“He’s such a good man and such an easy person to talk to, I’ve enjoyed picking his brain, what he’s thinking about in certain situations, and what he would do in certain moments,” Walker said of the former Queensland Maroons skipper.
“He’s captained at the highest level, so his leadership and understanding of how he can have an impact on a certain training session or in a game, not just with the way he plays, but with his leadership, it’s special, and something I’m learning.
Skipper James Tedesco takes part in a beach session at Bondi on Tuesday.Credit: Sam Mooy
“We’re starting to build a nice combination. The next few weeks before the trials are crucial, and we’ll work out what we’re going to do [in terms of who wears the No. 7], but our roles will be pretty interchangeable. We both want to be able to move around and play on both sides.
“He just has this very calm presence, which makes me confident doing my own job.”
Cherry-Evans played a club record 352 games for Manly, captained the Sea Eagles for nearly a decade, and also led Queensland to Origin glory, before signing with the Roosters.
Loading
Tedesco said Cherry-Evans’ communication skills had assisted him, and the arrival of such an experienced campaigner at the back end of his career made it easy to draw comparisons to Cooper Cronk, a Melbourne favourite who moved to the Roosters in 2018.
“I’m not the main voice, ‘Cherry’ has been a captain of his state and team for a long time now, and the way he’s able to get a message across very clearly, and calmly, to the team, it’s something we’ve all noticed and enjoyed so far,” Tedesco said.
The Roosters bombed out in week one of the finals, but have added Cherry-Evans to their roster, along with NSW Origin hooker Reece Robson, while prop Naufahu Whyte and returning rugby powerhouse Mark Nawaqanitawase were standout performers in their respective positions last year.
Nawaqanitawase will exit the Roosters at season’s end and take up a lucrative contract in Japanese rugby, worth more than $1m a season, before focusing on the Wallabies and their World Cup campaign on home soil next year.
Tedesco said Nawaqanitawase grew in confidence with each performance, but he would need to improve again now that rivals know what to expect.
“He was a bit of an unknown last year, nobody knew how he was going to play or what he offered, but even with that extra bit of attention [from, opposition teams], I know he’ll have a big impact,” Tedesco said.
