James Tedesco has captained the Sydney Roosters to the 2026 premiership and won the Clive Churchill Medal at 33, reopening one of rugby league’s great debates: is he now a better fullback than Billy Slater?
For most of the past two decades, Slater has been the fullback every other No.1 is measured against. The Melbourne Storm great was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame in 2024, and his highlights reel still stops people in their tracks.
But Tedesco’s career has kept building, and his 2026 season, capped by the Roosters’ 19-18 grand final win over Newcastle, gives his case real weight. We have gone through the numbers, the medals and the rep record. Our view: Tedesco may now have the stronger case.
The case for Billy Slater
Slater’s numbers speak for themselves. He scored 190 tries and made 262 line breaks in 319 NRL games for Melbourne, and the Storm won 224 of those games, according to his NRL.com career stats. He won the Golden Boot in 2008, the Dally M Medal in 2011 and the Clive Churchill Medal in both 2009 and 2017.
He was also a big-game player for Queensland and Australia, with 30 Tests, 27 Test tries, eight Origin series wins and World Cup titles in 2013 and 2017. As he prepared to retire in 2018, NRL.com wrote that Slater had “truly changed what it takes to be a fullback in professional rugby league”. That is a resume very few players in any position can match.
The case for James Tedesco
Start with the game’s top individual honour. Tedesco has two Dally M Medals to Slater’s one, won six years apart in 2019 and 2025. In 2025 he polled 67 votes to win by 22, becoming the first Rooster to win the medal twice and the ninth man to win more than one, NRL.com reported.
“I’ve had a lot of critics and doubters the last couple of years so to be back on this stage winning this medal is a proud achievement for myself,” Tedesco said that night.
He has also been named Dally M Fullback of the Year five times (2016, 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025) to Slater’s three, and the players have voted him their RLPA Players’ Champion four times, according to Rugby League Project.
Then there is the volume. In 22 fewer NRL games, Tedesco has more try assists and far more running metres than Slater, per NRL.com. Since joining the Roosters in 2018 he has averaged 200 running metres a game.
And he is a proven leader. Tedesco has captained the Roosters, New South Wales and Australia, and he led the Kangaroos to the 2021 World Cup title, scoring two tries in the 2022 final to be named player of the final.
Tedesco’s 2026 season
At 33, Tedesco produced one of the best seasons of his career. He scored the last-minute winning try in Origin I as NSW completed the biggest comeback win in Origin history against a Queensland side coached by Slater, and the Blues went on to win the series 2-1. Slater stepped down as Maroons coach in August.
In the grand final, Tedesco ran 385 metres from 35 runs with 14 tackle breaks, NRL.com reported. The ABC said it was the most run metres by a player in any NRL finals match, and it brought Tedesco his first premiership as captain.
“What a player he’s been for the Roosters since he arrived at the club,” Johnathan Thurston said, speaking on Nine.
2026 by the numbers
NRL games: 21, including finals
Tries: 12
Try assists: 16
Line breaks: 16
Average running metres: 203 a game
Honours: Origin series win, premiership, Clive Churchill Medal
Tedesco has also been named in the Kangaroos squad for the World Cup.
Head-to-head numbers
These are career NRL figures from NRL.com’s player profiles for Tedesco and Slater. Tedesco’s include the 2026 grand final.
Games
Tedesco: 297 (Wests Tigers 2012-17, Roosters 2018-26)
Slater: 319 (Melbourne 2003-18)
Edge: Slater
Tries
Tedesco: 161
Slater: 190
Edge: Slater
Try assists
Tedesco: 191
Slater: 173
Edge: Tedesco
Line breaks
Tedesco: 214
Slater: 262
Edge: Slater
Running metres
Tedesco: 54,416 (about 183 a game)
Slater: 41,034 (128 a game)
Edge: Tedesco
Grand finals
Tedesco: three played, three won (2018, 2019, 2026)
Slater: seven played, four won on the field, two premierships on the record books
Edge: Tedesco on premierships, Slater on grand finals reached
A note on the data: stat tracking has changed a lot since Slater debuted in 2003. NRL.com credits him with only two to five try assists in each of his first four seasons, so the older figures may undersell him. Treat the gaps in assists and metres as a guide rather than an exact measure.
Rep football
State of Origin
Tedesco: 26 games, 9 tries, five series wins (2018, 2019, 2021, 2024, 2026), Wally Lewis Medal 2019, former NSW captain
Slater: 31 games, 12 tries, eight series wins, Wally Lewis Medals 2010 and 2018
Edge: Slater
Test football
Tedesco: 13 Tests and 9 tries for Australia (plus six Tests for Italy), 2021 World Cup winner as captain
Slater: 30 Tests and 27 tries for Australia, World Cup winner in 2013 and 2017
Edge: Slater
This is Slater’s strongest ground. Tedesco played only Game I in the 2024 series, and he still trails Slater on Origin appearances and Test caps.
Silverware
Premierships
Tedesco: 3 (2018, 2019, 2026)
Slater: 2 (2012, 2017), plus the 2007 and 2009 grand final wins later stripped from Melbourne for salary cap breaches
Dally M Medals
Tedesco: 2 (2019, 2025)
Slater: 1 (2011)
Clive Churchill Medals
Tedesco: 1 (2026)
Slater: 2 (2009, 2017)
Golden Boot
Tedesco: 0
Slater: 1 (2008)
Dally M Fullback of the Year
Tedesco: 5
Slater: 3
The Golden Boot gap needs context. Since 2018 the award has been judged only on international matches, NRL.com noted in 2019, the year Tedesco won the Dally M and Wally Lewis medals but missed the Golden Boot.
The verdict
Slater still owns more tries, more line breaks, more Test caps, more Origin series wins and a Golden Boot. On those measures, he wins.
But Tedesco now has more premierships, more Dally M Medals and more Dally M Fullback of the Year awards. He has captained club, state and country to titles, and he has produced more try assists and running metres in fewer games. At 33 he has just put together an Origin-winning, premiership-winning, Clive Churchill-winning season.
It is a debate, not a settled fact, and Slater’s legacy is safe either way. But on the weight of evidence, we believe James Tedesco may now edge him as the better player. He is already the seventh-best Roosters player of all time in our rankings, and he may not be finished yet.
Who gets your vote: Tedesco or Slater? Have your say and tell us who you would pick at No.1.
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