Manly coach Anthony Seibold “will have a think” about whether Tom Trbojevic returns to fullback for the vital clash with Canberra after shifting him there during a costly loss to the Sydney Roosters.
After five games starting Lehi Hopoate at fullback, Seibold shuffled his backline during the second half of Saturday’s 20-4 loss as Manly chased points in a game with big top-eight permutations.
Hopoate went to left wing and Reuben Garrick to the centres, allowing Trbojevic to shift to the position where he has played the majority of his 165-game NRL career.
Trbojevic had struggled for form at fullback on his return from injuries earlier this season, and his much discussed move to centre in round 17 coincided with an uptick in Manly’s form.
The 28-year-old said earlier in the week he expected to see the season out at right centre.
But earlier in the loss to the Roosters, Trbojevic filled in at fullback while Hopoate went for a head injury assessment and put Tolu Koula over for Manly’s only try on a shift down the left side.
Seibold said when the game was getting away from the Sea Eagles in the second half, he needed to try something different to spark the attack.
“We went down 20 points to 4 with 20 minutes to go or something like that, so we’re chasing three tries,” he said.
“What we were doing, we weren’t getting any field position. We tried to get Turbo on the footy and start moving the footy.
“But it’s hard to move in that sort of (rainy) weather. We were three tries behind so we needed to chase.”
Seibold felt it was too soon to decide whether Trbojevic or Hopoate would play fullback for next week’s away trip to Canberra, where a loss could push Manly two wins outside the top eight.
“I’ll have a think about it. It’s 10 minutes after the game,” he said.
Manly will finish the weekend in 10th spot on the ladder, behind the Roosters and Dolphins – seemingly their two rivals for an eighth-placed finish.
The loss kept the Roosters in with a realistic finals chance and leaves Manly likely requiring at least two wins from tough upcoming clashes against Canberra, the Dolphins and Warriors.
“We have just got to keep this fight up,” Seibold said.
“Our discipline needs to be better, too many leg-ups in this weather. (We conceded) seven or eight yardage penalties across the game.
“But the guys are working really hard, we will keep fighting and (finals) is still in their hands. Until that’s taken away, we’ll keep bouncing in and fighting hard.”
© AAP
