco opted not to tour England. The wedding was just one of the contributing factors; he also needs to have a stem-cell injection into battered knee, and then there’s the fact he would be away from his young family, including newborn daughter Marlie, for more than a month.

“There’s other factors, it’s weird that everyone is making out that the decision is solely to do with me,” Matthew said.

Tedesco has previously captained the Kangaroos, but lost his NSW and Australian No.1 jerseys to Dylan Edwards. The 32-year-old hoped his decision to pull out wouldn’t affect his chances of being considered for next year’s World Cup.

“I’ve represented Australia, I didn’t get a chance last year and it would have been cool to get back in that jersey,” James Tedesco said.

“It’s not something I’ve taken lightly, it’s been a tough few weeks thinking about the opportunity to represent Australia again.

“All in all, I wouldn’t be comfortable with myself not being there for my brother and being away from my family at a very special time.

“If I get the opportunity next year I’m not ruling it out for the rest of my career. I said that to [ARLC chairman Peter V’landys] if that opportunity comes up next year and it’s a different situation and I’m lucky enough to get picked, I’m 100 per cent keen.

“We’ll see what happens.”

The siblings are close. They lived together for two years after moving out of their family home in Camden and catch up whenever their respective schedules allow. Matthew couldn’t play football between the ages of 12 and 18 after suffering Perthes disease in his hip, but counts playing alongside Tedesco in a low-key Test for Italy as a highlight.

“It’s one of the best things I’ve done,” Matthew said.

Matthew said he was unsure if James would deliver a cheeky best man’s speech.

“He’s just so humble,” Matthew said.

“We lived together for two years and rarely spoke footy. We’re not open about that, but deep down I’m super proud of him, I couldn’t be prouder.

“I don’t go around telling him that sort of stuff. I should tell him that more often.”

Australian selectors typically take a squad of 22 players on tour, but V’landys said they wanted to take an extra person to give an up-and-coming player an opportunity. Canberra playmaker Ethan Strange has been identified as a future Kangaroo and is expected to tour with the squad to gain experience.

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