VB Hard Earned: Manly lock Jake Trbojevic the glue of gutsy win

While his younger brother was earning plaudits for flashy tries then sympathy for another popped hamstring, it was the eldest Trbojevic holding the Sea Eagles together on Sunday.

As he often is, Jake Trobjevic was the unsung hero in Manly's 14-6 win over Canberra at Campbelltown Stadium.

That performance earned him a spot in the VB Hard Earned team of the week.

The VB Hard Earned team celebrates the true toilers of the game who don't always get the credit.

Manly lost five-eighth Dylan Walker and centre Brad Parker in the first four minutes. When fullback Tom Trbojevic hobbled off in the second half it put immense pressure on their bench and interchanges.

Trbojevic's determined effort included 39 tackles (three missed) and 193 metres from 22 runs. The VB Hard Earned index also rewards the unseen efforts and Trbojevic's seven decoy runs and staggering 29 support runs helped push him to the highest index score of the week with 113.

That was just ahead of Titans prop Moeaki Fotuaika, whose 221 metres from 23 runs, 41 tackles, 14 decoys and 10 supports lifted him to an index score of 110.

To recap what the VB Hard Earned award is all about, each round players receive a VB Hard Earned index score that is calculated by doubling their total runs and adding a point for every tackle, offload, decoy, support, charge down and tackle break.

Negative plays lower the index score. One point is taken off per missed tackle, while errors and penalties cost four points. Being sin-binned results in eight points being subtracted.

Souths hooker Damien Cook earned a spot in the team of the week for his 55 tackles, 162 metres, five busts, try assist and try against the Warriors.

An injury to regular VB Hard Earned star Alex Twal opened the door for his teammate Matt Eisenhuth to play big minutes off the bench and earn his first team of the week nod of the year while Shaun Johnson and Ryan Matterson earned spots for the second week running and Knights centre Gehamat Shibasaki made the most of his recall to the top grade.