By Adrian Proszenko
Tom Trbojevic is likely to be ruled out of the entire State of Origin series after scans on his troublesome hamstrings confirmed a likely seven-week layoff.
Trbojevic injured his hamstring in a collision with a cameraman in Thursday night’s loss to the Dolphins. The Sea Eagles’ medical staff were bracing for him to be unavailable for between six and eight weeks and scans confirmed that would be the likely timeframe.
The scan results effectively rule Trbojevic out of the Origin series, which begins on June 5, although he will return in time for the finals.
“He’s upset,” Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold said.
“Body wise, he has been really good and this has been devastating for him. He puts so much time into his prep.
Tom Trbojevic limps from the field after suffering a hamstring injury.Credit: NRL Photos
“We’ll get around him, we’ll keep him up here with us in Queensland, we won’t send him back to Sydney.”
Trbojevic has previously flown to Philadelphia to work on his hamstrings with reconditioning guru Bill Knowles, although that is unlikely to occur again during his latest sabbatical.
The injury is a huge blow for the Blues, who will also be without South Sydney captain Cameron Murray for their campaign, while Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury in Friday’s clash against Canterbury.
Trbojevic was a contender for the NSW custodian role alongside James Tedesco and Dylan Edwards, and also under consideration for a centre spot alongside Stephen Crichton.
Teammate Jason Saab, an outside chance of figuring for the Blues, suffered an A/C injury and is expected to miss two weeks.
Reuben Garrick has previously filled in admirably when Trbojevic is unavailable, but the Sea Eagles are poised to hand the fullback jersey to speedster Tolutau Koula for the Magic Round clash with Brisbane next Friday.
Koula has played much of his junior football at No.1 and the Sea Eagles believe he can be an X-factor at the back.
Trbojevic’s injury has thrown the race wide open for three-quarter spots, with Bradman Best, Matt Burton, Jesse Ramien, Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton, Izack Tago, Kotoni Staggs and Joseph Suaalii all in the frame for a call-up.
It’s Trbojevic’s fifth career hamstring injury after suffering setbacks in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023.
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