Jake Trbojevic has already got one instruction locked in his game plan as he prepares to captain the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles for the first time at the Auckland Nines this weekend.
It involves his brother, Tom.
“I’m going make him follow my instructions. It will be just like being at home for him,’’ Jake laughed.
“It is a very big honour to be the Manly captain for the Nines. I haven’t played at Eden Park before, so I’m very much looking forward to the experience.
“I will just go out and do my best. I feel we have a really good team with some very talented players in it. I am hoping we can do some damage in the tournament.”
The past two seasons of the Nines tournament has seen some spectacular tries scored as a result of the quicker men enjoying the extra open space. It should very much suit noted speedster and prolific tryscorer Tom Trbojevic.
“I’m looking forward to the fast pace and getting out there and having a bit of fun. It will also be good to see some of the players show off their skills in this format,’’ Jake said.
“We do have a small plan in mind of how to play the game and we will just see what happens from there. But we are going need our quick men to score some tries.”
As for a Sea Eagles player to watch out for, Jake nominated rising young centre Jesse Ramien from the NYC team.
“Jesse could be the surprise packet. He has been training really well with the NRL squad,’’ Jake said.
“He is a fine young player and this will be a good experience for him to show the coaching staff what he can do on the bigger stage.
“He scored some great tries last year. He is definitely up to it.”
As for future captaincy plans, Jake admitted it would be a great honour should the opportunity presented itself.
“I would love to captain the Sea Eagles in the NRL. To be able to one day captain a great club like Manly with their rich history would be a really special honour,” he added.
Manly Warringah have a tough pool in the Nines with matches against Brisbane, Warriors, and the Bulldogs.
The Sea Eagles will be looking to improve on their record of one win from six matches from the past two tournaments.
Sea Eagles squad: 1 Jayden Hodges, 2. Matt Parcell, 3. Tim Moltzen, 4. Brayden Wiliame, 5. Jamie Buhrer, 6. Nathan Green, 7. Isaac John, 8. Tony Satini, 9. Tom Symonds, 10. Tom Trbojevic, 11. Brenton Lawrence, 12. Fabian Goodall, 13. Jorge Taufua, 14. Wof Lavaka, 15. Jake Trbojevic (c), 16. Feleti Mateo, 17. Blake Leary, 18. Jesse Ramien.
Manly's draw (Games Times are NZ times)
Saturday, Feb 6, games starts 12.30pm
2.45pm: v Brisbane (12.45pm NSW time)
6.15pm: v Warriors (4.15pm NSW time)
Sunday, February 7, starts 10.35am
12.15pm: v Bulldogs (10.15am NSW time)
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Click here to watch Jake Trbojevic's player video profile
