Dally M favourite James Tedesco withdraws from Kangaroos squad as fullback race narrows to two

Dally M Medal favourite James Tedesco has withdrawn himself from Kangaroos duties after being picked in a tentative 23-player squad on Sunday.

Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys revealed the news at an NRL grand final event in Sydney on Tuesday morning.

The veteran fullback was one of 23 players put on a list by selectors on Sunday, but quickly informed them he wanted to stay in Australia to be the best man at his brother's wedding.

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The Kangaroos will tour England for an Ashes series, which starts on October 25 at Wembley.

Tedesco is the favourite to win a second Dally M Medal on Wednesday night but will not be adding to his 13 Test appearances for Australia this year.

"On Sunday, the selectors picked the first 23 players for the Kangaroo tour. Naturally, that's not going to be the final team because the final team will be selected after the grand final on Monday," V'landys told media.

"However, one of the players that was selected was James Tedesco, and James has pulled out, because he's got his brother's wedding and he's the best man.

"I asked him to think about it, but he believes that he wouldn't be doing the right thing by his family if he weren't in the wedding, which is a shame because he played so well this year and deserved his place in the team.

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"I've let (Kangaroos coach) Kevin Walters know, and we'll now go back to the drawing board.

"James was very professional about it, and he really agonised over it because he really wanted to be there, but he did make a really strong point that he certainly wants to be considered next year for the World Cup... he's not retiring from international rugby, he's unfortunately got this family commitment that he can't get out of."

Tedesco, 32, was dumped from NSW's State of Origin team last year but has been the form player of the NRL this season for the Roosters.

While he has undoubtedly been the best fullback in the competition in 2025, new Kangaroos coach Walters last week hinted the No.1 jersey was a race between Brisbane's Reece Walsh and Penrith's Dylan Edwards.

Walsh has never played for Australia but he got the better of Edwards in Sunday's preliminary final, which the Broncos won.

If Walsh gets through Sunday's grand final against Melbourne, a debut in the Kangaroos jersey looms.

"Obviously, I'm a big fan of Walshy, as most of Queensland is," Walters told 9News last week.

"Just the way he goes about his footy, he's in good touch at the moment."

Walters is expected to confirm his Kangaroos squad early next week.