NRL 2023: The big call Manly needs Tom Trbojevic to make

As Manly struggles to keep in the top-eight race without him, superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic needs to make a big call on his rugby league future writes DAVID RICCIO.

Tom Trbojevic faces a big call on his future. Picture: NRL Photos

Tom Trbojevic is blue as much as he is maroon and white.

Few players get you out of your seat like Tommy ‘Turbo’, and that’s saying something given everyone hates Manly.

There’s nothing better when he’s wearing the sky-blue of NSW and leaving Queenslanders to cry into their XXXX.

Trbojevic’s blistering 2021 State of Origin series, when if he wasn’t scoring tries he was setting them up by running rampant at an average of 137-metres per-game, led to his award of the prestigious Brad Fittler medal as the Blues’ best player of that series.

However, watching Manly flap like a buggered seagull into a head wind to make this year’s finals without an injured Trbojevic, doesn’t sit right.

Tom Trbojevic has been sidelined since injuring his pec during State of Origin. Picture: Getty Images

The time has come for Trbojevic to make a call on whether he needs to put Manly first and sit out next year’s Origin series.

Just ask Knights fans if they can love Kalyn Ponga any more?

Understandably devastated to be sidelined with a season-ending pec injury suffered two minutes into Origin II this year, Trbojevic sits in the grandstand at Manly games with an ashened face of frustration and discontent.

You just know the 26-year-old is hurting for the team.

However, the numbers show Manly is suffering just as bad.

The club’s highest-paid player, Trbojevic has managed just 18 games in the past two seasons.

In the 11 games he played this year before being injured with NSW, Trbojevic scored 10 tries and Manly won six of those matches.

Manly has struggled without Tom Trbojevic. Picture: NRL Photos

Without Trbojevic, from rounds 16 to 24, Manly have won just three matches from eight starts.

And with the greatest of respect, those three wins were a two-point win over the struggling Roosters, a four-point win over the then out-of-form Sharks and a six-point win over the 16th-placed Dragons.

As a result, the Sea Eagles find themselves outside the top eight and needing to win all three of their remaining matches against the Warriors (away), Bulldogs (away) and Wests Tigers (home) to be any hope of scraping into the finals.

The call for Trbojevic to stand down from Origin selection in 2024 is obviously significant.

But the lure of remaining healthy and giving himself every chance to take his beloved Manly to a grand final is equally as alluring, is it not?

Tom Trbojevic needs to make a big call on his future. Picture: NRL Photos

One of the most significant lures for Luke Brooks to leave the Wests Tigers and head to Manly next year was to play with Trbojevic.

Throughout the negotiations, Brooks sat and watched countless hours of video of Trbojevic’s past two seasons. He eventually signed in the belief that he had the tools to help get the Ferrari firing again.

Sending your best players off to State of Origin is a proven formula to winning premierships. The experience of working in the harshest of high-pressure environments on a sporting field ultimately makes players better.

However, the fact that club CEO’s met last week with the NSWRL, where the need for 10-day Origin camps was raised, speaks to concern from clubland over the welfare of their highest-paid commodities, like Trbojevic.

It would be an almighty call for ‘Turbo’ to stand down from Origin, and as harsh as it may seem, NSW have shown they’ll be okay and capable of moving forward without Trbojevic in the centres with the likes of Stephen Crichton, Bradman Best and Izack Tago applying pressure.

Kalyn Ponga has been in red-hot form for the Knights since missing the State of Origin series. Picture: Getty Images

If Manly fans need any proof of the value of their star being readily available for his club, just ask Newcastle what impact Ponga’s omission from State of Origin has done for them.

Ponga stood himself down for this year’s Origin after a series of head knocks. His decision has proven instrumental to the Knights’ late-season surge towards the top eight with Ponga playing some of the best football of his career.

“I love Queensland and the Maroons jersey but I need to play more games and be on the field for Newcastle at the moment,” Ponga said in June.

“It was a really difficult decision to make but I will fight to win back my place in the Queensland side next year.”

Trbojevic should do exactly the same for Manly next year.

Originally published as NRL 2023: The big call Manly needs Tom Trbojevic to make