Tom Trbojevic has made it very clear he “won’t entertain” any discussions about him retiring early, even after the Sea Eagles fullback suffered an eighth hamstring injury in the same number of seasons in the NRL.
In a moment no one in the rugby league world wanted to see, “Turbo” pulled up lame in the 13th minute in Townsville as Manly took on North Queensland. It was, horribly, the eighth time since 2019 the 29-year-old superstar had suffered the same injury.
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The injury instantly brought up old questions that get asked every time the Sea Eagles’ No.1 is felled by his hamstring: Could this be the last time we see “Turbo” playing rugby league?
“I understand there will be a lot of people asking the question, and saying different things about that [early retirement], but I love playing footy,” Trbojevic responded. “I want to keep playing the game I love, so it’s something I won’t even entertain.”
He continued, “All I can do is keep working hard. It’s unfortunate, and I’m as disappointed as any Manly fan. The hardest thing is that you don’t have the direct answers as to why it keeps happening. We’ll implement things we learned from [Melbourne-based hamstring expert] David [Opar], keep taking in information, and try to better our recovery program.”
Even worse, Trbojevic said he’s been feeling “good all year” and had been hoping that things had turned a corner for his body and especially his hamstrings.
But — Lady Luck had other ideas for the Sea Eagles superstar again. “As soon as it happened, I knew,” Turbo said.
“It didn’t happen when I was running. I actually did it when I was in the tackle. I was trying to twist, and my leg got extended a little awkwardly. It’s not a great feeling when you walk off the field. You put in so much work to prevent injuries.
“When you realise where you’re going to end up [in rehab] for the next little bit, it’s always sad.”
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Tolu Koula will now take the fullback jumper at the Sea Eagles, as they look to continue their winning ways under young interim coach Keiran Foran; they’ve won three on the trot to jump into the top eight.
Whether Turbo gets the spot back from Koula remains to be seen, with a move to centres regularly floated for Trbojevic, too. (The idea is he would have to cover less ground.) “I try not to get caught up in that debate too much,” Trbojevic said on the idea when questioned. “Fullback is where I like playing, but I’ll do whatever ‘Foz’ [Foran] wants me to do.
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“Tolu is a quality player, and someone I’m looking forward to watching. He’s an absolute threat with the ball in his hands, and breaks tackles so easily. All I can do is focus on my recovery and doing whatever I can for the team.”
