Sydney Roosters star James Tedesco has credited outgoing assistant coach Adam O'Brien for his role in a career season that could end with a Dally M medal.
Tedesco was recognised for a memorable State of Origin campaign this week when he became the first NSW player to claim back-to-back Brad Fittler medals.
But that could just be the precursor to what would be a maiden Dally M gong following another outstanding year for the defending premiers.
Bookmakers have installed the Kangaroos star as the red-hot favourite to claim the prize - and with good reason.
Tedesco shattered his career averages in metres (187), runs (16.6), line breaks (1.2), line break assists (0.7), tackle breaks (5.8) and offloads (1.1) per game.
He also topped the league this year in tackle breaks, line breaks, and average metres, prompting a number of experts to label him the best player in the game.
More importantly, the dizzying numbers translated into the Roosters owning the competition's second-best attack behind Melbourne by four points.
The Roosters were fourth in attack on the way to last year's premiership triumph.
And Tedesco attributed part of the team's - and his personal - improvement to the arrival of former Melbourne assistant and attacking coach O'Brien last summer.
"I knew nothing of him. I knew he was down at Melbourne and how much success they had down there," Tedesco told AAP.
"But him and (assistant Matt King) are doing the attack at the moment and they've just been great to bounce ideas off."
Tedesco said the Roosters had more freedom in attack compared to last year.
"Adam's really allowing us to play the footy we want to play, not bunkering down on set plays, how we've gotta do this, gotta do that. That's a really good asset.
"Me and (five-eighth Luke) Keary are like that, we can play off feel, off the cuff.
"It's important to have some structure, but Adam's really flexible on what's best for us and I think we've really enjoyed that."
O'Brien will leave the club at the end of the season after being appointed Newcastle coach.
Tedesco believes the club has huge boots to fill.
"It'd be interesting to see who we bring in," he said.
"Because what he's added to us this year, we've scored a lot more points than last year and our attack's been feeling really good. We'll definitely miss him."
Australian Associated Press
