The mindset shift driving Trbojevic's return from career-threatening blows
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Manly forward Jake Trbojevic has opened up on the off-season training regimen driving his return from a series of head knocks suffered last year.
The veteran is preparing to return to the field for the first time since last August in the Sea Eagles' season opener against Canberra next Saturday.
It was against the Raiders that Trbojevic suffered his third concussion of the year, the collision with Josh Papalii bringing a premature end to his campaign.
With his return imminent, the 32-year-old revealed he never considered retirement and instead went to work focused on preventing another concussion occurring.
Jake Trbojevic Try
"I didn't consider retirement," Trbojevic told NRL.com. "They were big head knocks, which in a weird way is good. If they were smaller, it's probably a different story right now.
"Hitting Josh Papalii's shoulder is probably going to knock anyone out. It's when you're getting lightly tapped and still getting concussions that you start to worry.
"It's more that I need to work on my tackle technique so I don't get hit at all."
Match: Sea Eagles v Raiders
Round 1 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
away Team
Raiders
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Trbojevic has spent the off-season working closely with Manly medical and coaching staff to prevent head knocks from occurring and minimise their impacts if they do happen.
The forward has spent hours in the gym building his neck strength, has adjusted his tackle technique to ensure he does not put his head at risk of contact and commenced wearing a new headgear that early research suggests diffuses the impact of head knocks and lowers the risk of concussions.
The extended layoff has provided Trbojevic with plenty of time to build up his strength and confidence, and he's not expecting any mental doubts come game day next week.
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"It's been a really good break," he said. "I've done a lot of contact at training, I've worked on my neck strength and started wearing the headgear.
"There is research that it stops your brain from accelerating when you get hit and it can limit the effects of a knock. After having three pretty bad ones last year and seeing how bad you can feel, I don't want to do that again so I'm giving everything a go.
"It's been good so far and has helped with my confidence. I haven't had a head knock yet, fingers crossed I don't get knocked but if I do it's going to help me."
Trbojevic returns to a Manly side desperate to rectify a disappointing 2025 campaign that saw them slip out of the top eight.
Daly Cherry-Evans' departure has seen Jamal Fogarty step into the No.7 role and Taniela Paseka headlines a long list of forwards back on deck after suffering serious injuries last season.
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The Sea Eagles have a prime opportunity to kick start their campaign with three home games and a bye in the opening four weeks of the season.
Trbojevic recognises his side must be more consistent in 2026 and is confident they have the ability to challenge the best teams in the competition.
"Our problem is our consistency," he said. "There were periods of play in a game or a week where we could be so good. We're trying to narrow the gap between our best and our worst.
"That's something we've been working hard on so hopefully we can be a consistent team because we know we can play good footy. If we can do it most weeks, it would be nice.
"We've got some great young players, they've got a bit more experience. We've got Jamal coming in, we lose [Cherry-Evans], which is sad for the club but Jamal comes from Canberra off a consistent year.
"Someone like him can help us with confidence. The way he leads us around and his kicking game should help us."
