Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold has declared Tom Trbojevic a certain starter for Friday’s game against the Storm after the superstar fullback battled through back spasms during last week’s heavy defeat in Penrith.
Seibold also said he felt sorry for his star player who has been the focus of constant speculation over his body, which included mass hysteria when it was revealed Trbojevic required a needle last week.
That sparked fears that his back problems could be linked to his troublesome hamstrings, but Seibold attempted to clear up the confusion by saying the spasms came as a result of the needle, and not the other way around as first thought.
“He’s had a bit of a soft tissue injury on his hip. When I say soft tissue, it was a hip pointer, so it’s from a bang which stirs it up a bit,” he said.
“In any case, he had a needle and it stirred up his back a little bit. He was uncomfortable during the game, but he trained fully on Tuesday evening so he’s fit to go.
“It’s not uncommon – most players get a hip pointer injury at some stage when they get a bang on it.
“A needle numbs the pain, but he just had a little bit of back spasms during the game which made him feel uncomfortable, and you could probably see that he wasn’t moving great.”
Trbojevic was clearly hampered by the injury, failing to inject himself into the contest as the Panthers claimed a comfortable 44-12 win at home.
Seibold didn’t shy away from the fact his ace at the back didn’t have his best game, but he then leapt to Trbojevic’s defence and asked people to be respectful of a young man who has fought back from several major injuries over the years.
“I think the constant speculation around his injuries is not a positive, it’s a negative,” he said.
“Tom has got some really good processes in place in and around how he prepares each week.
“Everything with Tom gets magnified, so as soon as someone sees him with strapping, getting a rub or whatever it is in the change room, it becomes big news and that’s because he’s one of the elite players in the game.
“I feel sorry for him in a way because every week he’s got to read about an injury. I get the interest because he’s one of the elite players in the game, but I also feel for him because there’s that constant dialogue of ‘if he’s fit or if he’s not’.
“I don’t think that it’s good for him, and we just want to celebrate that he’s playing.”
While Trbojevic has been declared fit to face the Storm, Josh Schuster won’t be rushed back from a quad injury with Seibold confirming his five-eighth is on track to return next week against the Wests Tigers.
“We named him in (jersey) 22 to see if he was available, but the medical staff said (he’d be back) for the Wests Tigers game,” Seibold said, revealing defensive cohesion was the reason Cooper Johns earned a recall in the halves.
“We’ve got a long turnaround after this week, and they feel as though he needs to do some reconditioning.”
