On the eve of his 200th NRL game, Sea Eagles Coach Anthony Seibold has praised outstanding clubman Jake Trbojevic, calling him the ‘ultimate Manly player’.
A proud local junior from the Mona Vale Raiders who rose through the Manly junior representative ranks, 29-year-old Trbojevic brings up the milestone for his beloved Sea Eagles against the Wests Tigers at 4 Pines Park on Friday night in the club’s final game of the season.
“Jake is the ultimate Manly player, isn't he. He is a local junior. His brothers play for the club. To achieve 200 games is a wonderful achievement, not many people do that at the one club or even in the game,’’ Seibold said.
“He has played at the highest level. The one thing that we are still aiming for is that premiership glory at some stage during his career. He has pretty much ticked things off, so it’s a great achievement from Jake.
“Jake brings some great attributes. He is a very skillful player as well. A wonderful football player, a wonderful man, from a fantastic family.
“We are just really lucky as a club to have somebody like Jake as part of it. We are really pleased for Jake to achieve 200 games and to do it in front of our home crowd.
“I’m sure there will be a big turn up. Obviously, it’s our last game but it’s a great way to recognise Jake’s achievements over a number of years in the Manly jersey.”
Seibold said Trbojevic is the perfect example of the ‘Manly Mentality’’ the playing group adheres too.
“Jake is full of effort. Mentally, he is very tough. He is very resilient with regards to absorbing the punishment he has to go through as a middle forward in the NRL,’’ Seibold added.
“He is often seen at the end of training sessions working on the tackle bag, working on his contact and his technique.
“Jake is a little bit of a throwback in some ways to somebody like a Trevor Gillmeister or a David Gillespie, some of the guys from the 80s and 90s who had fantastic techniques and Jake has that.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he hasn’t missed to many tackles in his career and has made quite a few.
“He has fantastic work rate. He displays that Manly Mentality, or Manly DNA, that we talk about internally.”
