James Tedesco withdrawn from Roosters game after Dylan Edwards ruled out of State of Origin

Dylan Edwards' State of Origin debut has been ruined after the NSW fullback suffered a quad issue in Blues camp and was ruled out of Game I on Sunday. Edwards went for scans to assess the extent of the damage, and the Blues ultimately decided it was too risky for him to play on Wednesday night.

James Tedesco, who was initially axed by new coach Michael Maguire, has come back into the side. Edwards pulled up with quad tightness after an opposed training session in the Blue Mountains on Saturday - the Blues' last session before they headed back to Sydney - and a call was made on his fitness on Sunday.

Tedesco was the incumbent NSW fullback and captain, but new coach Maguire made the huge decision to axe him in favour of Edwards. Maguire spoke to Roosters coach Trent Robinson on Saturday to inform him that Tedesco was back in the frame, and requested he be on standby. It means Tedesco won't play for the Roosters against the Cowboys on Sunday.

The Blues were granted a special exemption to bring Tedesco into the team because he wasn't part of the 20-man squad. Luke Keary, Matt Burton and Mitch Barnett were the reserve players initially named in the squad.

Edwards had previously revealed that Tedesco was one of the first people to congratulate him on his selection. "He sent me a message, in fact, he was one of the first blokes to send me one," Edwards said. "He just said, 'Congratulations, enjoy the week' and that Origin footy is the best. That's all class.

“He didn’t need to do it all, but he was one of the first people to message me. He just told me to go out and kill it because I deserve it, and to enjoy the week because Origin is the best. You expect nothing less from him. He’s represented this state really well, and if I can play half as well as he does then we’ll be right."

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Dylan Edwards injury ruins 'childhood dream'

It marks a cruel blow if Edwards considering he has been the form fullback in the NRL over the last few years. “It’s hard to put into words because this is a childhood dream," the Panthers fullback said earlier this week about being selected. "To be able to receive a phone call from Madge (Maguire), it still felt like a dream until I was able to really think it through.

“I was driving in the car and my fiancée showed me the name that popped up on the phone. I had to take a deep breath because I figured I wouldn’t get a call if I wasn’t in the team.

“When coach told me, I was lost for words because there have been a lot of years of hard work and sacrifice from many people for me to be able to represent the state. I haven’t been to an Origin game so this will be my first one. Hopefully there are 80,000 there.”

Penrith co-captain Isaah Yeo said of his Panthers teammate: “I feel like this was the last thing for him to knock off. He’s won grand finals, he’s won the Clive Churchill Medal and he’s played for Australia, and I feel like over the past few years he’s been noticed a lot more by the public who have started to understand the work he puts into it. I feel like he’s made for this environment because the harder the game gets, the better he goes.”

Meanwhile, Nicho Hynes trained strongly on Saturday and is set to take his place in Game I on Wednesday night. The halfback had been under an injury cloud with a calf complaint.

with agencies