This was in the tele, i couldn't find the online link.
JAKE’S ON HIS OWN TIME
Dean Ritchie
Jake Trbojevic admits his body is “shocking”.
While star brother Tom has a cut and rangy physique, a self-conscious Jake rarely takes his shirt off in public.
“Tom got the good genetics, I got the bad genetics,” Jake said.
A friend said: “Jake looks like a bloke who wanders down the pub for a few schooners every day.”
Yet inside Jake’s modest body shape lies a DNA freak: a park-footy frame that he enjoys punishing every week at the elite level.
Trbojevic has an insatiable thirst for collision and a chemistry which has secured the Sea Eagles champion a slice of in rugby league history this season.
Asked to describe his rig, Jake said: “Shocking. I’m far from an Adonis. I don’t take my shirt off. It stays on.”
Trbojevic has played every second of Manly’s four matches this season and, because his side has contested two golden-point matches, he’s averaging 83 minutes a match – more than an entire NRL game every time he runs out for his side. The 332 game minutes are the most of any starting prop over a four-game period in the NRL era.
And they aren’t gentle minutes either. Trbojevic folds opponents with an old-school midriff tackling technique pinched directly from the 1970s. The Daily Telegraph wanted to find out what makes Trbojevic tick.
What drives this unassuming and hugely popular Manly local to drive himself to hell each weekend?
THE MAN
Jake is a basic man who loves rugby league. He loves the game’s passion, friendship and victory.
Asked what drives him to play record minutes, Trbojevic said: “I’m not sure, mate, it’s a tough one to answer. Maybe it’s pride. You just want to be out there, in the battle. Having my brother out there, it’s cool, as is playing for Manly my whole career. I just want us to do well.
“There are always tough times on the field. I am really grateful that ‘Seibs’ (coach Anthony Seibold) leaves me out there, as did Des (Hasler) before. They have that trust in me and I like trying to repay it.
“If they wanted me to come off, I understand. If Seibs asks how I’m feeling, I will let him know if I’m sweet or not. I will give an honest assessment.”
Asked about his old-school tackling technique, Trbojevic said: “That’s how we were taught to tackle in our junior days. But, in today’s game, you can’t always tackle like that because a one-on-one around the legs can lead to a quick play-the-ball. It’s about mixing it up. There’s probably a place for it but not all the time.”
tHE BROTHER
Tom watches his brother’s body take a severe beating each round. “Jake has a massive motor. I’m out the back so I can see exactly how much work he gets through,” Tom said.
“Not to miss a minute of footy this year in the middle is unbelievable, particularly given we have had two golden point games. He works so hard on his game and has incredible mental toughness. I’ve seen it since we were kids.
“Jake has such a great tackling technique and defensive timing. He cuts them in half.”
THE COACH
Ask Seibold if he plans to rest Trbojevic from games this season and the answer is straightforward: “That’s not on my radar.”
“He has a desire, work ethic and mentality that is up there with the best I have coached,” Seibold said. “Jake just finds a way to keep going. You can’t teach or coach what he’s got in terms of that will to compete. Mate, he is a special boy.
“He’s such a competitor, such a mental toughness. His work ethic over the first four rounds has been outstanding.
“Jake is very passionate about his club. He represents those that have come before him exceptionally well – all the players in Manly’s history that have played in his position and worn that jersey.
“You ask him if he wants a rest and he doesn’t want one but we also don’t want to run him into the ground either. We have to be smart. The club looks after him during the week. We are strategic with what we do with Jake.
“He has that really good tackling technique of getting underneath the footy and stepping into contact. He has perfected it. It’s like (David) ‘Cement’ Gillespie or Trevor Gillmeister.”
THE PSYCHOLOGIST
Performance psychologist Dr Phil Jauncey has watched Trbojevic and thinks he knows how and why the Manly forward attains such a high-performance level.
“What Jake has done is tell himself he’s not going to stop,” Jauncey said. “The tiredness message doesn’t come across.
“Jake has taught himself, ‘Don’t pay attention to the tired message – just pay attention to the game and keep performing.’
“It’s not that he has mind over matter. It’s actually matter over mind – it’s the other way around. By playing and running hard, the mind becomes irrelevant. The brain is saying: ‘Master, you don’t want to know how tired you are, you just want to keep playing.’
“People who act tired get more messages from the brain and say: “I’ve got to keep going, I’ve got to keep going,’ but it’s not that battle. When you get these players that keep on keeping on, they don’t always look physically fit.
“When John Sattler broke his jaw, the brain said, ‘Get off the field, your jaw is sore.’ But he kept playing. After a while the brain stopped giving him the message.”
THE FORMER PLAYER
Trbojevic is a throwback to Trevor “The Axe” Gillmeister, a nuggety back-rower who drilled opponents during a 233-game career with Easts, Brisbane, Penrith and South Queensland Crushers.
“People say you can’t go low anymore because you get caught on the ground and it’s a slow tackle, but that’s bull****, that’s crap,” Gillmeister said. “Jake puts that myth to sleep, doesn’t he? He cuts blokes in half, puts them on their back, takes the wind out of them and then that’s a slow play-the-ball.
“It’s all timing and technique. It has nothing to do with how strong you are.”
THE DOCTOR
Leading sports doctor Nathan Gibbs has worked with Trbojevic at Manly and NSW.
“The one thing I will say about Jake is he’s an old-school footballer who doesn’t necessarily like training but just loves playing football,” Gibbs said. “I know Jake through Origin and Manly and he talks football, he sleeps football.
“He reminds me of James Graham in their physique and ability. They don’t look like superstar footballers but they play hard, tough and they’re survivors. When managing players, you have to look at their personal history. If someone is durable, and not getting hurt, and historically can train, play and survive, then you just let them go.”
THE STATISTICIAN
Trbojevic’s tackle efficiency against Newcastle on Saturday was 97.7 per cent. He missed just one tackle.
“Since 2020 – the set restart era – Jake has only played less than 80 minutes 15 times. That’s a fair effort for someone who plays in the middle,” Fox Sports stats operation manager Aaron Wallace said.
“His 78 minutes a game is the most for any middle forward in that period. And it’s not like he is bludging either - he averages almost 38 tackles per game in that run, again the most for any middle forward, and rarely misses one.
