‘It’s all sweet now’: Huge relief for the Sea Eagles as Tom Trbojevic reveals he won’t need off-season surgery

Sea Eagles superstar Tom Trbojevic has revealed he doesn’t need off-season shoulder surgery after there were initial fears he would be forced to miss the Pacific Championships after battling through the pain in the finals.

Trbojevic made his return to the national side after a six-year absence and was brilliant playing at right centre where he scored Australia’s first try of the tournament and then added two more in the win over Tonga in the final.

Seeing him dominate came as no shock to anyone, but actually seeing him on the field was a pleasant surprise given he said in September that it would be a “long shot” for him to represent Australia in the tournament.

Trbojevic was battling a grade 3 AC joint tear as well as a sprained MCL but played on bravely to help Manly reach the second week of the finals, with their loss to the Roosters expected to be his last game of the year.

But after joking that he could have scored six tries in the final, Trbojevic confirmed that he wouldn’t need any surgery in the coming weeks and he’d be fine to rejoin his teammates for pre-season training after a well-deserved break.

“It’s all sweet now, so I’ll just rest up because that’s the best thing for it,” he said.

“I won’t be touching the footy ball for a while.

“Originally, our Manly doctor thought I needed it (surgery), but he’s not a specialist or a shoulder surgeon.

“When we went and saw the shoulder surgeon, he had a look at it and said it would be best off resting up. I’ve played a few games on it, but it’s not different to what it was before.”

Injuries meant the former Dally M Medal winner missed out on representing the Kangaroos for six years, which is why Trbojevic was so keen to pull on the green and gold jersey once he was cleared by the specialist.

“It’s not easy to give up playing for your country,” the Sea Eagles fullback said.

“I’ve made no secret that I want to play in this jersey as much as I can. Obviously, you’ve got to do right by Manly and not do anything stupid.

“At the time I thought I was going to need to do (the surgery), but once I got the advice and was told I didn’t need surgery, we just moved forward and I was lucky to be picked by Mal.”

Trbojevic said he wasn’t worried about doing any more damage and that it was simply a pain issue throughout the tournament, with Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga thrilled to finally have him available.

“He loves putting the jersey on and we were happy to give it to him,” he said.

“He’s a tremendous player, we all know that. He’s one of the best players in the competition.

“He’s low-maintenance, a great player and very reliable. He probably should have had three tries today.”

Trbojevic was named at right centre but popped up on both sides of the field as he once did for the Blues, with the Tongan defence unable to contain him as he backed up a couple of Tom Dearden breaks to score either side of halftime.

“Defending next to him and having him out there next to me is unbelievable because he doesn’t stop. That’s why he’s one of the best players in the world,” halfback Mitchell Moses said.

“You put him at fullback, you put him at centre, you put him anywhere and he just pops up anywhere on the field. He’s pretty much like a front-rower out there having carries non-stop.”