Big Turbo question that can’t be ignored as calls intensify for DCE to make tough Origin call: Sea Eagles Preview

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‘Mini’ did the heavy lifting, while Tuivasa-Sheck often attacked in try-scoring situations, with the odd-man out shifting to the wing.

The Sea Eagles saw Lehi Hopoate emerges the club’s first-choice replacement fullback in 2024, and now Joel Caine is urging Anthony Seibold to follow the Roosters’ lead.

“They are the capital of hybrids if they want to take it up,” Caine said on SEN’s Joel and Fletch.

“Lehi Hopoate is the bloke I want at the back, that bloke with run for 300 metres … he’s a gun. We’ve seen how Savage has come on, Ethan Strange has come on.

“Hopoate is going to come on, this kid is a superstar, throw him in the paddock.”

It’s a move that has been floated so much, the Sea Eagles publicly poured cold water on any switch, with Trbojevic adamant he is the man who should remain at the back.

The fact he finished fourth in the 2024 Dally M votes supports his opinion, but a damning statistic proves he needs to stay on the field.

“It is what it is. People are just doing their job, they can say what they want. It can get frustrating, but it is what it is,” Trbojevic said to reporters on Tuesday.

“I feel like the way I finished last year at fullback is some of the best footy I have played.

“I get a lot of confidence from that, and I really enjoyed the back end of that and hopefully I can start the year in the same way.”

Since the start of 2021, the Sea Eagles have won 36 of the 55 games he started in. Without him they’ve only taken wins from 15 of 46 games.

But still, Seibold remained adamant Trbojevic has what it takes the endure the rigours of the NRL’s week-to-week demands.

“He’s (Trbojevic) a great person to mentor people. Lehi is only 20, he is right at the very beginning,” Seibold said.

“He will eventually play fullback, but he is earning his stripes and will develop. But what better person to do that under than Turbo?”

However, Trbojevic isn’t the only star player who is battling with a potential change in his career.

Skipper and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans has indicated he will once again play for Queensland if he’s performing at a level that earns him selection in the representative arena.

“Origin is just amazing, and for as long as I have the ability to perform there and keep going,” he told AAP.

However, league legend Brayn Fletcher isn’t so sure he should go around again for his state, instead stating he should focus on success in clubland.

“I suppose he owes Manly, they gave him that 10-year deal, that big contract. I feel now, he’s 35 or 36, he probably should owe Manly now,” he said on SEN.

Meanwhile, Fletcher also highlighted one player that could have a major impact on Manly’s title credentials in hooker Lachlan Croker.

The 28-year-old is set to return from a knee injury in Round 4, having spent more than three months on the sidelines in 2024 due to lingering concussion symptoms.

The former Roosters and Rabbitohs gun was of the belief Croker was the club’s unsung hero, and his direction from the ruck was sorely missed last season.

“I love watching him, because he’s tough. He can kick, he is a bit like Jake Friend for the Roosters in that he’s always cleaning up the mess,” Fletcher said.

“The fans don’t see that sort of stuff, but the coaching staff and his teammates do as well. He is about a month out.”

STRENGTH