Tigers talented fullback will head to the nation’s capital

There was talk that he would leave but no-one expected it to be so soon, with the Canberra Raiders pouncing and signing Wests Tigers fullback, James Tedesco.

The deal will run for three years and start from the 2015 season, with the Wests Tigers disappointed to see him leave.

Tedesco has had a long association with the Tigers having played with the club since the age of 13 and with 25 NRL games to his name, the club know these things happen.

“James has grown up in the Wests Tigers system and we’ve made it absolutely clear that developing local juniors is a priority for this club,” said Mayer.

“In the last 12 months we’ve retained local juniors Luke Brooks, Aaron Woods, Tim Simona, David Nofoaluma, Curtis Sironen, Mitchell Moses and Sauaso Sue, and are disappointed to confirm that James will leave the club at the end of the 2014 season.

“The discussions with James’ management were complex. When another club identifies one of our players as their marquee signing we simply cannot compete with that.

“We wish James well in his new venture and thank him for his dedication and commitment to Wests Tigers over the past eight years.”

Although the loss of Tedesco is a tough one for the club to take, they know that whilst he is still at the club, he will give it his all and perform to the best of his ability.

“James has made it clear that his priority for the remainder of the year is to achieve success with Wests Tigers and we look forward to seeing him back on the park as soon as he’s recovered from his current injury,” said Mayer.

“We have no doubt that that in our system there are young players who will reach the levels of the likes of Farah, Woods, Brooks and Sironen and look forward to bringing them into the NRL in the future.”

As for Tedesco himself, the decision was not an easy one and although he is leaving, he is indebted to the club for what they have done.

“It wasn’t easy to tell the guys, they are a great group of players, and close friends of mine,” said Tedesco.

“This wasn’t an easy decision for me to make and I’d like to thank Wests Tigers for their support during the process.

“I’m fully committed to Wests Tigers for the remainder of the 2014 season and can’t wait to get back onto the field and join my team mates,” he said. “We’ve had some good wins to start the year and are confident that we’ll be in the mix come finals time.”

For the Raiders, who have had trouble attracting quality players at times, the signing of Tedesco is one that excites them moving forward.

“James is an outstanding young talent who we see as a big signing for the Raiders and we look forward to him joining the club at the beginning of the 2015 season,” Furner said.

“The Raiders have followed James’ progress from his days at St Gregory’s College Campbelltown and we know being from Camden, James will fit into the lifestyle and culture here in Canberra.”

“We wish him a successful season for the remainder of 2014 with the Wests Tigers and look forward to him joining us for pre-season 2015.”