Tom Trbojevic set to miss crucial Manly fixtures after latest injury setback as timeline for return confirmed
Updated . First published
Tom Trbojevic's injury woes have continued with the fullback set to miss four weeks of football with a knee injury.
Before his side's win over the Eels, Nine's Andrew Johns uncovered a knee issue during an interview, which was separate to the injury that came during the match.
During warm-up, Johns approached the Manly fullback and pointed straight to his knee, telling him he doesn't normally have it strapped.
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"Something happened yesterday but it feels all right so I'm ready to go," he replied.
Trbojevic was coy when asked what happened, telling Johns he knocked it a little bit before adding "it's a funny story, I'll tell you later".
Tom Trbojevic speaks to Nine's Andrew Johns. Nine
Trbojevic was involved in both of Manly's first two tries but was soon spotted getting his other knee strapped by a club trainer. The knee getting strapped was the left, not the one originally spotted by Johns.
In the 25th minute, Dylan Brown put a kick into the in goal with Trbojevic limping towards the ball with Jason Saab picking it up.
"He'll have to go off, he cannot run," Johns said.
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On the fifth tackle of that set, Ethan Bullemor broke the line with Trbojevic pushing up in support before he was thrown a hospital pass.
The fullback didn't look comfortable at all and couldn't get into a full stride.
Tom Trbojevic is down getting attention for an injury. Nine
"He wasn't galloping he was trotting then," Johns said.
Five minutes later, Nine's sideline reporter Emma Lawrence noted Trbojevic spoke to Manly's medical staff, stating he could make it to half time.
"The fact he's out there would mean it's not overly serious," Billy Slater said.
Trbojevic went straight up the tunnel at the half time break and didn't return with his injury revealed to be an MCL.
The Sea Eagles have since confirmed it was minor damage to his MCL.
Over the next four weeks, Manly plays the Storm, Sharks, Dragons and Panthers.
Manly led 12-0 at the time of the injury, after tries to Jason Saab and Lehi Hopoate. Despite Trbojevic's absence, the Sea Eagles finished the match off to win 26-12.
Post-match, coach Anthony Seibold revealed the strapped knee issue before the match came from an innocuous incident with his brother Ben.
"Him and Benny collided at training yesterday, which was not comical, but it was ... your last session of the week is pretty light but they ran into each other and both ended up on the floor. Benny was getting a fair bit of abuse for knocking over our fullback," he said.
