Manly star Tom Trbojevic’s latest injury setback has reignited the debate over a potential positional switch with his NRL future clouded by a series of hamstring complaints.
The 26-year-old suffered the injury at training on Wednesday, with the club confirming on Thursday that it is a grade two strain with an expected recovery of six to eight weeks.
While he will be fit for Round 1, it’s still an unwanted headache for new coach Anthony Seibold as he prepares for his first season in charge.
Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Round 1
MANLY’S FULLBACK OPTIONS Reuben Garrick The 25-year-old filled in at fullback for one game in 2019, two games in 2020 and four games in 2021 with Brendan Elliott and Dylan Walker being used ahead of him. But last season Garrick became Manly’s first choice fullback after Trbojevic went down with a shoulder injury. He scored six tries and set up nine in 14 games at No.1 last season and averaged 167 metres per game. In his 21 games at fullback overall since 2019, Manly have won nine and he averaged 0.81 try involvements per game, according to Fox Sports Lab. Garrick did such an admirable job filling Trbojevic’s shoes this year though that he caught the attention of rival clubs with the Knights reportedly considering an offer for him to play fullback permanently. Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!! Tolutau Koula He’s still only 20-years old but Tolutau Koula has cemented himself as a regular first-grader after an impressive rookie season. Koula played 16 of his 20 games last season in the centres. He was shifted to fullback for two of the Sea Eagles’ last three games after Garrick was injured. In his first game Koula ran for 139 metres, had four tackle busts, a linebreak and made seven tackles with zero misses in a 40-6 loss to the Sharks. The following week Koula ran for 191 metres, had eight tackle busts and a linebreak, but did also have three errors in the 48-6 loss to the Raiders. The speedster, who owns the fastest 100m athletics time in GPS history (10.58 seconds), also played fullback for Tonga in a mid-season Test and in a World Cup pool game. Kaeo Weekes Kaeo Weekes is the least experienced of the three options — in fact he only has three NRL games to his name. The 20-year-old is however held in high regard by the club and is tipped for a big future. He played his first two NRL games off the bench but in the final round of last season got his chance in the No.1 jersey and showed plenty of spark. Weekes ran for 206 metres, had five tackle busts, an offload and a linebreak assist, but did finish with four errors in the Sea Eagles’ 21-20 loss to the Bulldogs. What doesn’t work in Weekes’ favour is the fact that he spent almost all of 2022 in Jersey Flegg, rather than NSW Cup. It would be a significant jump to go from playing against guys his own age to the best fullbacks in the world without spending at least a year in reserve grade.
