The 5 words Manly fans wanted to hear

Tom Trbojevic insists his shoulder is “really good” as he prepares to lead the Sea Eagles against Canterbury in Sunday’s elimination final just two weeks after he suffered a grade 3 AC injury against the Bulldogs.

There were fears the superstar fullback had done serious damage as he stayed down in pain while also bleeding profusely from a cut above the eye after his arm was trapped awkwardly while making a tackle on Jacob Preston.

But the Sea Eagles were confident from the outset that he’d only miss one game, with the luckless local lad ready to go with Manly’s season on the line.

“The shoulder is really good. I trained with it on Sunday and yesterday,” Trbojevic said.

“It’s all fine. It feels fine. It will be good to go.”

Trbojevic has had his unfair share of hamstring, shoulder and pec injuries over the years, which is why he feared the worst when he went down at Accor Stadium last month.

“I didn’t know what it was. I have never had one to that extent. It was quite sore, and I did fear the worst,” he said.

“But once I got in the rooms and worked out what it was, it was somewhat easier and I would be back playing footy in a few weeks.

“I didn’t really know what was going on at the time. I could feel my shoulder was sore, I was bleeding and I was trying to work out what was happening.

“(The trainer) was out there pretty quickly, worked out the cut was on my head, the shoulder was fine, and we moved on.

“I’ve only missed one game, so it’s not like I am coming back from a long lay-off. It’s not like I haven’t played footy for a long time. You just have to go back, focus on being the best you can at training and going out there and just performing.”

This will be just the third finals series of a career that started back in 2015, with the former Dally M Medal winner playing some of the best football of his career after returning from a hamstring injury midway through the season.

Trbojevic scored 10 tries and set up 11 more in seven games before his latest setback, with teammates thrilled to have their best attacking weapon available for the finals.

“He’s been through a lot over the past few years, so knowing that he’s going to be in the change rooms is massive,” Haumole Olakau’atu said.

“I have to step my game up for the boys but also for him because he’s been through a lot.

“He just doesn’t stop. He always goes to another level to help this team. There are times when you’ve got your hands on your knees and you’re blowing, but you see him with all that energy and it makes you want to work harder for him.”