NRL 2021: Sea Eagles v Warriors, Tom Trbojevic produces one of the greatest individual games of all time
Tom Trbojevic put in one of the all-time great performances on the weekend – but there’s still no way he can play fullback for the Blues, writes Paul Crawley.
Sea Eagles
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sea Eagles. Followed categories will be added to My News.
As remarkable as Tom Trbojevic is there is just no way Brad Fittler can pick him at fullback for NSW this year.
Or can he?
Seriously, this is becoming a bigger debate by the week the way Turbo has been going since his return from injury in round six.
On form, Trbojevic has been in a league of his own.
And the performance he turned on at Lottoland on Sunday was up with the greatest you have seen from a No. 1 on this famous old ground.
Watch The 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership Live & On-Demand with No Ad-Breaks During Play. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >
In front of a hearty Mother’s Day home crowd of 6726, Turbo put on a master show in his 100th NRL game.
They will be talking about this in decades from now.
With the Prince of Brookvale Brett Stewart in attendance for the reunion of the 2011 grand final win over the Warriors, Trbojevic finished with 191m that also included two tries, four try assists, five line breaks and 11 tackle busts.
It was brilliant to watch.
While Stewart and the great Graham Eddie always split the argument as to who was Manly’s best ever fullback, Turbo showed once again why he has the potential to finish his career in front of both, if he can get a decent run with injuries in the years to come.
But when it comes to Freddy picking his team to take on Queensland in less than a month from now on June 9, the conversation as to who should be wearing the No 1 gets more interesting by the week given how well Turbo is playing.
If it was going purely on current form Trbojevic would have to get the nod.
But surely it can’t come at the expense of not having James Tedesco in the team.
So for mine that’s where the debate ends.
Because while Tom might be the man of the moment, Teddy has earned the respect of still being rated the game’s champion No 1.
For the time being at least.
What would be the most logical move would be to play Trbojevic in the centres, where he has starred previously, with Tedesco at fullback.
Fittler has some great options for the wings with Josh Addo-Carr and Daniel Tupou the incumbents while Penrith’s Brian To’o has been in phenomenal form also.
Latrell Mitchell will only have two games to push his claims when he returns from suspension in round 11, but if he performs strongly it is going to impossible to also leave him out.
Mitchell has two big tests to overcome, taking on Penrith in his first game back followed by Parramatta six days later.
But his form before his suspension made him a must pick.
What that means for Jack Wighton doesn’t look great at this point.
They all keep saying that Wighton is still in the picture, but where would he play is the big question if he is not in the centres?
That’s where the reigning Dally M Medal winner partnered Clint Gutherson last year.
But you’d think right now both will be pushing it to even make the top 17, as good as Gutherson is also going.
Can Wighton play five-eighth?
Of course he can. But ahead of Penrith’s in-form Jarome Luai as Nathan Cleary’s halves partner, or Cody Walker?
With Melbourne’s Ryan Papenhuyzen due back from injury next week he shapes as the likely utility off the bench.
But Tedesco surely remains No 1, even if Turbo’s game right now is next level.
‘ONE OF BEST PERFORMANCES IN HISTORY’
– Martin Gabor
Brett Stewart was known as the Prince of Brookvale, but he’d happily concede that Tom Trbojevic is the new king of the castle after Turbo scored twice, set up four tries and had five linebreaks as he led Manly to a thrilling win in his 100th NRL appearance.
The milestone man helped Manly snap a six-game losing streak at Lottoland as the Sea Eagles honoured the 2011 premiership team with a brilliant comeback win over the Warriors.
It wasn’t as emphatic a performance as the grand final heroics from a decade ago, but the Sea Eagles faithful won’t care after their side fought back from a sloppy first half to move within striking distance of the top eight thanks to their peerless fullback.
Trbojevic had a hand in Manly’s first six tries in what will go down as his best performance in first-grade, and one of the greatest individual efforts in history.
He is as important to this team as Andrew Johns was to the Knights, and his best is yet to come if his troublesome hamstrings can stay injury free.
“The scary part is he’s still building into the season,” Des Hasler said.
“He’s managing it really well. He’s such a damaging player so he makes defences think twice. If you give him any space then away he goes. We’re supporting him well on the edges so we’re able to finish off tries and linebreaks.”
The superstar fullback had a freakish day in 2015 against the Warriors in the Holden Cup when he scored four tries and ran for 485 metres, but Sunday’s effort against men dwarfs that and has the Sea Eagles flying high heading into Magic Round and has some questioning whether he is the best No.1 in Sea Eagles history.
“He hasn’t finished yet. He’s still got a long way to go in his career, but he’s chasing some wonderful, wonderful numbers, ones that have played for this club,” Hasler said, as Trbojevic chases the likes of Stewart and Graham Eadie.
“You expect them to have that kind of influence, and this fellow is no different. You see he’s attack, but he reads the game so well defensively.”
Nikorima nightmare
The Mayans predicted 2012 would be the end of the world, and Warriors halfback Kodi Nikorima would have felt like everything was crumbling around him when his brain explosion turned a 20-12 lead into a narrow defeat.
With his side in control, Nikorima produced a lovely move to get on the outside of his man to create a four on one. But instead of going through the hands, he threw a wild pass that dribbled into touch.
Manly scored a minute later and piled on the pain as Nikorima was left to curse what could have been as his team stormed home late to fall six points short.
“At 20-12, we should have walked over the line,” Nathan Brown said.
“From that point on, that’s where the game (turned). The error didn’t cost us the game, but it’s how we struggled with momentum when things didn’t go our way.”
Manly middles
Scoring points isn’t a problem for Manly but there are big concerns over their understrength middle which was exposed badly on Sunday by the Warriors.
With regular props Martin Taupau and Josh Aloiai missing through injury, the Sea Eagles struggled to defend the middle third against a team that spotted the weakness and attacked it relentlessly in the first half.
Chanel Harris-Tavita grabbed the first try inside the opening two minutes when he punched through a hole close to the line, and Tohu Harris followed suit later in the half to punish some flimsy defence.
Luxury sedan
Jason Saab didn’t have the happiest start to his career on the northern beaches, but he was one of the heroes on Sunday as he scored a hat-trick and came up with an epic try-saver to deny the Warriors a chance to kick from the sideline to force golden point.
The speedster raced across to smash Ken Maumalo into touch when it looked like the Warriors winger was going to score for all money in the corner.
It was the sort of effort play that had been missing from his game earlier in the year, but he has blossomed into a weapon on the wing for the rejuvenated Sea Eagles.
‘Drama’: Manly legend threatens to walk out
Sea Eagles legend Geoff Toovey has threatened to walk away from the club after Manly announced a sacking this week.
Gone in 23 seconds: How Manly’s season came crashing down
The result of Tolu Koula’s search-and-destroy mission on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves from the kick-off of Manly’s sudden-death final against the Roosters hung over them like a dark cloud, writes BRENT READ.