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Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco was asked this week to nominate a player to emerge in 2025. The first name that came to mind was young centre Robert Toia.
Toia was one of the best teens in the game before being struck down by knee injuries.
He managed his latest comeback at the back end of last season in NSW Cup and shapes as a contender to start the season in the NRL as the Roosters look to overcome the departures of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Joey Manu.
“I was thinking of Rob straight away,” Tedesco said. “He came off another ACL last year and trained against us at the back end of the year. He was pretty hard to tackle and pretty dominant against some of our centres, who aren’t too shabby either.
“Guys like Rob Toia and Billy Smith – he’s coming off a lot of injuries as well. Those two are very talented. Salesi (Foketi), he’s another young backrower coming through.”
Tedesco conceded the key for 20-year-old Toia and Smith was to stay healthy.
“They’ve got all the attributes. It’s just about keeping them healthy. The first part of that is having a really good pre-season, getting them comfortable with the grind and then hopefully having a really good season.”
Toia was one of the best teens in the game before being struck down by knee injuries.
He managed his latest comeback at the back end of last season in NSW Cup and shapes as a contender to start the season in the NRL as the Roosters look to overcome the departures of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Joey Manu.
“I was thinking of Rob straight away,” Tedesco said. “He came off another ACL last year and trained against us at the back end of the year. He was pretty hard to tackle and pretty dominant against some of our centres, who aren’t too shabby either.
“Guys like Rob Toia and Billy Smith – he’s coming off a lot of injuries as well. Those two are very talented. Salesi (Foketi), he’s another young backrower coming through.”
Tedesco conceded the key for 20-year-old Toia and Smith was to stay healthy.
“They’ve got all the attributes. It’s just about keeping them healthy. The first part of that is having a really good pre-season, getting them comfortable with the grind and then hopefully having a really good season.”
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