True Blue Steve Menzies believes the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles can still be a Top 4 side without Tom Trboejvic but only if they can find a way to remain consistent and overcome the weekly grind of playing NRL football.
Trbojevic suffered a hamstring in the Sea Eagles’ gritty 14-6 victory over Canberra Raiders in Round 6 and is expected to be sidelined for up to eight weeks in a major blow to their premiership aspirations.
The Sea Eagles suffered a heavy defeat the following week without him against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, prompting questions if they can still be a premiership force without their star fullback.
Menzies, who is the greatest try-scoring forward in history and played 349 games for the club, believes they have the potential to still be a competition heavyweight in 2020 but must not dwell on any disappointing performances.
“He (Trbojevic) just does so much…it’s not just that sweep play, he’s pushing one off the ruck (and) you see him 20m out from the try-line and he’ll take the first hit-up and take it across the line,” he said on Behind Blue Eyes.
“He just fills so many holes, but I think they can (make the Top 4 without him).
“I think what they have shown over the past four or five weeks is that can beat everyone and beat every side. I think they’ll ignore games that they lost but they just need that consistency.
“I still think they can be a top 4 side without Turbo.”
Menzies is confident the Sea Eagles can defy their critics and get back into the winner’s circle after proving their worth against the Broncos and Raiders in previous weeks – they overcame an 18-0 deficit against Brisbane before defeating the Grand Finalists a week later despite a heavy injury toll.
While they boast a vast array of representative stars in Daly Cherry-Evans, Martin Taupau, and Addin Fonua-Blake, ‘Beaver’ admits their biggest challenge is getting into the grind of week-to-week football considering they have a young playing roster.
“Des would be disappointed and I suppose they‘ve got a young side, but they’re playing for each other and you saw the commitment the week before (against the Raiders),” he said.
“But consistency is the hard thing for young teams (because) it’s the NRL. It’s this constant week-in, week-out battle and that can be hard.
“If you’re off a fraction then you’ll get shown up.
“That one-off game doesn’t concern me. It’s about how they turn up next week.”