That special feeling of doing a victory lap again around Lottoland was not lost on Jake Trbojevic last Saturday.
The Manly lock and his team-mates had every reason to celebrate after producing a courageous win over South Sydney that was capped off by a 35-metre field goal in golden point extra time by captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
Manly won just three home games at Lottoland last year and lost their first home match this season to the Sydney Roosters in round two.
“Doing that lap of honour was just awesome. Everyone was still there cheering so it was pretty special,’’ Trbojevic said.
“We talked about our home record during the week and how we really wanted to turn that around after last year.
“It was a real physical battle in the middle. I was just happy we came away with the win at Lottoland. It was such a great day.”
Trbojevic, who was named the players’ player, said the team can take plenty of confidence from their defensive efforts heading into Saturday’s match against the Knights in Newcastle.
“We have worked really hard in our defence in the pre-season to try and consistently turn teams away and it was good to see we did that for long periods,’’ he added.
“The Knights will be a big challenge. We played them up last year in front of a massive crowd. They have strike right across the park so it is going to be a good test.
“They are desperately looking for a win so it should make for a really good contest but hopefully we can go up there and have another win.”
