SEA EAGLES COACH WON’T BE SHIFTING TRBOJEVIC

MANLY coach Anthony Seibold has ruled out shifting Tom Trbojevic to the centres and dismissed suggestions the club should cut loose their highestpaid player after the Sea Eagles superstar declared he was on target to play in round one.

Trbojevic has spent recent weeks in Philadelphia, where he has worked on his hamstring issues under the expert eye of renowned sports scientist Bill Knowles, the man who masterminded Latrell Mitchell’s return from injury last season. Mitchell went on to dominate the NRL and Manly officials are confident Trbojevic will do the same as he narrows his focus on the club’s season opener against Canterbury.

The 26-year-old will gradually return to training in coming weeks and Seibold confirmed he would sit out the pre-season trials. However, both Seibold and Trbojevic insisted the Sea Eagles’ talisman would be ready for round one and would wear the No.1 jersey despite calls from some to ease his workload with a move to the centres.

“People can say it is a bigger workload (at fullback) but the workload has nothing to do with Tom’s hamstring history,” Seibold said.

“It is the running mechanics. Regardless of whether he plays centre, fullback or any other positions, that is not going to have an impact on his injury history.

“So I reckon that shuts that down.”

Trbojevic believes he has returned from America a better athlete, although even the university-educated Manly No.1 found it difficult to explain Knowles’ methods.

The hope is that Trbojevic is able to recapture the form of 2021, when he won the Dally M player of the year.