‘Tough bastard’: Daly Cherry-Evans trains well after back issue but Sea Eagles lose Tom Trbojevic to injury

The Sea Eagles will be without Tom Trbojevic for Sunday’s game against Canberra, but there’s much better news for one of their other injured stars.

The Sea Eagles have suffered a major blow with superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic ruled out of their clash against the Raiders on Sunday, but the news is better for skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, who trained on Thursday and is expected to play just nine days after he left the field with back spasms.

Trbojevic ran for about 45 minutes away from the main group and then spent time on an exercise bike as he continues to recover from hamstring tightness, with scans clearing him of any muscle damage.

We have an update on Tom Trbojevic ahead to Sunday's Members Round game against the Raiders.https://t.co/39OKcrvbjm#GoManly

— Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (@SeaEagles) March 20, 2025

But the club has decided to take a conservative approach given his extensive injury history.

Lehi Hopoate will replace him at fullback, with Tommy Talau ready to come onto the left wing.

“The Manly fullback experienced hamstring tightness late in the match against the Warriors last Friday and has been on a modified training program during the week,” a club statement read.

“While Tom was running freely in training today, the club is taking a conservative approach to have him ready for Sunday week’s home game against the Eels.”

Daly Cherry-Evans looks set to play this weekend after he left the field with a back issue against the Warriors. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Cherry-Evans was a full participant at training on Thursday, with the 36-year-old moving freely and kicking as well as ever despite failing to finish Friday’s loss in New Zealand.

“He’s our captain and halfback, so we’re really excited to have him in the team. I’m pretty sure that he’s ready to go, so I’m excited to have him on-board,” forward Ethan Bullemor said.

That he was able to recover so quickly says plenty about a man who made his debut in 2011 and has hardly missed any footy since.

“He’s probably the most professional athlete or person I know. He’s just a battler. He never wants to let the team down,” prop Taniela Paseka said.

“I could see early in the performance against the Warriors, it was bothering him. He could have gone off earlier, but he knew that if he went off, it would have been a very tough game for us.

“He stayed in as long as he could and obviously when it hit him again, he just couldn’t play on. It just shows how tough he is upstairs and what this club means to him and this team means to him.

“He’s just a tough bastard.”

Tom Trbojevic is out of Sunday’s game against Canberra as he deals with hamstring tightness. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The double injury blow masked what was a disappointing loss across the ditch, with Paseka conceding things got chaotic without two of their best players on the field.

“I remember making a tackle and looking behind and I see Lehi and I was like, ‘where’s Turbo?’ And then, obviously, Turbo wasn’t there and then I looked to my right and Chez (Cherry-Evans) went down and there was a lot of chaos,” he said.

“When you’re not prepared for it in a game, when they go down, it’s chaos. But if we know that they’re not playing, then we can prepare for that. But it is tough. I think everyone knows it’s tough not having two of your best players in your team.”

The Sea Eagles need to narrow the gap between their best and worst after they were stunned by the Warriors. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Regardless of who plays on Sunday, the Sea Eagles want to return to the style of footy that smashed the Cowboys in round 1, with the gap between their best and worst exposed last week and a slight concern heading into a showdown with one of the surprise packets of the opening rounds.

“That was very disappointing last week. We left a lot of footy out there and I think we did it to ourselves,” Paseka said.

“We’re still trying to figure it out. I think it was just a mindset thing. I think it’s all a mindset thing. When you have a good game, you’ve got to remember to not ride the highs too high and stay neutral.”

Originally published as ‘Tough bastard’: Daly Cherry-Evans trains well after back issue but Sea Eagles lose Tom Trbojevic to injury