Manly superstar Tom Trbojevic sends finals rivals a serious attacking warning

Manly star Tom Trbojevic is primed for the NRL finals after producing one of the finest regular seasons in rugby league history.

Manly star Tom Trbojevic is primed for the NRL finals after producing one of the finest regular seasons in rugby league history. Picture: Ian Hitchcock / Getty Images

Manly’s try scoring machine, Tom Trbojevic, has sent Melbourne and the rest of the NRL finalists a warning, declaring he hasn’t had this much fun on a rugby league field since he was a junior.

Trbojevic is a big chance of winning the Dally M medal as league’s best player following a brilliant season.

The Mona Vale Raiders junior has scored a whopping 25 tries in just 15 games in 2021, including five hat-tricks.

“Turbo” Trbojevic is relishing his roaming attacking role as the Sea Eagles’ vocal point in attack.

Tom Trbojevic has been sensational for the Manly Sea Eagles this season. Picture: Ian Hitchcock / Getty Images

Asked if his rich vein of form reminded him of the joy he received during his junior days, he announced: “Yeah, definitely, I’ve really enjoyed myself this year.

“Obviously the last couple of years haven’t been ideal for me with a few injury dramas, but I’m enjoying being out there at the moment.

“We’ve got a really good spine, and Foz (Foran) coming back has helped a lot.

“Then you’ve got Chez (Cherry-Evans), and Croker has slotted into that nine role really well.

“We are just playing on the back of our forward pack. They are doing an exceptional job for us and winning that field possession battle and that allows us to play that style of footy that we like playing.

“I think it has just come together for us this year and hopefully we can keep it up.”

Trbojevic’s special form has prompted many league experts to hail “Turbo” the game’s best player and a footballer capable of becoming the greatest the game has ever seen.

His purple patch of form has also been compared to similar successful runs from the likes of Jarryd Hayne (2009) and Ben Barba (2012).

Trbojevic, though, is just humbled to be mentioned in the same sentence alongside league’s finest players.

“It is obviously nice to be compared against some quality players who have done a lot in the game,” he said.

“But I’m just really focused on this footy team. I’m loving the way we are playing at the moment and hopefully we’ve got a really exciting four weeks ahead of us.

“That is just the focus for me, and it starts this week against the Storm.

“It has been a different type of season being stuck up here in southeast Queensland. It has been really enjoyable, but we’re at the business end of the season now, so just really looking forward to it.”

Tom Trbojevic is primed for the finals. Picture: Ian Hitchcock / Getty Images

Manly’s attack has been scintillating this season, but they’ll need to find another gear to beat Melbourne.

Sides can often revert to a defensive focus in the finals, and while the Sea Eagles will also ramp up their tackling, Trbojevic expects the team’s red-hot free flowing attack to continue.

“Yeah, hopefully,” he said.

“We’ll see how we go this week (against Melbourne.) We’ve got a really tough challenge, but it is footy we feel comfortable playing and we’re not going to change too much.

“We are going to have to be very good to beat them.”

Originally published as Manly superstar Tom Trbojevic sends finals rivals a serious attacking warning