Video Transcription

headcoach – James Tedesco

Made my debut for West Tigers in 2012, and at 19 years of age, it was at Leichhardt as well on a Sunday arvo. I had all my friends and family down to watch, but it didn’t end too well. Sort of 30 minutes in, I hear a pop in my knee and I sort of got carried off. Straightaway, the doctor told me that it was an ACL. The following few years, I sort of had another season-ending injury. I had a few doubts that my body could make it through a normal season or a few games.

For me, moving from the Tigers last year and coming over here, there was a lot of negative backlash from fans. That first game, Roosters vs Tigers, was obviously a lot of media about it. We sort of read messages that they are only coming to boo me, and you know, it does sort of play on your mind when you have a lot of negativity towards you through boos or through whatever they’re saying at ya. It was hard for me, I guess. We didn’t win either, which didn’t help. Sort of hard to cope with, really, I had that before.

During the games where anything goes wrong or something doesn’t go to plan, that’s sort of when I have deep breaths, feel the grass at the bottom of my feet, and ground myself in the game without overthinking it. I did meet a mentor that I still speak to today. That was probably in 2015. I spoke to him every week that year, and I played every game without any injuries. He was a guy who, obviously physically, I had to look after my body, but mentally, it just helped to talk and get it off my chest. I guess, whereas if I was a young kid, I sort of wouldn’t talk to anyone and would just sort of bottle it up.

People think that if they have any problems, drinking will sort of make it go away, but that’s definitely not the answer. It just makes you feel worse about yourself. Whenever I go out and have a few drinks, I don’t think there is any shame in being in a pub and having a water, especially if you’re comfortable around your mates or your close friends. Yeah, I can still have a good time at the pub without drinking.

The key thing for me was to stay positive and be around positive friends and family, you know, that are there to sort of bring you up and have a laugh with and relax with. It’s about having those close people with you who know will listen to you and care for you, and they know that if they have any problems, I’ll do the same for them.

Video by headspace