James Tedesco says there is no animosity between him and Prime Minister's XIII teammate Ryan James despite having his NRL season cut short by the Titans enforcer.
The Wests Tigers fullback suffered a broken jaw in the Round 23 loss to the Gold Coast after being collected high by James midway through the second half.
Tedesco missed the rest of the season as a result and had to watch on as the Titans secured a spot in the finals while the Tigers finished the year in ninth.
The pair came together at a team meeting at Allianz Stadium on Thursday morning where James checked up on the PM XIII fullback the moment he saw him.
"He gave me a handshake and asked me how it was straightaway so there is no bitterness there. He's a good bloke and it was good to see him," Tedesco said.
"He messaged me the day after it happened and obviously said sorry and that he didn't mean it. I obviously knew he was a good bloke so there are a no hard feelings there."
Tedesco indicated to NRL.com last week that he would be ready for a representative call-up should be selected, and after seeking clarification from doctors, has been given the all-clear to take on Papua New Guinea on September 24.
"I saw the specialist earlier in the week and he's cleared me so he's given me the green light [to play]. I've done some training this week and it's feeling good. It'll be good to get back out there on the field because it's been a while," he said.
"It was pretty depressing the first week not being able to eat much and just sitting on the couch watching TV. I thought it'd be a much longer recovery when I first did it but the surgeon did very well and I'm very happy."
It wasn't just medical staff who helped Tedesco over the past month, with the Tigers No.1 keeping in regular contact with NSW Blues and PM XIII teammate Josh Dugan.
Dugan suffered a similar injury in Game III of this year's State of Origin series and missed three NRL matches as a result.
"I've spoken to him a few times over the course of the last sort of three or four weeks. We stayed in contact because it's a similar injury," Dugan said.
"I told him everything I went through and told him what he could and couldn't eat for the first couple of weeks. He's come along really well and he's obviously done the best he could."
While the pair have had a similar recovery timeline, Dugan explained that the main priority for his teammate was that he wasn't encumbered by pain.
"It's really up to the person and how well they can tolerate it," the Dragons custodian said.
"I missed three games and came back in the fourth week. It was still sore but I rushed back because we were still a chance of making the finals. The next couple of weeks were still sore but it's starting to get back to normal now and feeling good."
