The Roosters’ win over Brisbane could have major ramifications.
Cooper Cronk has highlighted pre-match vision of Brisbane Broncos players joking around in the dressing room to suggest they weren’t “dialled in” for their clash with the Roosters on Friday night. And James Tedesco’s performance in the Roosters’ win has piled more pressure on incumbent NSW fullback Dylan Edwards.
Tedesco ran for a whopping 224 metres from 23 carries as the Roosters stunned the Broncos 26-16 at Suncorp. The captain had a line break, try assist and six tackle breaks in a starring performance, as he led his side to just their second win of the season.
Despite the Roosters suffering four losses in their first six games, Tedesco has been a shining light. The fullback has continued his dominant form from last season that came about after he lost his NSW State of Origin jersey.
The 32-year-old’s start to the season has led for calls for Laurie Daley to backflip on Michael Maguire’s decision and bring him back into the NSW team. Edwards has been brilliant for the Panthers over the last five years, and starred for both NSW and Australia last year in the No.1 jersey.
But he’s had an injury-plagued start to 2025 and looked well off the pace in the Panthers’ loss to the Dolphins on Thursday night. Edwards was noticeably struggling when Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow raced away for the match-sealing try, and many have suggested Tedesco might be in the box seat to win his Origin spot back.
Cooper Cronk calls out Broncos over dressing room footage
Meanwhile, Broncos coach Michael Maguire admitted his team lacked energy in their shock loss to the Roosters – which came just five weeks after they thrashed the Chooks in Round 1. The coach denied complacency had crept in, but Cronk reckons there were signs just minutes before the game.
Fox League cameras picked up a number of Broncos players laughing and joking around in the sheds before the game, and Cronk believed they weren’t up for the game to the extent they should have been. “It doesn’t tell you all the story – but it gets you a little bit of a snippet of the mindset of what the team is about to run out on the field (with),” Cronk said.
“And there was just a little bit of joking around with the Broncos, a little bit of sort of … not complacency, but not truly being dialled in to where you need to be every week in the NRL.”
The Queensland legend thinks a number of Broncos players were trying to take “shortcuts” once they got on-field. “This is a very good team, it’s arguably well-balanced better than most teams,” he said. “So when they put it together, we’ve seen what they can do. But the consistency piece is still a struggle for most teams, unless you’re the Dogs or the Melbourne Storm at the moment.
“There was a little bit of … call it looking for shortcuts in that first half. Looking for the big play every play to win it. Adam Reynolds was arguing with the referee a little bit. So there was a couple of little things.”
