The Manly Sea Eagles’ under-pressure rookie head coach Kieran Foran has confirmed star fullback and co-captain Tom Trbojevic will not feature in this week’s clash against the Dolphins, while maintaining an optimistic outlook that the fan-favourite will return to the pitch before the end of the current NRL season as the club chases a unlikely late finals berth.
Trbojevic, the former Dally M Medal winner affectionately known to fans as ‘Turbo’, had been targeting a comeback from a recurring hamstring injury for Friday’s home fixture. But the club has elected to push his return back by at least seven days to prioritize a full, low-risk recovery. Clayton Faulalo, who has himself overcome a hamstring injury in recent weeks, will step into the fullback position for the upcoming match.
Speaking to media ahead of the round, Foran emphasized that Trbojevic’s recovery timeline is being assessed week-to-week, with player health taking priority over a rushed comeback. “We’re taking our time with him. We want to make sure that he comes back at full fitness and that he’s not feeling any hesitation there. It’s important that we prioritise that and put that first,” Foran said. “It was touch and go for this week, there wasn’t much in it. But with a guy like that, you don’t want any risk at all. You want to try to lower that as much as you can, and with Clayton fit and firing, we were able to be a bit smarter around Turbo’s return.”
Foran went on to confirm that the entire club remains fully focused on getting their superstar back on the field before the season concludes, with no plans to end his campaign early despite the club’s poor recent run of form. “We’re hopeful of getting him back before the end of the year. That’s certainly the push from our end and Turbo’s end,” Foran said. “We haven’t given up on the season one bit. Turbo’s a huge part of where we want to head.”
Trbojevic has not appeared in an NRL match since Manly’s round 20 fixture against the Titans, having already missed two months of action earlier in the year due to a separate hamstring injury. Faulalo, who is now cleared to return, has the full confidence of the coaching staff, Foran added. “Clayton is ready to go. He’s fully fit and there’s no hesitation around him re-injuring his hamstring. We’ve got all the confidence in him and we’re excited to have him back.”
The Sea Eagles currently sit 10th on the NRL ladder, four points adrift of the top eight with just four regular season rounds remaining. To pull off a miraculous late finals qualification, Foran’s side must secure a win over the Dolphins this weekend to keep their slim hopes alive. Foran, who took over head coaching duties from Anthony Seibold earlier this season, is already looking back at that upset 52-point win in his first match in charge for inspiration ahead of Friday’s clash.
In his first season as a top-flight NRL head coach, Foran acknowledged the campaign has been a major learning experience, marked by dramatic form shifts: the club sat third after 15 rounds, but has since dropped down the ladder following a five-match losing streak. Their most recent defeat came against the Melbourne Storm in Perth, where Manly gave up an early lead to lose by 22 points.
Despite the poor run, Foran said he has no intentions of making excuses for the team’s performance, and is focused on building consistent culture at the club moving forward. “We want to be a club that can handle those shifts and those obstacles better. We don’t want to use excuses and gloss over certain things. We want to be a club that you know what you’re going to get, and what what’s I’m trying to grow,” he said. “The attitude and the intent of the players is second to none, and when you’ve got that, you’re 95 per cent of the way there. You’ve just got to get the other little parts right.”