STAGGS OUR MAN TO REPLACE TRELL
DALLY M star Tom Trbojevic has anointed Broncos weapon Kotoni Staggs as the man to replace injured NSW gun Latrell Mitchell and join him on State of Origin’s centre stage.
Staggs is edging towards an Origin debut after Mitchell was officially ruled out of the June 8 series-opener with a hamstring injury that will see the South Sydney star seek treatment for in the US.
Staggs has three more games to press his claims for NSW selection, beginning with Friday night’s Magic Round showdown against Manly at Suncorp Stadium.
The Broncos ace has been in sensational form this season following an injury-plagued 2021 and will come up against Sea Eagles star Trbojevic.
While he is one of the NRL’s top fullbacks, as evidenced by his Dally M Medal season last year, Trbojevic is yet to pull on the Blues’ No. 1 jersey due to captain James Tedesco’s mortgage and has played centre in his past five Origin games. And he believes Staggs could be the man to join him in NSW’s backline when the series kicks off at Accor Stadium in Sydney.
“He has been exceptional,” Trbojevic said. “He is so hard to tackle and so good one-onone. We have got a job to do.
“There are some good candidates (to replace Mitchell) and he could definitely do it. He is close to, if not at the top of the list. I’m sure ‘Freddy’ (Blues coach Brad Fittler) has got some ideas.
“Kotoni has got to be close.” With two tries in five games this season, Trbojevic is yet to recapture the form that saw him score a remarkable 28 tries in 18 games last year.
His 2021 campaign will be remembered as one of the most dominant individual seasons in NRL history, bringing back memories of Jarryd Hayne’s incredible 2009 performances for Parramatta.
With only one game under his belt following a minor knee operation which saw him miss four weeks, Trbojevic said he was still building match fitness.
“It was good to get a hitout last week and I’ll be better for it, it’s all sweet now,” he said.
“I’ve got to get some game fitness back but the knee feels fine. It’s about playing footy and getting confident.
“We started really slowly and then had a good little period (four straight wins) as a team. We are sitting all right, we’ve just got to string a few wins together.
“The Broncos are a great footy side that’s playing well (three straight wins). They’ve got some troops back on deck and some quality players.
“We will have to be good to beat them at their home ground. We played well here last year (50-6 win) but they have a completely different side this year and it will be a good contest.”
While Trbojevic is yet to explode this year, the Broncos know what he is capable of after he bagged a double in last year’s big Magic Round win against them.
“Everyone knows what he can do,” said Broncos lock Pat Carrigan. “Not only us, but the fans. They will be hoping he turns it out but we need to limit his involvement as much as we can.”