The former NSW captain watched the Blues go down to Queensland in a thriller.
Former NSW captain James Tedesco has all but shut down hopes of playing for the Blues in State of Origin, despite calls for the in-form fullback to take over after his state’s latest loss. NSW were stunned in Perth on Wednesday with their discipline letting them down in the 26-24 defeat to Queensland in Game 2.
While coach Laurie Daley would have been hoping to wrap up the series heading back to Sydney, the Blues will now need to rally after a poor performance in the rain. While Daley and Nathan Cleary are facing questions over the performance, another Panthers player that copped some criticism was Dylan Edwards.
The Panthers fullback has cemented his role as the NSW and Australian No.1. Although his form has slightly dipped in 2025 with plenty of fans questioning if Tedesco deserved to win back his No.1 jersey.
Tedesco has helped revive the Roosters in 2025 having lifted them to eighth on the ladder. The Roosters fullback lost his position last year to Edwards, but the Panthers fullback was not at his best on Wednesday night. Edwards made a number of errors in the rain in a scrappy game for both sides.
This prompted plenty of fans to call for Tedesco to get a chance in State of Origin Game 3 in front of his home fans. And Tedesco himself as admitted this is unlikely having not spoken to Daley throughout the Origin schedule.
Speaking to Greg Alexander and Andrew Voss on Thursday, Tedesco admitted he has just about given up thinking about returning to the Origin arena even though being dropped was hard to take last year. “No, I haven’t had any conversations with Laurie. I knew I wasn’t really in the mix. I know people were talking about that, but I was just putting all my energy into the Roosters,” Tedesco said on SEN Radio.
“I know there was lots of talk about it, but I never really thought I was a chance.” When asked about his current form, Tedesco admitted relaxing a little bit more and letting the young players express themselves on the field has improved his own game.
I always work hard…it’s been a different approach from me as a leader. For me it’s been about leading by example, which has shown in my footy. And in years gone by, I have tried to do too much. But I’ve let this young guys go and play and I can just focus on my footy. And I think that balance has been really good this year.”
Tedesco admitted it was always going to be hard for NSW to win on the end of the 10-2 penalty count. However, NSW captain Isaah Yeo did not want to blame the penalty count on a poor Blues performance in the first 40 minutes.
NSW errors let them down against Maroons
The captain was class in his post-match press conference and looked to his team’s errors in the rain that cost them the game. “There were certainly a few we were shooting ourselves with and they’re just penalties,” Yeo said.
“Some others were 50-50s. Some nights you get them and some nights you don’t. But what you can’t do is just go drop the ball in the next set when you’ve got the ball. You would obviously like that to be a bit more even, but we were our own worst enemies at time.” Coach Laurie Daley said the discipline was ‘nowhere near the mark’ for the Blues on Wednesday night.
Dylan Edwards struggles against Maroons
Edwards was quiet for his usual standards against Queensland in Perth having only run for 135 metres in the rain. But most fans were concerned with his two errors having dropped the ball on the very last set NSW had in the game with just a few seconds left. While there is very little chance Edwards will lose his jersey for NSW, it didn’t stop some fans questioning whether Tedesco deserved another shot.
