Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans has indicated Jake Trbojevic is likely to return next Sunday against the Roosters as the side desperately searches for reinforcements.
The Sea Eagles suffered a 24-6 loss to Melbourne at AAMI Park and ran onto the field without Jake and his brother Tom who was ruled out for the season after suffering a pectoral injury in Origin II.
Along with the Trbojevic brothers, including Ben, Manly are without Brad Parker, Jason Saab and Kelma Tuilagi through injuries.
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Origin star and Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans backed up from Wednesday's win, but left the field in the final minutes for a rest.
The halfback revealed post-game that Jake could return from a calf injury, just in time to try and land a spot in NSW's team for Origin III.
"Yeah he's looking really good," he told Fox League.
"He's taking his time with this one, last time he came back a little too soon, understandable considering he wants to play Origin and how much Origin means to Jake, it looks like he should be back next week."
Post-game coach Anthony Seibold also confirmed Trbojevic will be available along with his brother Ben, Saab, Parker and Tuilagi.
"That'll give us some competition for spots, which we need," he said.
Manly are stuck in 12th on the ladder and will need to improve significantly towards the back end of the season as they push towards finals.
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The side were off to a strong start against Melbourne, taking a 6-0 lead inside 13 minutes after a Haumole Olakau'atu try.
Jahrome Hughes got his side on the board moments later after a brilliant flick pass from Will Warbrick. The Storm didn't hit the lead until the 37th minute though when Cameron Munster's replacement, Jonah Pezet, scored to make it 10-6 at half-time.
Melbourne came out of the sheds and stayed in control with Nelson Asofa-Solomona running through Manly's defence to score while Xavier Coates stole the limelight in the final 20 minutes, scoring a double.
The Storm will play the Panthers next Friday.
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