It means that head coach Kevin Walters, appointed in July after Mal Meninga stepped down to take up an NRL club job with Perth Bears, must look at other full-back options.
England face Australia in three matches – at Wembley on 25 October, Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on 1 November and AMT Headingley in Leeds on 8 November, all live on BBC One.
V’landys said:, external “On Sunday, the selectors picked the first 23 players for the Kangaroo tour. Naturally, that’s not going to be the final team because the final team will be selected after the [NRL] Grand Final on Monday.
“However, one of the players that was selected was James Tedesco, and James has pulled out because he’s got his brother’s wedding, and he’s the best man.
“I asked him to think about it, but he believes that he wouldn’t be doing the right thing by his family if he wasn’t in the wedding, which is a shame because he played so well this year and deserved his place in the team.
“I’ve let Kevin Walters know, and we’ll now go back to the drawing board.”