https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...a/news-story/e29f2f76ed2a30fb1736e9ad422b1670
Star Manly brothers Jake and Tom Trbojevic fear salary cap constraints could force them out of their beloved Sea Eagles, despite declaring their intention to remain one-club players.
Sea Eagles fans will shudder at the thought of losing either of the Trbojevics, who have already established themselves as NSW and Australian representatives.
But there are no guarantees in rugby league. Just ask Glenn Stewart, who, after the 2014 season and amid much furore and controversy, was separated from brother Brett and forced out of the club due to salary cap issues.
Jake and Tom Trbojevic both come off contract after next season, meaning rival clubs can starting tabling official offers for them from November 1 this year.
“I have never thought about leaving, we are Manly boys. But you never know with the salary cap. All that sort of stuff happens,” Jake told The Daily Telegraph.
“You wouldn’t have thought Glenn Stewart would have had to leave back in those days. I would love to stay at Manly my whole career but you never know what happens.
The way the game is these days, with the salary cap, you never know if someone is going to get forced out or whatnot.
“But we would love to play together at Manly, that’s our goal. It’s something we would love to keep doing and hopefully that can happen.”
The Daily Telegraph reported interest in the pair in a back page story nearly two weeks ago. Parramatta are one club privately discussing the brothers.
“We still have two years to go so I hadn’t thought about it until I saw that story in the paper that day. But we want to stay at Manly, that’s the goal,” Jake said.
“We have a lot of mates here and hopefully we can have some success. The fans here have been really good to us. They’re very loyal.”
Tom, like Jake, wants to play every match of his career at Manly. But he too is a realist.
“Like Jake, you’re just not too sure what is going to happen. Who knows what will happen when we cross that path?” Tom said. “If we both had our choice, we would both stay at Manly together but we will see what happens.
“I saw that (Telegraph story) the other day. It’s a weird one because we still have two years left on our contracts. We love this footy club. The club has done a lot for us. Ideally, we would be here together, moving forward.
Jake and I have grown up together and done a lot together. We are a very close family and it would make it a lot easier for mum (Melissa) and dad (John) if we were playing together. That’s the plan.”
The Daily Telegraph asked Tom which brother should secure the biggest contract.
“Jake,” yelled Jake from nearby.
Tom said: “Jake already gets more money. Surely it’s my turn.”
The brothers have sweated their way through a tough and gruelling off-season under new Manly coach Des Hasler.
“Having Dessie back has been really good, really enjoyable. It’s been a really tough off-season. He has really been flogging us,” Jake said.
“I really hope that will help us out and make us a better team. From a team’s perspective, we just want to be a lot better than last year, compete a lot harder and have a more successful season. Last year was pretty frustrating.
“That’s what you play the game for — to be there at the business end. We were there in ’17 but the last couple of years have been pretty tough and disappointing. Hopefully we can turn that around.”
NSW and Australian superstar Tom will need to use all his speed and agility to spark Manly’s attack this year.
“The off-season has been good fun. Obviously getting back in and working under Des has been really enjoyable, bouncing ideas off with him, I’ve learnt a lot,” Tom said.
“Last year was disappointing, we want to be better than that, we want to play better footy. Everyone plays this game to play finals footy and that’s the goal for us. For now, we just have to keep working hard and try and implement things we have been working hard on at training.”
Star Manly brothers Jake and Tom Trbojevic fear salary cap constraints could force them out of their beloved Sea Eagles, despite declaring their intention to remain one-club players.
Sea Eagles fans will shudder at the thought of losing either of the Trbojevics, who have already established themselves as NSW and Australian representatives.
But there are no guarantees in rugby league. Just ask Glenn Stewart, who, after the 2014 season and amid much furore and controversy, was separated from brother Brett and forced out of the club due to salary cap issues.
Jake and Tom Trbojevic both come off contract after next season, meaning rival clubs can starting tabling official offers for them from November 1 this year.
“I have never thought about leaving, we are Manly boys. But you never know with the salary cap. All that sort of stuff happens,” Jake told The Daily Telegraph.
“You wouldn’t have thought Glenn Stewart would have had to leave back in those days. I would love to stay at Manly my whole career but you never know what happens.
The way the game is these days, with the salary cap, you never know if someone is going to get forced out or whatnot.
“But we would love to play together at Manly, that’s our goal. It’s something we would love to keep doing and hopefully that can happen.”
The Daily Telegraph reported interest in the pair in a back page story nearly two weeks ago. Parramatta are one club privately discussing the brothers.
“We still have two years to go so I hadn’t thought about it until I saw that story in the paper that day. But we want to stay at Manly, that’s the goal,” Jake said.
“We have a lot of mates here and hopefully we can have some success. The fans here have been really good to us. They’re very loyal.”
Tom, like Jake, wants to play every match of his career at Manly. But he too is a realist.
“Like Jake, you’re just not too sure what is going to happen. Who knows what will happen when we cross that path?” Tom said. “If we both had our choice, we would both stay at Manly together but we will see what happens.
“I saw that (Telegraph story) the other day. It’s a weird one because we still have two years left on our contracts. We love this footy club. The club has done a lot for us. Ideally, we would be here together, moving forward.
Jake and I have grown up together and done a lot together. We are a very close family and it would make it a lot easier for mum (Melissa) and dad (John) if we were playing together. That’s the plan.”
The Daily Telegraph asked Tom which brother should secure the biggest contract.
“Jake,” yelled Jake from nearby.
Tom said: “Jake already gets more money. Surely it’s my turn.”
The brothers have sweated their way through a tough and gruelling off-season under new Manly coach Des Hasler.
“Having Dessie back has been really good, really enjoyable. It’s been a really tough off-season. He has really been flogging us,” Jake said.
“I really hope that will help us out and make us a better team. From a team’s perspective, we just want to be a lot better than last year, compete a lot harder and have a more successful season. Last year was pretty frustrating.
“That’s what you play the game for — to be there at the business end. We were there in ’17 but the last couple of years have been pretty tough and disappointing. Hopefully we can turn that around.”
NSW and Australian superstar Tom will need to use all his speed and agility to spark Manly’s attack this year.
“The off-season has been good fun. Obviously getting back in and working under Des has been really enjoyable, bouncing ideas off with him, I’ve learnt a lot,” Tom said.
“Last year was disappointing, we want to be better than that, we want to play better footy. Everyone plays this game to play finals footy and that’s the goal for us. For now, we just have to keep working hard and try and implement things we have been working hard on at training.”
