Cricket
Racing
Rugby
League
Motorsport
Football
Golf
Combat Sports
Basketball
Tennis
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Moving Turbo to five-eighth won't reduce injury risk for Sea Eagles' most influential player
Sam Kosack • April 6th, 2025 4:53 pm
Tom Trbojevic’s rumoured move to five-eighth would not reduce his injury risk, merely shifting the probability of different injuries occurring.
Trbojevic has an extensive injury history, only playing 20 games in a season once since 2019, enduring different hamstring, knee, and upper body injuries, amongst others, in his career.
Physiotherapist Brien Sweeney, known online as the NRL Physio, revealed to SEN that Trbojevic’s injury risk wouldn’t decrease with a change in position.
“I’d say overall his injury risk probably stays about the same globally,” Sweeney revealed.
“At fullback you’ve got more running metres… so you’re thinking more like hamstring once again.
“(Moving to five-eighth) does increase that soft tissue strain risk… while you can argue that there is a slightly diminished risk of a hamstring injury, it just brings with it other injury risks.
“He's all of a sudden got to make anywhere from 20 to 40 tackles in a game which he wasn't doing before so contact injuries increase.
“He's got a history of shoulder reconstructions, pec ruptures… MCL injuries which he’s currently out for as well so all those contact kind of injuries (increase) whenever you're involved in more collisions."
Trbojevic’s proposed move to five-eighth comes as current halfback Daly Cherry-Evans announced he would not be at the club in 2026.
The Sea Eagles fullback shifted positions to centre in 2024 upon his return from a long-term hamstring injury, however, he only played one game there before moving back to fullback.
If the Sea Eagles cannot sign their key target of Raiders’ halfback Jamal Fogarty to replace Cherry-Evans, then the likely plan is to shift Trbojevic into the halves, allowing Lehi Hopoate to take over the fullback role.
Sweeney believes a shift into the halves wouldn’t necessarily reduce Trbojevic’s injury chances even with the added pressures of kicking in general play, however, it may reduce the risk of hamstring injuries, his most recurring injury.
“I don't think the injury risk changes all that much and we see that in the numbers too so the injury rates for fullback versus five eighths is pretty much the same,” Sweeney commented.
“By a country mile hamstring is the biggest concern ongoing for someone like (Trbojevic) because he's just had so many now that the risk of it recurring is quite high.
“All the others, while there isn't necessarily a recurrence risk, you've spent your career not being involved in 40 tackles a game, it's just the climatisation of the body to that.”
“Kicking can put some force on the lower limb muscles but nothing that changes things all that much… it’s not significant, it’s another load… I think the injury risk is negligible.”
Trbojevic is the Sea Eagles most influential player - the club only wins 35.6% of games without him - so the club will be hoping that wherever he plays, he can complete an injury-free season, particularly the influence of the departing Cherry-Evans on the side.
The star fullback is currently out with an MCL injury suffered in last week’s win over the Parramatta Eels, ruling him out for a month. He has already missed one week this season with hamstring tightness.
Lehi Hopoate assumes the fullback role for Manly’s clash with the Melbourne Storm this afternoon.
