There are a couple of things in the game that Jake Trbojevic hasn’t achieved since making his NRL debut as a 19-year-old in 2013.
He’s won two World Cups for Australia, played 19 games for New South Wales including four Origin series’ triumphs, and has been voted Manly’s Roy Bull Best & Fairest on three occasions.
While yet to win a premiership, or play in a Grand Final, it has been a remarkable journey thus far for ‘football’s nicest bloke’ on the road to game 250.
Not one to get ahead of himself, Jake’s plan for the rest of this season is quite simple.
“I haven't been lucky enough to play in a grand final or win one yet, which is obviously a bit disappointing,” he said.
Every time I go out there, I do my best, and that’s something I can hang my hat on.
Jake Trbojevic Sea Eagle #559
“I’ll put it on the line, be as passionate as I can and hopefully, we can put ourselves in the picture to compete for one [a premiership].”
“But if we don't, we’ll certainly be doing our best and that’s all you can ask of anyone.”
NRL debut
We all remember our first. First love, first job, first car. For footy players who do make it to the NRL, that first game is one of life’s unforgettable moments.
Jake made his NRL debut in the final round of the 2013 season and played his first full season in first grade in 2015.
“I definitely remember that day, it sort of came unexpectedly. I was playing Under 20s and we made the grand final that year, so we were having a really successful season.
“We'd already solidified a place in the top four, so Geoff Toovey rested a few players. I got to debut that day at 4 Pines Park alongside Clint Gutherson.
“We came through the grades together, so we played our first NRL game together which was pretty cool.”
As fate would have it, also in the team that day was current coach Kieran Foran.
“I got to play with Foz early on in my career and then again when he came back to the club, so we built a great relationship.
“I learned a lot from watching him play and his passion and the way he sort of chased everything, and he’s still doing that today as coach.”
Finding the line
Passionate, durable, tough, loyal, nice guy…absolutely. But like most middles in the game, Jake doesn't hang his hat on being a prolific try scorer.
Known more for laying the foundation rather than piling on points, Jake’s try-scoring strike rate does however stack up quite well compared to other thirty-something locks in the game.
One of the 35 tries he has scored in his 249-game career was in Manly’s biggest ever win over Saturday’s opponent, the Brisbane Broncos.
It was in Magic Round in 2021, but as Jake explains, he had a bit of help.
“I hadn’t scored at all that season, but I got over the line at Suncorp. It was a great day for us.
“I thought ‘great that’ll get me off the nudie run’, only to be told the try shouldn’t really count.
“They had two players sent to the sin bin so were down to 11 men when I scored. Dessie [Hasler] then tells me the opposition had to have 12 players on the field for the try to count against the ‘nudie’. I remember it well.”
A ‘nudie run’, in case you’re wondering, is a long-held tradition where players who go a whole season without scoring a try are required to do a lap of their home ground wearing, as the name suggests, minimal clothing.
Game 200
Jake’s 200th appearance was another try-fest which he remembers well, against the Wests Tigers in Round 27, 2023.
“To join the group of great players who had played 200 games for this Club was such a proud moment for me. I was so proud to be on that list,” he says.
“We couldn’t make the finals, but we had a great crowd, and I think we scored off the very first set.
“It was the final game of the season, and I hadn’t scored a try all year, so I was again on the ‘nudie’ list.
“I didn’t have to do too much for my try though to be honest. Daly [Cherry-Evans] got across the line, I ran through, and he gave it to me.
“I'll take any try I can get. I don't care how they come.”
Jake scores in Game 200
Brotherly love
It’s somewhat of a rarity in the NRL to have three brothers playing in the same team.
At Manly, it’s been a rarity for more than a decade now for the Trbojevic name not to be in duplicate or triplicate on Team List Tuesday.
For Jake, playing alongside his two brothers is not something he takes for granted, at least not anymore.
“Playing with Tom for the first time was only my fifth NRL game, so it was all still quite new for me too,” he says.
“It was actually the first time we’d played together too because we had always been a couple of years apart in the juniors.
“I’m quite an anxious and nervous type person at the best of times so now here I am nervous for myself and I’m nervous for Tom as well.
“So that day I was struggling, so anxious, so nervous, but so proud to see Tom come through as an 18-year-old and play for Manly, and he got two tries on debut.
“To play alongside my brother for the first time was very, very special.”
The first time all three played in Manly’s NRL team was when Ben made his NRL debut off the bench in Round 12, 2021 in Newcastle.
The first time all three were in Manly’s run-on team together, Ben’s ‘starting debut’, Jake remembers fondly. Like Tom had done in his first start, Ben scored the first try of the match before bagging a double.
“The first time we all played together was obviously a very, very special moment for us.
And the first time we were all in the starting team together is probably one of the favourite games of my career.
Jake Trbojevic
“It was against the Tigers in 2022 and Haumole [Olakau’atu] pulled out on game day through sickness, so Ben slots into the backrow, having been playing in the centres.
“So again, being the nervous one, I’ve now got two brothers to worry about.
“Ben had changed positions on game day so I could see how nervous he was, and that made me even more anxious.
“We won the game, he scored two tries, it was a special day, a very proud older brother. I think in the post-game interview I said ‘proud’ about 70 times as well,” chuckles Jake.
“I probably took it for granted how special it was all three in the same Manly team but watching Ben’s journey as well, it really hits home just how special it is.”
Game 250
The Club will celebrate Jake’s milestone with a few extra trimmings on game day, making the occasion one to remember.
Immensely appreciative but not one for fanfare, Jake is hoping to keep it as ‘normal’ as possible when he leads the team out on Saturday night.
“It’ll be nice obviously having my wife, family and everyone there to celebrate with me and that sort of thing but you just want to keep it as normal as possible really,” he said.
“We ultimately need to go and get a good result here at home as well, so that's important for us and then we can worry about the rest later.”
What that looks like, only time will tell.
But on Saturday, as certain as the sun will rise. As sure as the Hill heave. Jakey Boy will be giving his best.
You can hang your hat on that.
