James Tedesco (born 8 January 1993), nicknamed "Teddy",[2] is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback[3] and captains the Sydney Roosters in the NRL and Australia.

A former Australian International Test and New South Wales State of Origin captain, Tedesco is widely regarded as one of the best rugby league fullbacks of all time.

[5] He was raised on a 100 hectare property in Menangle in Sydney's south west, complete with his own football field with goal posts.

His father said of his early years, "James couldn't even make the junior rep squad for Wests when he was 14, and from then on he's always sort of scraped in.

[8] Tedesco played on the wing for the Western Suburbs Magpies in the Harold Matthews Cup competition, with David Nofoaluma at fullback.

[6] Tedesco commenced the 2011 season playing in the S. G. Ball Cup, but was promoted to the Wests Tigers NYC team from round 13.

However, coach Tim Sheens said he was unlikely to be playing at fullback at the start of the regular season, saying, "I don't necessarily want to throw that on him at this point.

Team-mate Benji Marshall said, "Just seeing his reaction in the sheds, he was crying in there and it brought a tear to a few of the boys' eyes as well, because we see him as such a great talent and he's fitted into the squad well and he's a really good kid.

With Tim Moltzen moving to halfback before suffering a season-ending injury, Tedesco played most of the rest of the season at fullback, scoring 8 tries in 19 matches.

"[15] At the end of the season, Tedesco was chosen to represent Italy at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Before the end of the year, Tedesco had returned to sprint training and was adjusting his running style to be less "low to the ground".

While Tedesco said he felt ready to play in the representative matches, coach Jason Taylor said, "I think that's too early.

[34] He recovered to represent the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea, but left the field with concussion in the first half.

[36] In March and April, Tedesco alongside Tigers captain Aaron Woods and halves partners Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses attracted media attention, with speculation about where the players, dubbed as the "Big Four" would end after all of their contracts expired at season's end.

[41] On 23 September, Tedesco played fullback for Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea, scoring 3 tries in the 48–8 win in Port Moresby.

[46] Having just recovered from a case of the mumps Tedesco was not at his best and bombed a certain try by dropping a pass from Blake Ferguson after he made a break down the touchline during the Roosters shock upset 10–8 loss at ANZ Stadium.

[49][50] On 10 September, Tedesco was awarded the Brad Fittler medal as being NSW's best player in the 2018 State of Origin series.

[53] Tedesco played in all 3 games of New South Wales' successful origin campaign in 2019, ultimately winning the Wally Lewis Medal for best player in the series.

On 22 February, Tedesco played for the Roosters in their 2020 World Club Challenge victory defeating St Helens 20–12.

[59] In round 5, Tedesco scored a hat-trick as the Sydney Roosters defeated Canterbury-Bankstown 42–6 at Bankwest Stadium.

[61] In the 2020 semi final, Tedesco scored two tries as the Roosters lost 22–18 to Canberra at the Sydney Cricket Ground, ending their chance of winning a third straight premiership.

[62] He was awarded the Jack Gibson Medal for the third year running, the first time this has been accomplished by any player,[63] Tedesco was selected by New South Wales for the 2020 State of Origin series.

[64] On 7 December, Tedesco signed a three-year contract extension to stay at the Sydney Roosters until the end of the 2024.

[65] The following week, he scored two tries and kicked two goals against his former club, the Wests Tigers, in a 40–6 victory and captained the Roosters for the first time.

[68] The following week, Tedesco put in a man of the match performance, scoring a try and providing four try assists in the club's 40–22 victory over St. George Illawarra.

Tedesco played a total of 22 games for the Sydney Roosters in the 2021 NRL season including the club's two finals matches.

[82] Tedesco played 21 matches for the Sydney Roosters in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals.

[86] On 1 June, it was announced that Tedesco had been called into the New South Wales team to replace Dylan Edwards after he suffered a quad injury at training.

[89] On 25 October 2021, Tedesco was placed under investigation by the NRL after an alleged racist incident with a 20-year-old woman of Vietnamese descent at the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi.

The woman claimed she stood behind her friend who challenged Tedesco about the comment, before the Roosters captain allegedly laughed and asked the women whether they knew who he was.