‘Splat!': Tom Trbojevic cops a huge Wests Tigers hit in brutal act
One of the great fullbacks in the modern game, 'Turbo' was shifted to right centre by Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold to allow Lehi Hopoate to move into the No. 1 jumper.
FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
While the home side got the job done 28-10 at 4 Pines Park, just 11 minutes in the 28-year-old Trbojevic may have been regretting the decision to be so accommodating.
With Manly attacking the Tigers' line, Daly Cherry-Evans found Hopoate, who moved the ball to Trbojevic as the home team chased the game's first points.
But Tigers winger Jeral Skelton had other ideas, lining Trbojevic up and landing a crunching tackle that brought everyone watching out of their seats.
Watch the big hit in the video player above
'Oh Tom! Tom has caught a beauty there,' Andrew Voss screamed on Fox League.
'Jeral Skelton, he's knocked himself about but he's taken out the main man. Call him the sniper.'
Cooper Cronk added: 'Skelton has launched himself into Tom Trbojevic, rattles the cage of the Manly centre.
'I think he's also rattled himself because he's come up ginger. That was a big shot.'
Voss then followed up: 'It was Kamikaze-like. I don't know if I've seen Tom get hit like that in his career.
'Welcome to the centres Tom.'
While a sore Trbojevic was able to battle on, Skelton did indeed come off second best, with the independent doctor calling for a category 2 Head Injury Assessment test.
But plenty of footy fans took to social media to comment on the brutal hit.
The NRL News account on X wrote: 'Jeral Skelton puts a bellringer on Tommy Turbo but he's the one that has to come off for a HIA.'
Sports journalist Lachlan Jeffery tweeted: 'That was a Kamikaze tackle by Jeral Skelton.'
Señor Mick offered simply: 'SPLAT!!!!'
Others were left questioning the decision to shift the injury-prone Trbojevic from his favoured position.
Racing reporter Neil Evans declared: 'What a ridiculous decision to play Turbo in the centres!! 'Give him some freedom' Spoonbold said thru the week .. ffs there's 10 times more freedom at the back. Lol.'
X account @OGHustle_Rugby asked: 'You'd stick Turbo on the wing or FB wouldn't you?? Let's play Mr Injury in the centres. Nice one you knuckles.'
In a poor first half of footy, the Sea Eagles finally cracked the Tigers' tryline in the final minute and Turbo was heavily involved.
With all the play down the left side of the field, Manly was repeatedly repelled by Wests' defensive line.
'Tom's getting a cold out at right centre,' Voss quipped. 'He's watching on with binoculars.'
On the last tackle, Trbojevic finally got his chance, taking a cut-out ball from Luke Brooks and laying off a superb flick pass to Jason Saab who did the rest, scoring in the corner.
'Tom offloads to Saab, finally Tom gets a touch, and it's a golden one for the first try in the final minute of the opening half,' Voss said.
Reuben Garrick nailed the sideline conversion for a 6-0 lead at the break.
Leading up to the game, Trbojevic conceded he had no idea whether his move to centre would be permanent.
Trbojevic's yardage has been solid in recent weeks, but he'd broken just five tackles in his past six games leading into Friday night after busting 83 in 20 matches last season.
'I had a lot of input from the coaches, but we've got someone like Lehi there who's very good at fullback,' Trbojevic said on Monday.
'I'm not unfamiliar with playing centre, I've done it before. It'll be a different challenge for me and one I'm excited for.
'It (the move) wasn't really on my mind, but the way that Lehi has been playing (made it easier) and I haven't been playing my best footy.
'It is what it is. I just love playing footy, and playing centre is something else on a footy field and it's no different to me. I just have to go out there and give it a go.'
He may have had second thoughts after Skelton's crunching tackle, but he ran out the half well and looms as a key figure in the second 40 minutes.
Manly then took control of the match after halftime, building a 16-0 lead with 30 minutes remaining.
Benji Marshall's Tigers briefly had some momentum after Alex Seyfarth's 51st minute try, but the Sea Eagles regained control to record a comfortable win.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Mundine says Cricket Australia is 'out of sync with what the people want' after it drops all matches on Australia Day again
Cricket Australia is once again under fire for quietly scrapping any fixtures on Australia Day with one of the country's most prominent Indigenous leaders Warren Mundine demanding an open explanation to the public. For the second year in a row – and just the second time in 31 years – there will be no cricket on January 26, despite it being a major public holiday and a key date in the summer calendar. The Big Bash League final will be played the night before, on Sunday 25 January, while the men's national team will not be in the country, with many players set to appear in the BBL finals ahead of international T20 commitments. Speaking to Sky Mundine has slammed the sporting body's decision as 'really bizarre', saying Australians deserved answers as to why the game will once again go silent on the January 26 public holiday. 'I just think what they are doing is bizarre. What is the reason they have given for this,' Mundine said. 'It's really pathetic and the public who follow the team, who follow cricket, who love the sport, and pay their good money to watch it, deserve to know, so, if anything, Cricket Australia should come out and give a reason why they won't play on Australia Day.' Mundine said if the decision was politically motivated, then the organisation should no longer carry the country's name. 'My view with Cricket Australia, and a lot of other sporting bodies around the country is that they can really out of sync with what the people want,' he said. 'They want to see their national team playing and if they aren't willing to do that on Australia Day, then I advise that they take the name Australia out of the team.' He added: 'We all want to know what their problem is because cricket is our national game, and we all love it, and we want to celebrate all these cultures together on Australia Day, so, by snubbing it … it's just really bizarre and I don't understand it at all.' Cricket Australia has previously defended similar decisions as being about 'respect', after consulting with Indigenous representatives about how to navigate January 26. In 2021, it dropped the term 'Australia Day' from all promotional material — a move that drew public rebuke from then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Indigenous Australian cricketer Ashleigh Gardner has also been vocal about her discomfort playing on January 26, calling it a 'day of hurt and mourning' for Indigenous Australians. Captain Pat Cummins has separately suggested Australia should find 'a more appropriate date' to celebrate the national holiday. But critics argue Cricket Australia is being subservient to inner-city activists and abandoning its role as a unifying national symbol. 'You can look at it in two ways, and it's all going to come down to their reasoning for why they are not playing,' he said. 'I understand that as an organisation they must do what's best for the sport, that means what's best for the fans. 'But if this is down to a political reason, you have to assume that they must hate Australia. So, they need to come out and be clear to the public why they are doing this.' This isn't the first time the former ALP president has called out the direction taken by national institutions on January 26. In 2024 he told Sky News Australia that bodies like Cricket Australia were guilty of 'hatred of Australians and hatred of Australia'. 'There's one thing I will not tolerate, and that is the bigotry and the hatred of organisations like Cricket Australia, like Woolworths and all these corporations who look at Australian people as knuckle draggers, as bigots and dreadful stuff,' he said at the time. 'More than 67 per cent of Australians want it to remain on the January 26 … but I'm just sick and tired of this annual attack on the values of this country.' The scheduling move has also prompted political commentary, with NSW Premier Chris Minns earlier this year urging Cricket Australia to rethink its approach. Cricket Australia has said little publicly as of now, but last year explained a similar decision as being in fans' best interests due to a clash with the Australian Open men's tennis final - a clash that won't exist this time around.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Swans ruckman Brodie Grundy says SCG may be slippery but not unsafe to play
Sydney ruckman Brodie Grundy has defended the state of the SCG surface, rejecting a claim from Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir that it's 'unsafe' ahead of Sunday's clash at the venue. The AFL has sent its own turf expert to Sydney, which was hit with a deluge of rain on Wednesday, to look at the surface that has failed to recover from a concert held at the ground in April. After his players were caught slipping badly last Friday, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said the surface would get worse before it got better because of the weather hitting NSW and would be 'extremely slippery' on Sunday. Longmuir, who watched last Friday's clash from the stands, didn't like what he saw and the Dockers have been in conversation with the AFL this week before heading to Sydney for a crucial clash with the Swans. It was even reported that Venues NSW, which looks after the SCG, was possibly going to ask the Swans to not wear football boots for training this week to help it recover. GWS captain Toby Greene also revealed that he wore metal studs during the round-8 derby at the venue because of the 'shocking' conditions, risking a $40,000 fine for players caught wearing prohibited studs. The Swans moved this week's SCG training session to nearby Tramway Oval and while Grundy conceded the surface wasn't at its best last weekend, he said it wasn't unsafe. 'We play on it, well not every week, but train on it most weeks and have been for the last six to eight weeks,' he said on Wednesday. 'It's our home, so we're pretty used to it. 'Was it ideal? No, but I'm looking forward to playing there this week.' Grundy said 'dewy' conditions contributed to the slipping last Friday. 'Looking back, there's little moments where people are slipping over and whatnot,' the star said. 'But that's going to happen when it's dewy and Friday night footy. 'I thought the contest, generally, was a real spectacle that I thought fans got to enjoy. 'And as a player, I certainly enjoy playing in that (sort of) game.'
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
AFL 2025: Essendon coach Brad Scott on Zach Reid, Darcy Parish, Kyle Langford and injury opportunity
The narrative reads a little differently to Essendon coach Brad Scott. The Bombers' wretched run of injuries has deepened over the past fortnight, with Mason Redman, Darcy Parish, Kyle Langford and Zach Reid all pulling up sore from training. Setbacks to Parish, Langford and Redman all occurred during the Bombers' bye week while Reid was injured at training on Wednesday. Return dates for Parish (calf) and Langford (quad) are undetermined, while Redman (hamstring) will miss at least a week. Reid was sent for scans on a hamstring issue after edging closer to a return from previous injury. Essendon has 11 unavailable for Gold Coast this weekend – nine of them serving long-term stints on the sidelines. But Scott — prior to training on Wednesday — refused to view it as a 'crisis' and said he shared the same view of the fringe players who are getting premature chances at senior level. 'That's the thing about the headlines, 'injury crisis' and all these things – I guarantee you it's not a crisis to those players who are on the fringe of selection,' he said. 'It's an opportunity to put their name up in lights and get their opportunity they've been working so hard for. 'That's the silver lining for us. It's clearly not ideal, we'd love to have better availability, but we've had players emerge who wouldn't have had their opportunity. 'Even if we did make seven changes this week, Angus Clarke wasn't going out regardless. I couldn't have said that seven weeks ago.' Parish has played just three matches this year after missing the start of the season with the same calf issue. Langford, six games, has also been troubled by a quad issue in the past. Scott admits there is a level of concern for the pair, as their injuries are a repeat of previous setbacks – but he hasn't put a line through their respective seasons. 'I've heard some people say, 'That's it for the season', that's not our attitude. We're going to rehab them as best we can and get them back playing as soon as possible,' he said. 'It leaves (Parish) in rehab again trying to get back before the end of the season. He's a really important part of our team and he come back in after a long lay-off and looked pretty sharp. 'It's a loss to us but we've got to keep pushing ahead and (Parish), with our full support, got to try get to the bottom of why he's had another recurrence. 'It's always a concern when you have a recurrence, injuries are an unfortunate part of our game. You try to minimise them as much you can, but when you have a recurrence to an existing injury it is a concern. 'We've got to deal with it, I understand the interest in it … but my focus is purely on the 23 we pick to go and get the job done on Saturday.'
