‘It’s important for us to pay our respects’: Roosters to pay tribute to NSW Police on Sunday in special event

Roosters skipper James Tedesco says the tragic events at Bondi Junction Westfield earlier this year hit home for him and his family as the club prepares for a triple-header at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.

The Roosters will host the first Emergency Services Event, shining a spotlight on a different agency each year.

Sunday’s event will honour the NSW Police Force and feature a marching band, plus hero cop Inspector Amy Scott will deliver the match ball via helicopter before the Roosters’ game against the Raiders.

The NSW Police will take on the Australian Firefighters before the Roosters and Raiders clash in the NRL and NRLW.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Gavin Wood was at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday along with Roosters skippers James Tedesco and Isabelle Kelly, with the best player in each match to receive a special medal.

The afternoon holds extra significance for the Roosters after six people were murdered in a stabbing rampage in their local community at Westfield, which is only a minute away from their leagues club.

“It’s probably something you don’t think you’ll have the chance to honour them. The importance of the police really struck home earlier in the year with what happened at Bondi Junction and what they were able to do to keep everyone safe,” Tedesco said.

“It’s a small thing for us to do, but to be able to honour them and say thank you means a lot to us.

“It was pretty tense at home and my wife was scared to go to the shops for the next couple of weeks after that.

“It could have been anyone going to the shops when that trauma happened, so it’s important for us to pay our respects.

“We did that by going to Bondi Junction and gave our praise to the police for what they were able to do and keep everyone safe because it was supposed to be a normal Saturday afternoon.”

Kelly’s connection to the police started from a young age, with the NRLW superstar dreaming of joining the force when she was younger and admitting it’s something she still thinks about doing now.

“When I was growing up, I mainly wanted to be a police officer or in the fire department,” she said.

“As a female within this profession playing rugby league, it was really hard to find the balance to do both.

“Now there are a lot more opportunities to do that, and we’ve got some really great staff that have linked up with the police force to try to get that to happen.

“I have always loved being someone who leads and tries to lead by example, so I always thought the police force was somewhere where I could do that.

“I see the work that they do now by constantly putting their bodies on the line, and we saw that with what happened at Bondi Junction.

“That hit really hard around here, and I was super proud of the people involved with that who did everything for those people.

“I still wouldn’t say it’s out of the picture (becoming a police officer) because I’m still young and not 100 per cent sure what I want to do outside footy.”