Fatty says Tom will be best ever

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Captain Moondog

Absolute Superstar
Sea Eagles legend Paul Vautin backs Tom Trbojevic to become Manly’s greatest ever player
DAVID RICCIO, CHIEF SPORTS WRITER, The Daily Telegraph
10 minutes ago
Subscriber only
Paul Vautin, a member of Manly’s ‘Dream Team’, has declared Tom Trbojevic will be recognised alongside Bob Fulton as the greatest players in Sea Eagles history.

“Fatty’s” confidence in the Manly fullback is supported by statistics which show the 22-year-old can equal a 17-year record by scoring two tries for NSW in Origin III on Wednesday night at ANZ Stadium.

Not since Queensland's Lote Tuqiri in 2002 has a player from either NSW or Queensland scored five tries in a series — an achievable feat for the Blues right-centre.

In 2006, Vautin - a no-nonsense forward and premiership-winning captain — was selected in the “Greatest Manly Team” — so it’s without trepidation that he declared Trbojevic bound for greatness.


“Obviously, it's a club rich in player history,” Vautin told The Sunday Telegraph.

“You can talk about the greats now in Bob Fulton, Graham Eadie, Terry Randall, Malcolm Reilly, Steve Menzies and the list goes on and on.

“But I look at the impact of every game that he (Trbojevic) plays in and he’s in the top two or three players every game.

“In 10 years time, when you're looking at the list of best ever Manly players, he’ll be up there and could be the best ever.

“As long as he remains injury-free — that’s what I believe.

“I've been at Brookie (Brookvale Oval) when Tom touches the ball and the crowd goes mad.

“The impact that he has on the games that he plays in and for his team, is just incredible.

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Trbojevic has played 82 first grade games. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images.
“There's not much he can’t do and what he does good, he does better than most players.”

What’s remarkable about Trbojevic’s recent form is that in just three games back from his second hamstring injury lay-off he has proven virtually unstoppable.

In his last three matches against St George Illawarra, Queensland in game two and the Gold Coast last week, Trbojevic have averaged 200 running metres and has a combined 20 tackle busts and six line-breaks.

“When he played that game against the Dragons and ran riot, everyone just went... are you serious?” Vautin said.

“He’d been off crook with his hamstring for so long and he came back and did that in his second game.

“If that’s how dominant he can be after a long break, imagine what he’ll be like once his conditioning is up and he’s playing ever week without a concern.

“And I tell you what, his brother Jake won’t be far behind him when they talk about great Manly players in the future.’’

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Trbojevic is in top form for Manly. AAP Image/Darren England.


Vautin said it should be the Sea Eagles’ number one priority to secure the futures of both Trbojevic and his NSW Origin forward brother Jake.

The duo are off-contract at the end of next season and clubs have the right to approach the duo from November 1.

But typical of the ever-polite Jake, discussing talk of both his brother’s possibility of greatness and the duo’s future at Manly, isn’t an immediate focus.

“We have 18 months left at Manly, so we really haven’t even thought about it too much,'” Jake said.

“It’s a bad look, I reckon to even be talking about it (contracts). That's why we've got managers to sort it out.

“As for Tommy, I'm proud the way he’s come back from injury and no doubt he’ll draw confidence to improve with every week he plays.”

Despite his glowing endorsement of the Trbojevic brothers, Vautin, a former Origin series-winning coach with Queensland said the Maroons would have a plan to try and dull their impact in the decider.

“It’s a great challenge to try and nullify them, that’s the way I always looked at it when I came up against the best players for NSW,’’ Vautin said.

“That’s the test Queensland have got now.’’
 
Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, two of the three tries in Origin were support plays/pushing up, the great amazing effort to get to the bomb was an exceptional effort though.

Very good player and will be up there with the best at Manly but not the greatest, zero chance.
 
Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, two of the three tries in Origin were support plays/pushing up, the great amazing effort to get to the bomb was an exceptional effort though.

Very good player and will be up there with the best at Manly but not the greatest, zero chance.
So if he gets two or more try on Wed night he won't have the record.
OK I see where your going with this.
 
Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, two of the three tries in Origin were support plays/pushing up, the great amazing effort to get to the bomb was an exceptional effort though.

Very good player and will be up there with the best at Manly but not the greatest, zero chance.


Have to disagree TC. I've never in my 55 years of watching the game seen someone explode onto the scene at Manly so effectively and in such dominating manner than this guy. I agree we are well ahead of ourselves suggesting he will be the best or near best at this stage. But saying 'no chance'? I remember Bob Fulton in his early years. Outstanding and dominated many games. This kid is just as dominant at aged 22 as Fulton was, maybe even more so. As Fatty says injuries will decide the issue. But at this stage he is well on the way to being one of Manly's all time greats.
 
To be fair, Tom is twenty two. By twenty years of age Graham Eadie had played in two premiership winning sides and represented Australia in two Kangaroo Internationals in England. And Eadie was Manly's highest point scorer in 1973 at age 19.
Wombat played in four Manly Premiership winning sides and featured in many final series.

Different times sure, but I think the score should be calculated at the end and not the beginning (as I guess Fatty is implying).

I hope Tom get's there.

I do agree with Fatty's comment about Manly's player history. Even without my maroon and white glasses, we have been generously blessed with some of the elite (and most entertaining) players of the modern era (based on reading signed jerseys).
 
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Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, two of the three tries in Origin were support plays/pushing up, the great amazing effort to get to the bomb was an exceptional effort though.

Very good player and will be up there with the best at Manly but not the greatest, zero chance.
The thing is though that truly great players always seem to be in the right place at the right time. It takes a football brain to make that look easy
 
Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, two of the three tries in Origin were support plays/pushing up, the great amazing effort to get to the bomb was an exceptional effort though.

Very good player and will be up there with the best at Manly but not the greatest, zero chance.
Zero chance?
Why the need to be so harsh about one of our own?
Truth is, you do not have a crystal ball, you can't even tell me what I'll be doing today, so how you think you can predict the outcome of an entire career is beyond me.
Settle petal.
 
Jake wouldnt look out of place in a greatest manly team list. But turbo would need to have one hell of a career to make it into such a team. It is just that manly have had some of the best outside backs to play the game.
 
Stats don't tell the whole story ... but can give an insight .... to make an all time Manly side, Tom would need to surpass Snake and Wombat .... here is the story of the tape to date ... and I know they don't show try assists, impact on results, dominance, different eras, etc .. but ...

Tom .. 82 games .. 43 tries .. strike rate .. 52.4% .. 5 SOO .. 4 Australia .. 22 years of age ...
Snake .. 233 games .. 163 tries .. Strike rate .. 69.9% .. 8 SOO .. I Australia ....
Wombat .. 237 games .. 71 tries .. Strike rate .. 29.9% .. 14 SOO .. 20 Australia ..

I don't know if Tom will surpass the 2 legends .... but I wouldn't be putting any hard earned saying he won't ....
 
I sure Hope he ends up MANS best ever. But Gee, how many Grand Finals has he currently won us? There is a bloody long journey to go before the Turbo even being our best ever no 1 should be even imagined.

So much media hysteria after 1 good origin game.

Is it rather disrespectful of club legends like wombat, Ridgey, and Snake?
 
Stats don't tell the whole story ... but can give an insight .... to make an all time Manly side, Tom would need to surpass Snake and Wombat .... here is the story of the tape to date ... and I know they don't show try assists, impact on results, dominance, different eras, etc .. but ...

Tom .. 82 games .. 43 tries .. strike rate .. 52.4% .. 5 SOO .. 4 Australia .. 22 years of age ...
Snake .. 233 games .. 163 tries .. Strike rate .. 69.9% .. 8 SOO .. I Australia ....
Wombat .. 237 games .. 71 tries .. Strike rate .. 29.9% .. 14 SOO .. 20 Australia ..

I don't know if Tom will surpass the 2 legends .... but I wouldn't be putting any hard earned saying he won't ....


Good chart there Woodsie. Snake could have been Manly's all time best full back but for his injuries and that court case that seemed to take the heart out of him for a time. Would still have him in my all time best Manly side but on the wing with Eadie at full back. Tom T. has years ahead of him and in a way he is something like a combination of Eadie and Stewart. Not quite Stewarts speed but much stronger. Not quite Eadie's power play ability, but much faster. Time will tell but I think he's already in Manly's best three full backs ever, though still behind Eadie and Stewart at this stage.
 
To be fair, Tom is twenty two. By twenty years of age Graham Eadie had played in two premiership winning sides and represented Australia in two Kangaroo Internationals in England. And Eadie was Manly's highest point scorer in 1973 at age 19.
Wombat played in four Manly Premiership winning sides and featured in many final series.

Different times sure, but I think the score should be calculated at the end and not the beginning (as I guess Fatty is implying).

I hope Tom get's there.

I do agree with Fatty's comment about Manly's player history. Even without my maroon and white glasses, we have been generously blessed with some of the elite (and most entertaining) players of the modern era (based on reading signed jerseys).


Glad you raised the issue of Eadie who I consider after Fulton the second or third best player Manly have had along with Cliff Lyons.

I remember watching Eadie come through reserve grade and take over from the very popular Bob Batty. Story goes that Batty actually stepped aside to allow Eadie to take on full back unhindered, because he could see what a champion he was to become.

I think the difference with Eadie and Tom T. (and also Stewart for that matter) is that he came into a champion side which included Fulton, Branigan, Martin, Irvine, O'Neill, Jones (Krillich soon after), Hamilton, Randall, Max Brown, Dennis Ward (very under rated half), Allan Thompson and of course Reilly. Both Stewart and Tom T. started at Manly when their first grade sides were near the bottom of the comp, or heading that way. That's not to diminish Eadie's brilliance. You could see in reserve grade that he was a future International, but his entrance into first grade was softened byhaving one of Manly's all time best sides in front of him.

All three full backs are standout stars. It will be hard when Tom eventually retires, to pick the best.
 
If he knocks off Wombat for our greatest ever No. 1 then I am certainly looking forward to the next 6-7 of supporting Manly because he must be going to be an absolute machine

Who knows he may yet end up as one of greatest centres.
 
Stats don't tell the whole story ... but can give an insight .... to make an all time Manly side, Tom would need to surpass Snake and Wombat .... here is the story of the tape to date ... and I know they don't show try assists, impact on results, dominance, different eras, etc .. but ...

Tom .. 82 games .. 43 tries .. strike rate .. 52.4% .. 5 SOO .. 4 Australia .. 22 years of age ...
Snake .. 233 games .. 163 tries .. Strike rate .. 69.9% .. 8 SOO .. I Australia ....
Wombat .. 237 games .. 71 tries .. Strike rate .. 29.9% .. 14 SOO .. 20 Australia ..

I don't know if Tom will surpass the 2 legends .... but I wouldn't be putting any hard earned saying he won't ....
Great stats Woodsie and you make a good point about dominance. Wombat and Snake were surrounded by great players (and coaching staff) who complimented their ability and playing style. Seems a while ago but only last year Tom shared equal top try scorer credits for MW with Shaun Lane with 9. In 2008: Snake had 22, Robbo 18, Wolfman 14, Beaver 13, Bell 11.
 
Good chart there Woodsie. Snake could have been Manly's all time best full back but for his injuries and that court case that seemed to take the heart out of him for a time. Would still have him in my all time best Manly side but on the wing with Eadie at full back. Tom T. has years ahead of him and in a way he is something like a combination of Eadie and Stewart. Not quite Stewarts speed but much stronger. Not quite Eadie's power play ability, but much faster. Time will tell but I think he's already in Manly's best three full backs ever, though still behind Eadie and Stewart at this stage.

Good point about Grandfinals .... however I think the ability of teams to keep squads together and win multiple premierships on a trot like we did in the 70's is long gone ...
 
Great stats Woodsie and you make a good point about dominance. Wombat and Snake were surrounded by great players (and coaching staff) who complimented their ability and playing style. Seems a while ago but only last year Tom shared equal top try scorer credits for MW with Shaun Lane with 9. In 2008: Snake had 22, Robbo 18, Wolfman 14, Beaver 13, Bell 11.

Good point .. but No disrespect to Robbo and Wolfman .... but my dear old Granny would have scored over 20 tries on the end of those backlines ... hell they were good ..... even that great cream puff T-Rex was put over ....
 

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