James Tedesco had done everything in rugby league, but captaining his side to premiership glory was the final frontier for the legendary fullback who was more emotional than ever after the Roosters knocked off the Knights.

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There were plenty of heroes in the 19-18 victory, with Daly Cherry-Evans snapping a field goal, while Mark Nawaqanitawase scored a double in his final game before he returns to rugby.

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But Tedesco was the best player on the field with a simply absurd 28 runs for 330 metres to go with two crucial defensive plays in the final four minutes to earn him the Clive Churchill Medal.

At 33, he’d already won two premierships, a World Cup, several State of Origin series and a couple of Dally M Medals.

But you could tell his third title meant a little bit more to a man who now rivals Billy Slater as the greatest fullback of all time.

“I think probably the captaincy (is why I’m so emotional),” he said.

“That was a goal of mine since taking over, I wanted to win a premiership as a captain.

“Around our offices there are pictures of the great captains who have won a premiership at the club, and I felt like that was probably the last thing I wanted to do in my career. That was a burning desire for me.

“Captaincy, you just want to be yourself, but it is a great honour with that feeling of just leading a team of this great club to a premiership. I probably wasn’t emotional in ’18, ’19, but the emotions definitely felt stronger this time around.”

This wasn’t a game where attack dominated defence, which made Tedesco’s yardage all the more important.

“I think Teddy’s played many different forms in his career and he’s obviously got Teddy’s style,” coach Trent Robinson said.

“I’ve seen him play grand finals where it’s opened up, whereas Teddy just had to grind and grind and grind. He had to take the first ball, he had to take the fourth ball, he had to keep moving.

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“Usually, Ted doesn’t look fatigued, but he was in the red there tonight. I looked at him with about 20 to go and he just kept going and going. Then it was fitting that he ended up scrapping that last one right at the end to finish the game off as well.

“I’m so glad. Ted’s done a lot in his career, he’s worked so hard to captain a grand final winning team, and then to get Clive Churchill on the back of it, I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Seeing “Ted” in the red may have been strange, but it says a lot that he worked even harder as everyone on the field got more exhausted.

“I was very fatigued by the end of it, but our boys just worked that hard in defence and allowed me to bring the ball back in good positions, and I just had to keep working,” he said.

“We had confidence and belief that we could win this game, no matter what it looked like. It wasn’t pretty at some stages, we had to work really hard for it, but I’m just really proud.”

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The next challenge for the Roosters is trying to replace their departing stars headlined by Nawaqanitawase who, added another two tries to his unrivalled highlights reel.

He came to the Roosters from the Wallabies unable to tackle but leaves with the greatest two seasons ever seen by a winger.

“I’m just trying to think of a winger that’s had as big an impact on the game,” Robinson said, hopeful to get him back in a couple of years.

“There have been some amazing wingers that have played the game that have brought the ball. Brett Morris, what he did for us in ’19, that was an absolutely memorable performance.

“But what Mark’s done from the wing (is extraordinary). Wingers touching the ball in so many different types and styles, I hope he’s created another generation of those types of players.

“It’s extraordinary watching him play the game. I imagine everybody in the room, when he gets the ball, you sort of go, what’s going to happen here, what can he do?

“When other people get the ball in the same situation, you sort of know what’s going to happen. When Mark gets it, there’s this energy that he can do something here always, and he believes he can do something always.

“But not only has he done it with the skill, he does it in carrying out of the backfield, which was always going to be (the challenge).

“His arms were painted on when he came across, he could not tackle. He just wasn’t sure where to be, and he cares so much with a smile on his face. It’s been a real pleasure to coach someone with such freedom and care at the same time.”