It’s the 11-point hole Manly must plug to keep their NRL season alive without Tom Trbojevic.
The Manly and NSW superstar No.1 is racing the clock to get back on the park again this year after suffering a ruptured pec in the Sea Eagles’ costly drubbing at the hands of Melbourne on the weekend.
Trbojevic will on Monday consult a specialist and is hoping to be back in two to four weeks after putting off surgery in the slim hope of playing again in 2019.
Numbers provided by Fox Sports Stats lay bare the challenge in front of Des Hasler and his men to go deep into September without their strike weapon.
In 2019, they have an 83.3 per cent (10-2) winning record when Trbojevic is in their line-up but that drops to 36.4 per cent (4-7) when he’s missing.
Also, their attacking and defensive records are far superior with him at the back.
They average an extra 7.6 points in attack (24.5 compared to 16.9) and concede 3.5 points less (16.3 compared to 19.8) when he’s in the side – a difference of 11.1 points.
But Manly are in their element when they’re being written off and are relishing the challenge of proving the doubters wrong ahead of Friday’s clash with Parramatta.
“When no one’s talking about you and don’t think you can win, that’s when you try to get the job done,” Trbojevic’s brother and Sea Eagles lock Jake said.
“That’s exciting for us.
“It’s always tough when you lose a quality player, especially leading into the finals. But we’ll be right. We’ve done it before, we did it earlier in the year without him, we’ve got to take confidence from that.
“Dessie is an experienced coach when it comes to finals, he’ll have us in the best shape possible.”
Former Sydney Roosters, Newcastle and Gold Coast outside back Brendan Elliot is expected to step into the No.1 jersey for their final-round clash with Parramatta.
“I don’t make the decision but Brendan Elliott, the way he’s gone this year he’ll slot straight in there,” Jake said.
“He did a great job when Tom was out earlier in the year.”
Jake wouldn’t discount his brother’s chances of playing again in 2019.
“There’s definitely some hope,” Jake said.
“Usually tearing your pec is a long-term injury.
“You’ve got to leave no stone unturned, he’s a key player for us.”
