Exclusive: Roosters’ James Tedesco Reveals NFL’s ‘Big’ Contribution to Rugby as NRL Comes to Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

The NFL is not only the premier sport in America but a leader in the world as well. And the Sydney Roosters’ James Tedesco, in his exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, outlined the NFL’s contribution to helping the NRL grow!

Tedesco is in Las Vegas as the National Rugby League of Australia is set to embark on a historic venture. For the first time in its history, the NRL season opener will be played on American soil at the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.

James Tedesco on the adoption of the NFL tech

In his exclusive interview with Essentially Sports, the fullback was thankful for the innovation of cutting-edge tech in the NFL. As Abhijit explained the use of VAR in football games in America, the 31-year-old Tedesco was quick to point out ‘Captain Challenge’.

“Yeah, we have that similar, we have a captain challenge, which I think we might have brought in because of the NFL”, said Tedesco to Abhijit. The Roosters captain then went on to explain the exact methodology of the challenge system.

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“I think that might’ve been an influence because of the NFL and what they do there. So that’s been a big addition to the NRL”, said Tedesco. The Roosters’ captain is correct in pointing out that the NFL has helped the NRL in this aspect. However, there are some key differences as well.

The challenge system of the NFL and the NRL

The NFL can be credited as one of the first organizations or sporting leagues in the world to adopt technology in refereeing. Replays to help with on-field decisions started in 1986 in the NFL and the present system has been in place since 1999. While the NRL adopted the challenge system only in 2020.

In the NFL, it is the head coach who has the authority to challenge a call made by the ref. And the HC has 2 chances only per game. However, if both the challenges turned out to be correct, the HC gets another chance.

While the NRL allows only the captain or co-captain to challenge the ref’s call. And each captain gets only one chance if they are incorrect. However, in the case of being correct on a challenge, the NRL allows infinite challenges.

James Tedesco will be in action against the Brisbane Broncos on March 3rd in Las Vegas. The kickoff is scheduled at 8:30 PM PST.