The Sea Eagles and NSW Blues will be sweating on the fitness of star fullback Tom Trbojevic after he suffered a hamstring injury in Thursday night’s win over the Cowboys.
Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Trbojevic, who had been in impressive form to help inspire Manly’s turnaround after a 0-3 start, was tackled innocuously by Kai O’Donnell and Jason Taumalolo in the first half and immediately clutched at his left hamstring.
The Sea Eagles fullback then left the field and immediately went up the tunnel, with Fox League sideline reporter Brent Tate later revealing the 29-year-old had ice on his hamstring in the sheds.
Interim head coach Kieran Foran said Trbojevic would undergo scans on Friday to determine the full extent of the injury.
“He’s not looking too good at the moment, but we will wait until we get a scan to assess the severity of it,” Kieran Foran said.
It was a particularly sad sight given Trbojevic had enjoyed a strong pre-season and finally appeared to be over the recurring hamstring injuries that had plagued his career in recent years.
Trbojevic first suffered two separate hamstring injuries in 2019 before missing another 12 weeks in 2020 with another hamstring issue, only to then injure his shoulder in his comeback game against the Titans.
The Sea Eagles fullback then missed the start of the 2021 season after injuring his hamstring while slipping in the bathroom, and then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Round 11 of the 2022 campaign.
Turbo injured! Manly make it 3 in a row | 06:07
Trbojevic’s injury woes continued in the 2023 pre-season when he suffered another serious hamstring setback, before going down with another hamstring injury in Round 10 of the 2024 season.
Trbojevic also missed an extended period last year with a knee injury.
Foran said ahead of Round 1 that Trbojevic was “flying” and coming off a “huge pre-season”.
“I think getting the captaincy has taken him to a whole new level. He looks as good currently as I’ve seen,” Foran added.
Dragons assistant Michael Ennis, who previously worked at the Sea Eagles, said it was “absolutely devastating” to see Trbojevic go down injured while former NRL five-eighth Luke Keary called it “difficult to watch”.
“It doesn’t look good. You just see it on his face,” Keary said on Fox League’s coverage.
“He’s been through this so many times, it’s a difficult one to watch. We literally just sat here 40 minutes ago saying how physical he’s been to start the year… obviously for Tommy and for Manly as a club it’s massive repercussions.”
Discussion about this post