The decision to leave Tom Trbojevic out of the NSW side for the State of Origin series opener was a surprise but perhaps it should not have been when you look at his waning impact.

Manly’s former Dally M Medal winner has been plagued by injuries in recent years – you have to go way back to 2019 to find the last time he’s played more than 20 matches in a season.

In fact he has only managed the feat three times in his first 10 seasons in the NRL.

At 28 he is far from a spent force and has time on his side to potentially double the 158 appearances he has made for the Sea Eagles since his debut in 2015.

But the brave call by Laurie Daley and chief advisor Craig Bellamy to punt Trbojevic in favour of Latrell Mitchell and Stephen Crichton in the centres and Brian To’o and Zac Lomax on the wing is the right one.

Trbojevic has already missed four matches this season due to yet another hamstring problem and in his six appearances at club level he has managed just one try, two line breaks and four try assists.

To put that into perspective, last year he racked up 16 line breaks in his 20 Manly outings while crossing the stripe 12 times.

He is actually getting more involved in attack this year, touching the ball 27 times on average, compared to 21.8 in 2024 but the rise in quantity has produced a drop in quality.

Trbojevic is averaging just 143 running metres from the back, which is his lowest return since his rookie year.

He appears to be playing like someone who is trying not to get injured because he does not trust his body to go at full throttle.

That is understandable given his wretched run with hamstring and shoulder problems but it also points to why Daley decided he was not worth the risk in the Origin arena.

Tom Trbojevic. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

In Trbojevic’s most-recent appearance for the Blues he lasted just three minutes before he was forced off with a torn pectoral.

“I think everyone agrees that Tom, if he is fit, he is one of the best players in the game so that was a tough decision,” Daley said on Monday.

“But we’re comfortable with everyone we’ve selected in the outside backs. Tom needs to go back and play some good football and be confident. I have got no doubt Tommy will be back in this arena at some point. The guys we’ve got will play well.

“Tom is a wonderful player but we just felt going into Queensland, game one, Latrell and Critta have been outstanding. We just felt at this particular point in time, that was the best option to go with.”

On the flip side for Manly, coach Anthony Seibold now has an unexpected bonus with his star fullback available for this Friday’s showdown with Parramatta and not burdened by extra workload through the middle stages of the season.

They have four more games until their next bye and with the usual caveat of if he can stay on the field, Trbojevic has a chance to play himself back into form.

In the four games he has missed, Lehi Hopoate has outshone him in the No.1 jersey, averaging 197.3 running metres, including a monster return of 278 in their Round 7 loss to the Dragons, while creating three try assists and as many line breaks.

But the Sea Eagles lost three of their four matches while Trbojevic was out, compared to their 4-2 record when he’s been on the park.

Seibold momentarily tried Trbojevic at centre last year before abandoning the experiment after one match and recently he has indicated that a shift to the halves could be an option next year after Daly Cherry-Evans has flown the coop, most likely to the Roosters.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Something doesn’t add up with Trbojevic supposedly being at five-eighth – they recently added Jamal Fogarty on a three-year deal and Luke Brooks has two seasons left on his contract. 

Trbojevic is perhaps better suited to the centres or even the wing if his body is no longer up to the rigours of fullback, which is the most aerobically draining position in the NRL which also requires anaerobic bursts at the drop of a hat which can lead to the pop of a hamstring.

But the problem for the Sea Eagles if they shift Tommy Turbo to the outside backs is that he is on fullback money, reportedly seven figures worth and no winger or centre is worth that much of a team’s salary cap. 

It’s the kind of overpay which leads to other positions being weakened or players getting the dreaded tap on the shoulder before their contract is up due to the convenient old “salary cap pressure” chestnut.

He is contracted until the end of 2027 – moving on a favourite son is never easy, especially when you have two brothers at the club who have also given yeoman service.

Trbojevic is still young enough and definitely more than capable of returning to the heights of rep footy and his status as one of the very best players in the NRL. 

But he needs to have the faith that his body can be pushed to the limit otherwise, in cold, hard reality, he is in danger of becoming just another player, not the out and out superstar that he is when he’s fully fit and at his peak.