ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\nABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.<\/p>\n
In doing so, he joined Thurston at the top of the tree, with the Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) top gong having been awarded since 2004.<\/p>\n
“For James to be on a par with Johnathan Thurston on four Players’ Champion awards is an extraordinary achievement,” RLPA chief Clint Newton said.<\/p>\n
“JT is one of the greatest of all time, and Tedesco belongs in that company.<\/p>\n
“While JT played a different position, they share the same fearlessness in contact, running at defensive lines, and an unwavering 80-minute mentality.<\/p>\n
“These are qualities players respect, and why both have been honoured four times.”<\/p>\n
Tedesco’s feat is made even more remarkable considering no player other than he or Thurston has won the award more than once.<\/p>\n
And there is a legitimate argument that Tedesco’s 2025 may have been his best season, even topping his 2019 when the Roosters No.1 swept almost every award available to him.<\/p>\n
One year on from being dropped by NSW and Australia, Tedesco led the NRL for tackle busts, runs and metres in 2025.<\/p>\n
He also set up 22 tries, helping take an inexperienced Roosters side to the finals after being written off by all and sundry early in the season.<\/p>\n
“Few players can lead and play like James, within structure, but also be a dangerous and instinctive eyes-up footballer,” Newton said.<\/p>\n
“He embodies what it means to attack the game relentlessly and never take the foot off the pedal.”<\/p>\n
Tedesco has played 14 seasons in the NRL after making his debut for Wests Tigers in 2012.<\/p>\n
The Players’ Champion is voted on by all players on a 3-2-1 basis for their MVP of the NRL season. Players are unable to vote for their teammates.<\/p>\n
The RLPA will announce the NRLW Players’ Champion later in the week.<\/p>\n
2025 RLPA NRL Players’ Dream Team<\/p>\n
Fullback: James Tedesco<\/p>\n
Wingers: Mark Nawaqanitawase, Xavier Coates<\/p>\n
Centres: Stephen Crichton, Herbie Farnworth<\/p>\n
Five-Eighth: Ethan Strange<\/p>\n
Halfback: Isaiya Katoa<\/p>\n
Props: Payne Haas, Joseph Tapine<\/p>\n
Hooker: Harry Grant<\/p>\n
Second Rowers: Eliesa Katoa, Hudson Young<\/p>\n
Lock: Erin Clark<\/p>\n
Impact: Kurt Mann<\/p>\n
2025 RLPA NRLW Players’ Dream Team<\/p>\n
Fullback: Tamika Upton<\/p>\n
Wingers: Taina Naividi, Payton Takimoana<\/p>\n
Centres: Isabelle Kelly, Julia Robinson<\/p>\n
Five-Eighth: Patricia Maliepo<\/p>\n
Halfback: Tarryn Aiken<\/p>\n
Props: Rima Butler, Otesa Pule<\/p>\n
Hooker: Emma Manzelmann<\/p>\n
Second Rowers: Yasmin Clydsdale, Kezie Apps<\/p>\n
Lock: Olivia Kernick<\/p>\n
Impact: Shalom Sauaso<\/p>\n
AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Tedesco has joined Johnathan Thurston as the only four-time winner of the players’ champion award, after being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[5844,64,63,4415,761,762,158,114699,114698,588,85,1080],"class_list":{"0":"post-177190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-abc-sport","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-james-tedesco","12":"tag-national-rugby-league","13":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","14":"tag-nrl","15":"tag-players-champion","16":"tag-rlpa","17":"tag-sport","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-sydney-roosters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}