He is supposedly a member of the Wests Tigers big four but James Tedesco admits to getting a footballing lesson from Melbourne's big three last week.
Pressure continues to mount on the Tigers' off-contract stars Tedesco and fellow Tigers guns Aaron Woods, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks to begin delivering on the pitch as they demand big-money upgrades.
After coach Jason Taylor was sacked and three straight losses, the Tigers must now parlay potential into premiership success.
The post-Taylor era looked headed for a promising start when they jumped out to a 14-0 lead over the Storm on Sunday but the side fell in a heap with Tedesco found wanting at various stages of the game.
He was out-pointed by opposite No.1 Billy Slater while he admits the kicking prowess of Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith taught him a stiff lesson or two.
On one occasion he was found out of position as Smith booted a crucial 40-20.
"They're the best with their kicking game - Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk," Tedesco said.
"For me, (David Nofoaluma) and Moses (Suli), we had a lot of work to do back there.
"And Moses is only young so we have to work on that a little bit more, our back-three play."
The match was also an important chance for Tedesco to strike an early psychological blow against Slater ahead of a possible State of Origin showdown.
Tedesco is the incumbent NSW fullback while Slater is looking to regain the Maroons' No.1 jersey from Darius Boyd after two years out due to back-to-back shoulder injuries.
"Billy is an Australian and state player and I looked up to him as I was coming through, I play similar to how he plays," Tedesco said.
"He does it at a million miles an hour and at such speed.
"He showed his class on the weekend and I'm trying to get up to that standard week to week."
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