The Manly Sea Eagles are considering a stunning play for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck as they ponder life without superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic for the rest of the season.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Manly coach Anthony Seibold all but confirmed Trbojevic would be ruled out for the season and sent for surgery, revealing that if that was the case the club would entertain the prospect of replacing him.
Under a recently brought in NRL rule, players who are injured in representative games and rubbed out for the season can be replaced by their club by a like for like player, even if their squad is full and they have no room in their salary cap.
READ MORE: 'Queensland's baby': Gould's grim Origin admission
READ MORE: Aussie superstar falls one run short of Ashes ton
READ MORE: Fittler reveals shocking reason for Luai's 4am post
READ MORE: Nine announces initiative to support Aussie Olympians
The Sea Eagles would need to lean on those guidelines to be able to sign Tuivasa-Sheck but the 2018 Dally M Medallist would appear to perfectly fit the criteria.
Having already signed to return to the NRL with the Warriors next season, the code-hopping star could get a head start on his comeback if he can be convinced to forego a stint in New Zealand club rugby. The 30-year-old has fallen off the radar of the All Blacks and has given up on his dream of representing his country at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Trbojevic was meeting with a specialist on Friday morning and is expected to be booked in for surgery to have his pec re-attached after tearing it in the opening minutes of State of Origin II. The recovery time for that surgery is 12-16 weeks, so if that's the option taken he will be no hope of a return in 2023.
While Seibold wasn't keen to play hypotheticals before Trbojevic was officially ruled out for the season, he agreed that Tuivasa-Sheck was one of the few players available who was likely to fit the bill if the Sea Eagles were able to pull the trigger on a replacement.
Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on 9Now
"Certainly there's a number of names we could look at and I'm sure he would be one of them," he said.
Seibold added that those discussions would likely flow into next week, with Manly due to fly to Melbourne for a Saturday night clash with the Storm.
Even before Trbojevic was injured, the Sea Eagles had named promising youngster Kaeo Weekes in the No.1 jersey for the Storm clash, with Seibold confirming Weekes and Reuben Garrick were both options he would consider at fullback while Trbojevic was sidelined.
Garrick has been named to play centre against the Storm, but with Brad Parker due to return from an elbow injury for next Sunday's clash with the Roosters, the option to move the reliable Garrick to fullback could become tempting.
Scroll below for the current leaderboard and Round 17 tips by all Nine's expert tipsters!
Brad Fittler: Warriors, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Roosters
Darren Lockyer: Dragons, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Roosters
Billy Slater: Warriors, Eels, Knights, Storm, Broncos, Cowboys, Raiders
Peter Psaltis: Warriors, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Roosters
David Middleton: Warriors, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Roosters
James Bracey: Dragons, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Raiders
Paul Gallen: Warriors, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Roosters
The Mole: Warriors, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Raiders
Ben Glover: Warriors, Eels, Panthers, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Roosters
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.