Manly woes continue as Trbojevic faces nervous wait

Manly and NSW fans will be sweating on the fitness of Tom Trbojevic after the star fullback left the field during the Sea Eagles’ 30-24 loss to the Dolphins.

In wet conditions at Suncorp Stadium, the Dolphins handed the Sea Eagles a second-straight defeat to cement their place in the NRL top-four, but all eyes will be on the superstar fullback after a nasty collision.

Trbojevic limped off the field in the 68th minute after colliding with a sideline cameraman while trying to stop Jack Bostock’s match-winning try.

Tom Trbojevic leaves the field after suffering a leg injury.

Nine’s sideline reporter Danika Mason later confirmed that Trbojevic had suffered a hamstring injury in the incident and given his history, it could put his spot in the State of Origin series opener next month in grave danger.

Trbojevic earlier stayed down with an ankle complaint, but after receiving some assistance from the Manly trainers, was able to continue.

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Adding to Manly’s injury woes, Jason Saab also came from the field in the 16th minute with a shoulder injury and did not return.

The visitors were on top after the first half an hour, but three tries in the space of five minutes from the Dolphins – including a stellar solo effort from Trai Fuller – put the hosts back into the contest just before the half-time break.

Controversy erupted in the second half when Manly challenged a knock-on by Trbojevi, with the replay showing Jesse Bromwich made accidental high contact and the Bunker subsequently penalised the Dolphins prop, leaving Nine’s commentary team outraged.

“Our game is gone,” Paul Vautin told Nine.

“It’s finished if you are penalising that … what a stitch-up.

“I bet the person who made that call has never stepped foot on a football field.”

The decision from the officials wasn’t enough to deter a late fightback from the Dolphins, with young winger Bostock crossing in the corner and Isaako nailing a penalty goal with less than two minutes remaining to ice the result.

Speaking to Nine post-game, Daly Cherry-Evans admitted his side had received a “wake-up call” over the past week in losses to the Raiders and Dolphins.

“Really disappointing,” he said.

“We’ll definitely look at that period as a pretty influential period. We’d done so much hard work for the first 30 minutes … it was just a real big lapse there.

“It’s obviously a trend in our game that isn’t ideal. I don’t think there is any secret to what it is, it’s our defence, and we’ve got to work on it there.

“It doesn’t get any easier, but there are no easy games in this competition. After this week, it’s a real big wake-up call.”