Even without a game this round, Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic believes he would have been ready for the Blues’ must-win clash in Brisbane on June 21.
However, the Sea Eagles’ 58-18 thumping of the Dolphins on Friday, in which Trbojevic scored a double and racked up 231 run metres, would have helped convince NSW coach Brad Fittler – if he needed convincing – that “Turbo” is ready to go.
“If I didn’t play tonight [Friday], I still would have felt good to play Origin,” Trbojevic said.
He believes the same is true for injured Origin teammate Latrell Mitchell, who won’t have played for a month before game two at Suncorp Stadium.
“I think if Latrell is right to go, then he should be in a Blue jersey,” Trbojevic said.
Trbojevic played 68 minutes of the series opener in Adelaide before being taken off due to a suspected category one concussion. After an assessment from an independent doctor, as well as the doctors on the night, Trbojevic was cleared of a concussion and exempt from the NRL’s 11-day stand-down period.
Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic was lethal on Friday night at Brookvale.Credit: Getty
“Obviously, I got a knock to the head which, in the moment, I guess you feel that, but once [I] got up, it felt really good,” Trbojevic said.
“Obviously, there was the 11-day stand-down policy, so we were just seeing if we could … get an exemption from that, and it was great we could.
“I always thought I should have been playing, but it’s not my decision in the end. Because I felt fine, it would have been disappointing to watch tonight feeling the way I did.”
Despite commentators and fans questioning the fullback’s performance in Origin I, Trbojevic said he didn’t feel the need to prove himself before Blues selection.
“There’s obviously a lot of talk, but it was great that we got the result we wanted, and to go out there and play some footy,” Trbojevic said.
“Maybe [there was motivation to play another game before Origin], but I’m a Manly player. I want to play for my team, and I want to go out there, and I don’t want to be sitting on the sideline when you feel good.”
The Blues will face Queensland without halfback Nathan Cleary (hamstring) and hooker Api Koroisau (broken jaw), so the odds are stacked against them.
However, Trbojevic has won in Brisbane before and, although difficult, he said it was not impossible.
“It’s still a long time away but, you know, [I’m] disappointed with how we finished [in Adelaide],” Trbojevic said.
“It’s a challenge [to win in Brisbane], there’s no other way around it – we’ve got to win. We’ve got a long week, we’ll build that up, and we’ll work out how we can be better, and go out there and do a job.
“It is a tough place to win, but it’s definitely doable. It’s 50,000 Queenslanders there, and they’re playing at home … we’ve just got to find a way to play our game for 80 minutes and hopefully come out on top.”
