Finals berth arrives gift wrapped from Penrith for Teddy

James Tedesco rode the same emotions as every Roosters fan on Saturday night after texting Blues teammates Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo begging them to beat the Cowboys to guarantee the Tricolours a finals berth.

Relying on other results is not something the Roosters have had to do often to make the play-offs, but when the dust had settled on Round 27 they had secured a finals berth for the seventh consecutive season.

A spot in the 2023 Telstra Premiership finals looked gone in July as Trent Robinson’s side languished in 14th spot before six wins in their last seven matches propelled them into seventh position.

“I text 'Nath' and 'Yeoy' on Saturday morning saying ‘get up tonight please boys’,” Tedesco told pan66.com at Monday’s finals launch.

“I actually had a mate’s wedding on and watched the game during the entrees and meals.

“Once they were up 26-0 I put my phone away and then looked again and it got back to 26-12 after half-time so I got a bit nervous. I watched the rest of the game and they won comfortably.

“The groom was sweet about it, he was coming up to check the score too, and so were other friends and family.

“I was glad they won for our sake but then I thought 'geez they’re good', just how dominant they are… they are going to be tough to beat again.

“They set a pretty high benchmark and they are going to be the same again for the finals.”

The Roosters could cross paths with the Panthers in a potential preliminary final showdown under the current format if both sides progress to the third week of the play-offs without fault. 

Many predict the Panthers will do so comfortably but given what the Roosters have achieved previously and their challenge ahead, no one is prepared to write them off yet.

“It’s sort of been do-or-die for us in the last couple of months anyway,” Tedesco said.

“There will be more talk and energy for these finals games but for us it’s about how we can get better each week and execute on the weekend.

“We’ve done very well to get our season back on track and now it’s about taking advantage of that work and the Sharks will provide a tough match first up.”

There will be some unfamiliar territory for Tedesco and the Tricolours, however, with veterans Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (suspension) and Daniel Tupou (knee) missing on the team list.

It’s the first time since 2008 neither one or both have missed a finals series at the club.

“They’ve been a big part of the club for a long time now and played in some big games… Jared’s disappointed and he knows that but Toops’ injury was a strange one at training,” Tedesco said.

“They’re both hard to replace but I thought Toops especially has had a great end to the year.

“In saying that too Junior [Pauga] was awesome on the weekend and a lot of our outside backs like Corey [Allan] as well. It shows we’ve got great depth at the club.”