Manly fans are celebrating the return of Tom Trbojevic, but Sea Eagles players are amazed by the comeback of cult hero Brad Parker just 10 days after he underwent knee surgery.
While the return of ‘Turbo’, the calf injury suffered by his brother Jake, and coach Anthony Seibold’s return to his old Brisbane stomping ground have dominated headlines in the lead-up to Friday night’s Magic Round blockbuster against the Broncos, one of the forgotten feel-good stories is Parker’s miraculous return.
The off-contract centre was expected to be sidelined for a few weeks after picking up a knee injury against Wests Tigers last Sunday week.
Top surgeon David Broe performed keyhole surgery on Parker last Tuesday to remove a bone chip, and assured Seibold the giant redhead would be available for the Broncos game.
“Pretty much straight after ‘Parks’ surgery, David text me to say the surgery was a success and he’d be back for the Broncos, but I thought he was actually joking,” Seibold told this masthead. “He’s done a good job. He took a bit of floating bone out of Parks, and now he’s moving so much freer. He even looks better.
“He’s such a good team person, and he’s so good in the locker room; he’s almost your glue, he’s such a reliable guy and very under-rated externally but not internally. You always earn your money against Kotoni [Staggs] because he’s a powerful bugger, but Brad Parker is very good defensively and will acquit himself well.”
Brad Parker and Tom Trbojevic return for Manly to face Brisbane on Friday night.Credit: NRL Photos
Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans is a big fan of local junior Parker, saying: “Tommy [Trbojevic] is back, he looks really good, but nobody has spoken about Brad Parker. He had surgery 10 days ago.
“He came off against the Tigers at half-time because something wasn’t right, got his knee cleaned out and now he’s already back. It’s unbelievable. He’s such a weapon. Parks wouldn’t play if he wasn’t right, but he told us he felt fine, he trained all week and said he would be sweet.”
The loss of Jake Trbojevic is a big blow with Cherry-Evans pointing out the leader of the forward pack had reverted to playing more like a traditional front-rower rather than an extra ballplayer. “And by doing that it has brought out the best in Jake – he’s carrying the ball as strong as ever,” Cherry-Evans said.
Broncos big man Marty Taupau goes up against his old club, he says he’s loving life north of the border and been blown away by the work rate of returning prop Payne Haas.
Before Taupau joined the Broncos at the start of the year, he was keen to work with Haas, but had been surprised himself by how good he was.
“He is an absolute freak of an athlete – you get lost for words watching him,” Taupau said.
