Tom Trbojevic and partner share massive personal news as NRL teammates and rivals react

NRL teammates and rivals are sending messages of congratulations to Tom Trbojevic after the Manly superstar announced his engagement on Thursday night. Trbojevic and new fiancee Kristi Wilkinson took to social media to reveal the happy news, with Wilkinson showing off her engagement ring.

Sea Eagles teammates Jake Simpkin, Tommy Talau, Haumole Olakau’atu and Reuben Garrick were among the many to share their excitement at the news. While the NSW Blues account joined Gold Coast halfback Kieran Foran, South Sydney captain Cameron Murray, Panthers winger Brian To’o, and former Manly and Melbourne Storm player Cooper Johns in responding as well.

Trbojevic and Wilkinson have been together since 2021, the year the fullback won the Dally M medal after an extraordinary season. She's been by his side through some massive highs and very low lows, with a number of serious injuries hampering him over the last two years.

The engagement continues a happy time for Trbojevic after he starred for Australia in the Pacific Championships final against Tonga. Trbojevic played through a shoulder injury that severely affected Manly's finals campaign, scoring two tries in last Sunday's final in what was his first tournament for the Kangaroos in six years.

Tom Trbojevic avoids off-season surgery on shoulder

It was thought he'd have to undergo surgery after the final, but revealed afterwards that won't be necessary. “It’s all sweet now, so I’ll just rest up because that’s the best thing for it,” he said.

“I won’t be touching the footy ball for a while. Originally, our Manly doctor thought I needed it (surgery), but he’s not a specialist or a shoulder surgeon. When we went and saw the shoulder surgeon, he had a look at it and said it would be best off resting up. I’ve played a few games on it, but it’s not different to what it was before.”

The 28-year-old was desperate to don his national jersey again after injuries forced a six-year absence from the Kangaroos team. “It’s not easy to give up playing for your country,” the Sea Eagles fullback said.

“I’ve made no secret that I want to play in this jersey as much as I can. Obviously, you’ve got to do right by Manly and not do anything stupid. At the time I thought I was going to need to do (the surgery), but once I got the advice and was told I didn’t need surgery, we just moved forward and I was lucky to be picked by Mal (Meninga).”

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Matty Johns' eye-opening call on Tom Trbojevic switch

While Trbojevic is a superstar at NRL level playing fullback, he showed during the Pacific Championships that he's just as good at centre. And with Lehi Hopoate emerging as another gun fullback, Matty Johns reckons it's a very real possibility that Manly could opt to switch Turbo to centre permanently.

"I reckon you can (switch Trbojevic to centre) because Lehi Hopoate at fullback, Lehi is just a class act," Johns said on SEN radio. "So if you're going to play Tommy (Trbojevic) in the centres and just reduce his workload as far as running but just give him that bill to say 'Tommy if you're sitting up short side in attack and nothing is on just swing around the other side'.

"He's got the intelligence and the football smarts to do it. So I think it's worthwhile because I love Lehi Hopoate as a player, he's fantastic."