DEMON SLAYER

FOR JUST ABOUT EVERY GUY there’s a period in your life you can look back on and think, “Man, that was my time! I was killing it then”. For James Tedesco, that ‘Summer of ’69’ may prove to be right now. You’re chatting with him at a photo studio not far from the HQ of the Sydney Roosters, his high-flying NRL club. Listening to him, the takeout is clear: he’s in a good place. You put that to him, and his broad, bearded face lights up. “Definitely,” he says. “Robbo [Roosters coach Trent Robinson] actually said to me the other week, ‘This is the clearest I’ve ever seen you. You’re speaking confidently in meetings and leading the boys by your words and actions’.” Tedesco pauses, as though to absorb the implications of what he’s just said. “I’m only 26,” he says, “but I feel like I’m developing as a leader.”

Those blossoming leadership traits are the ribbon around a package of athletic gifts that have led fine judges, Australian coach Mal