Seibold plans on Schuster playing
Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold is confident Josh Schuster will overcome a string of off-season setbacks to take his place on the plane to Las Vegas this month, with the Manly boss rubbishing claims the back-rower hasn’t been able to train for the past two months.
It’s been a rough few years for Schuster, whose conditioning has been scrutinised, but Seibold says he’s never seen the 22-yearold look better two weeks out from their first trial against the Roosters in Gosford.
Schuster didn’t take part in Friday’s scrimmage against the Dragons in sultry conditions in Sydney, but his coach expects him to be back running next week after he picked up a calf niggle on Monday.
“It’s really unfortunate for Schuey because he was in as good a condition (I’ve seen) in the 14 or 15 months that I’ve been here,” Seibold said.
“The week before Christmas, he and a couple of staff members unfortunately got chickenpox, so that knocked him out of the last week of training (before the break).
“Then on day two when we were down in Canberra, he broke his finger – had a spiral fracture – so that needed surgery, which we did straightaway.”
News of his calf complaint led to revelations that the Samoan international had been sidelined for the past two months, but Seibold said that was fake news. “That’s not true. He’s been training the whole time,” he said.
“We expect him to play against the Roosters, and then we’ll go from there. I feel like he’ll perform well and be on the plane to Vegas with us.”
If Schuster is fit then he’s tipped to start in the back row.