Manly coach makes massive call on Tom Trbojevic after Sea Eagles blow home NRL final

Manly coach Anthony Seibold has declared fullback Tom Trbojevic will return for their elimination final against the Bulldogs on Sunday. It is a timely boost for the Sea Eagles after they were blown off the park by Cronulla in what was their biggest defeat of the year.

Needing a win to claim hosting rights for the elimination final against Canterbury on Sunday, the Sea Eagles were dismal in both attack and defence, falling 40-20 to a Sharks side who had already locked in fourth place. And Sunday's display showcased how desperately they need Trbojevic fit and firing if they are to make a deep NRL finals run.

Trbojevic suffered a Grade 3 AC joint injury in the Sea Eagles' win over the Bulldogs in round 26, in the same game winger Jason Saab went down with a syndesmosis ankle injury. And Seibold confirmed while Saab is unlikely to be ready for the elimination final against Canterbury, Manly's superstar No.1 will be ready and raring to go. "Tom will play, it’s grade three, we’ve had Saaby and Tolu play with that same injury in the same turnaround time so it won’t be an issue. Saaby, I don’t think will play."

Manly beat the Bulldogs 34-22 in their last meeting, they will have to vastly improve on their showing against the Sharks if they are to go through to week two of finals. The Sea Eagles were well below their best against Cronulla as they let in the most points they have all year. They finished the game with 41 missed tackles, as Cronulla cut them open through the middle and on the edges.

Speaking after the loss to Cronulla, Seibold said missing out on hosting a home final is disappointing but in the grand scheme of things isn't too big of a deal. “They (Cronulla) really suffocated us with their defence and obviously they were very good (in attack). We were a little bit below where we wanted to be but that’s footy sometimes. Can’t dwell too much, obviously, we’re disappointed because we had the opportunity to play for a home semi but you need to look at the biggest picture.

"There are nine other teams who will wake up tomorrow morning and would love to be in our position. We need to understand that and we also need to understand it’s a six-day turnaround and we need to move pretty quickly into the next job.

"We’re playing a Bulldogs side that will be far better than last night (44-6 loss to the Cowboys), they’ve got three or four players coming back into their team and we’ve got a couple as well.”

Anthony Seibold is confident Manly can go deep in NRL finals

Seibold believes on their day Manly can beat any team in the NRL and with Trbojevic back to offer the creative spark they were so desperately lacking in the loss to the Sharks, they can not only beat the Bulldogs but go on a deep NRL finals run. "Other than the Sharks we’ve beaten every side in the top eight…. the evidence is there," Seibold said.

"We’ve got to realise we’ve made some really significant gains this year. We’ve won more games than last year, we made the playoffs and we’ve done some really good things. There have been some times where we haven’t quite been at our best. But we’ll wake up tomorrow and be focused on the Bulldogs and the opportunity we’ve got as a club to go across the harbour and I imagine there will be 40,000 or 50,000 there next Saturday.

"We expect the Bulldogs to be at their best, at their best they’ve played some excellent footy this year and at our best we’ve played some excellent footy this year. We’ll turn up and we’ll be at our best.”

But Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans admits if they put in a showing similar to what they did against the Sharks against the Bulldogs their season will end at Accor Stadium. “Defensively letting 40 in was the problem, that’s the work on for us and that probably showed in our attitude today,” he said on Sunday.

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“We just weren’t there and that’s disappointing considering what was on the line but that’s the facts of what’s happened today. We’ve got to move on real quickly because we’ve got a finals game next week.”