TEDESCO EARNS RICHLY-DESERVED WEST PERTH LIFE MEMBERSHIP

WEST Perth premiership defender and former captain Luke Tedesco had to work hard and wait a while to reach his 150th game and earn life membership at the Falcons, but after a career based on dedication and hard work it only adds to the legacy he will leave behind.

Tedesco made his debut for West Perth in 2007 and over his 149 games up until Round 6 this year he had become one of the Falcons most reliable, committed and important players.

He might not have had the natural talents of his good friend Andrew Strijk who is now nearing 200 games and is a premiership teammate from 2013, but Tedesco has worked as hard as anybody and been as consistent and committed to get the absolute most out of himself.

Tedesco's toughness in the West Perth back-line to never concede a contest, ability to match up on all sorts of opponents, leadership from the example he sets on and off the field, and setting up play off half-back have all seen him become a Falcons favourite.

During his career he has been a co-captain for two years, played in the 2013 premiership, the grand final of 2015, and finals in 2009 and 2011.

His commitment to the team and resilience is best highlighted by his performance to get himself healthy in 2013 to play in the grand final and ultimately become a premiership player.

"Knowing that I've had to work really hard for it is something I'm proud of. Nothing has come easy for me so everything that I have achieved I feel like I've really earned it," Tedesco said.

"I think it was important to come to the realisation early on that I was never going to be the most talented guy out there, so I had to find out how to make the most of my strengths.

"I had quite a successful junior career when I was a standout player but the transition from colts into senior footy was a bit of a wakeup call and I had to learn pretty quickly.

"I was just fortunate that I got to learn from a very experienced group and at the same time the guys around me we all pushed each other. Knowing that it wasn’t just going to happen for me drove me to push that little bit harder to get a spot, and then keep a spot."

The 29-year-old always knew that his 150th game was coming during 2016 but after the Round 6 win over Swan Districts he missed the following week against Claremont in Kulin with a back complaint and was unable to force his way back into a winning side.

Last week didn’t receive the build-up usually reserved for a milestone either with Tedesco only getting the call up to play on Saturday morning.

While it turned out to be a loss to South Fremantle at HBF Arena, there have been few harder working or more deserving West Perth players to earn life membership.

"It's something that is really special and having seen so many of my close mates achieve that over the course of time, it's something that now that I have achieved it it's very satisfying," he said.

"Me and Strijky have been best mates for nearly 16 years now so watching his progress is something I've always enjoyed. He got to 150 games a bit before me and now it's good to be there with him as a life member.

"There was 'Slick' as well who I played a lot of footy with and then I played close to Dan Hunt and Dustin Burns in the back-line.

"There's a whole heap of them who got to 150 games in that era and now there's Chris Keunen and Guads who are still around now. There's been quite a few during my playing days that have got to 150 and I'm proud now to join them."

Tedesco broke into a West Perth team in 2007 that included Jason Salecic, Craig Smoker, Callum Chambers, Troy Longmuir, Dustin Burns, Anthony Tsalikis, Dan Hunt, Phil Smith, Josh Pearce, Dion Fleay, Clayton Lasscock and Ray Bartholomew.

All have since retired leaving Tedesco going from a young player learning from some greats of the Falcons to now being one of the most senior players in the current team and someone looked up to the younger players like he once did to those former stars. 

"I've probably felt it in more in the last two years than anything else looking at our current list and how many of the guys are under the age of 22," Tedesco said.

"When you are in the middle of everything socially and with the playing group the time can pass by pretty quickly and it doesn’t seem long ago I was one of the younger guys with some great leaders to look up to, and now I'm one of the older heads."

Tedesco did make a difficult decision heading into the 2016 season to give up the co-captaincy he had shared with Jay van Berlo since the retirement of Jason Salecic following the 2013 premiership.

He is happy with that decision now after seeing the benefit to emerging players early in his career when Lasscock handed on the baton, he feels something similar can happen for an emerging group including Aaron Black, Shane Nelson and Nick Rodda.

"It was a tough decision and it's something I did think long and hard about, but I also didn’t speak to too many people. It was a decision I came to and the thing that stood out to me was when Clayton Lasscock was my first captain in senior footy," he said.

"We'd just come off a successful era with guys like Steve Trewhella, Kim Rigoll, Todd Curley, Glenn Britten and all these guys who had won multiple premierships to forge this great identity for the club. They all left and 'Junior' was left as the sole leader of a young group.

"He stood down two years later citing that he wanted to continue in a support role and Jase took over to guide the next group of leaders through including myself and Jay. I really feel that set us up for the success we've had in the last few years.

"I felt that this was my opportunity to do something similar now where we have quality young kids who are ready to take the next step from a leadership perspective so I could take a step back as a leader and just support them."

Having been forced to spend five weeks back in the reserves this year before breaking back in on Saturday against South Fremantle might leave Tedesco with some more reason to consider his future at the end of 2016, but the fact is when he out on the field the Falcons look a stronger and more resilient group.

If he can recapture his best form and his body stands up, Tedesco sees no reason he doesn’t have plenty left in the tank but he is taking nothing for granted and he hasn’t now for several years.

"To be honest I have had to weigh up playing on or not ever since 2013. It was such an effort to get up and play in that grand final and I haven’t really had the best luck with my body over my career," Tedesco said.

"So I have been taking it year by year and that's no different at the moment. I'm still confident that if I can play some decent footy and play a role, and my body still holds up to a degree then I will continue giving it as much as I can."