The Sydney Roosters will be without seven State of Origin representatives when they face the Dolphins on Friday night, but that has opened up the door for one of the club’s brightest young talents to make his NRL debut.
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Regarded as one of the most promising young players in rugby league, Rex Bassingthwaighte has been named on the six-man interchange bench, which could see him potentially make his first-grade debut.
Round 15
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Hailing from Dubbo, he joined the Roosters following a stint with the Western Rams in the 2023 Under-16s Andrew Johns Cup after moving away from his home to Sydney to attend SHORE for his final three years of schooling.
The move proved to be a pivotal one and in his first season with the Roosters he won the club’s Under-17s Harold Matthews Cup Player of the Year award before leading the Roosters to back-to-back titles in the Under-19s SG Ball Cup competition, which saw him named Player of the Match in this year’s grand final.
“It’d be huge (to make my debut). You grow up wanting to play rugby league and it would be surreal,” Bassingthwaighte told foxsports.com.au.
“Being at this club, such a historical club to be in the Roosters jersey is pretty cool.”
Now living in Newtown with his older brother, Bassingthwaighte was rewarded for his sensational start to his career with the Tricolours with a promotion to the club’s Top 30 roster and a long-term contract until the end of 2028.
Continually stringing together impressive performances in the lower grades, his tremendous work ethic caught the attention of skipper James Tedesco.
“He trained with us in the pre-season last year. Love him. We got along really well (and he’s) a really exciting young player,” Tedesco told foxsports.com.au at the end of last year.
“(Rex’s) fast, agile, got good hands, and I think he’s going to be a real talent.
“He had shoulder surgery this year, which pulled him out for most of the year. He wasn’t able to play union for his school, but he’ll be doing a pre-season with us next year.
“He can fit in anywhere in the backs to sort of start off his career, but fullback definitely for the future.”
Highly rated by the Roosters, he has long been seen as the future successor to Tedesco in the fullback jersey.
“It definitely wakes you up, but there’s a lot of good fullbacks at the club pushing for that spot now,” Bassingthwaighte said on the praise from the Roosters skipper.
“It’s such a historical position at the Roosters. You’ve got Teddy, Mini and all that, so to be told that it’s pretty surreal.
“You’ve got to pinch yourself some days.
“Every time with him [Tedesco] or around him, it’s pretty cool and surreal some days.”
Tedesco wasn’t the only one to offer praise, with Cooper Cronk also impressed by the young fullback’s potential and natural movement across the field, which has allowed him to stand out more than other players coming through the ranks.
“You look at the pre-season and he’s had some adversity coming back from a shoulder last year where he missed a lot of football, but he moves across the ground really well,” Cronk told foxsports.com.au.
“There’s a freedom in fullback when they glide across the ground and tend to find space. That’s an art in itself.
“Once he gets bigger, fitter, stronger, faster, those gaps will be easy to get through and navigate, but I like the way he moves.
“He’s obviously a talent, but the way he moves, it looks like there’s something there for sure.”
A talented cross-code athlete who was named in the Under-19s NSW Blues squad on Wednesday, Bassingthwaighte could have easily gone down the rugby union route.
Excelling in both codes throughout his journey years, he was named in the Under-16s Australian Wallabies side, which saw him earn recognition as one of the nation’s brightest prospects in the sport.
Then, two years later, he was again rewarded with union representative honours after being named in the Under-18s Wallabies squad, having helped guide SHORE School to their first AAGPS Premiership since 2006 the previous season.
“It was pretty hard,” Bassingthwaighte said on the decision to choose league over union.
“We stayed up some long nights me and my family but I think when we walked into the Roosters, I’ve always felt at home and Robbo’s such a father figure to everyone.
“Then, obviously, to train first-grade at a young age, I was pretty excited about that.”
Like most players, Bassingthwaighte’s journey and rise to the top has not been without his own fair share of setbacks.
In 2025, he had to undergo shoulder reconstruction, which stalled his momentum at a crucial stage of development and ruled him out of selection for either the Australian Schoolboys rugby league or union squads.
But rather than derailing his progress, the injury gave him a new perspective on sport, with renewed focus and determination.
“It was pretty hard, but you’ve always got to stay positive,” he continued.
“It wasn’t the end of the world. There’s a lot of other bad things happening in the world so just to being injured wasn’t too bad.
“But it gave me some time to work on my body and get bigger so it’s all right.”
His inclusion on the bench comes as Cody Ramsey has been shifted to fullback to replace James Tedesco, who is currently on Origin duties for the NSW Blues.
Meanwhile, Tommy Talau and Egan Butcher enter the starting side with Reece Foley moving to the centres and Hugo Savala transitioning into the halves.
Robert Toia (QLD), Mark Nawaqanitawase (NSW) and Sam Walker (QLD) are also unavailable alongside forwards Reece Robson (NSW), Lindsay Collins (QLD) and Victor Radley (NSW).
“Rex has come down from Dubbo and been on our radar for a while,” Roosters head coach Trent Robinson added.
“He’s got a free spirit about him, but he’s also really gone after moments through the junior grades.
“We saw that in the SG Ball, we’ve seen that in reserve grade, so it was good to put him on that bench, and I’m looking forward to see if he gets that opportunity.
“You can see when someone’s going to be a first-grader, and it’s time to give some of those guys an opportunity.
“The guys that you’ll see play, they’ve been in our squad, they train every day.
“We train with about 38 players, and we’re a really close crew.
“And some of those players that don’t get to play as often get to play tomorrow, and that’s a great thing for a club.
“We love these weeks. The possibility is really high, and you want to see someone take that opportunity that they’re going to get.”
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