Tigers boss Jason Taylor is backing James Tedesco for a Four Nations berth despite the star fullbacks time on the sidelines with a broken jaw.
The 23-year-old was one of the in-form NRL players of 2016 before breaking his jaw in the tenth-placed Tigers loss to the Titans a fortnight ago.
Kangaroos boss Mal Meninga is understood to be keen on taking Tedesco to England and Taylor told reporters on Saturday he wasn't surprised by the news.
"He'd be mad not to be interested and it'd be a great opportunity for Teddy and he would handle it, there's no doubt about that," Taylor said.
"It'd be great for his experience."
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A timeframe has not been placed on Tedesco's return to the field but the fullback has travelled to Auckland for Sunday's match against the Warriors as a team morale-booster.
Taylor said he expected Tedesco to be fit and firing sooner rather than later, but not soon enough to appear for the Tigers again in 2016.
"Even just having him here in training is important for the guys," Taylor said.
"He's not going anywhere near that (NRL) stuff."
