1 week ago
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Roosters captain James Tedesco has pulled out of the Ashes Tour to England after having been selected in a tentative squad of 23 on Sunday.
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’Landys confirmed the news at a grand final event on Tuesday morning, after Tedesco had informed him of his decision.
Roosters captain James Tedesco won’t play for the Kangaroos this summer.Credit: Steven Siewert
“On Sunday, the selectors picked the first 23 players for the Kangaroo tour. Naturally, that’s not going to be the final team because the final team will be selected after the grand final on Monday,” V’landys said.
“However, one of the players that was selected was James Tedesco, and James has pulled out, because he’s got his brother’s wedding and he’s the best man. I asked him to think about it, but he believes that he wouldn’t be doing the right thing by his family if he wasn’t in the wedding, which is a shame because he played so well this year and deserved his place in the team.
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“I’ve let Kevin Walters know, and we’ll now go back to the drawing board. James was very professional about it, and he really agonised over it because he really wanted to be there, but he did make a really strong point that he certainly wants to be considered next year for the World Cup ... he’s not retiring from international rugby, he’s unfortunately got this family commitment that he can’t get out of.”
Tedesco has been the form fullback of the 2025 competition and is a favourite to win the Dally M Medal at Wednesday’s award ceremony at Randwick Racecourse.
Selectors typically take a squad of 22 players on tour, but V’landy’s said they wanted to take an extra person to give an up-and-coming player an opportunity.
More to come.
